3 Ways to Repair Your Nails After a Gel Manicure

By Chelsea Burns Nail polish addicts have a love-hate relationship with gel manicures: we love their long-lasting color and shine, but hate how they leave our nails dry and brittle after they come off. We asked celebrity manicurist Deborah Lippmann to share her tips for keeping your nails in tip-top shape after getting a gel manicure. RELATED: 3 Steps to Beautiful Nails Remove the polish properly Most of the damage from gels comes from the removal process. A lot of people get impatient with the amount of time it takes for the gel to dissolve, and end up peeling the product off. When you do this, you're taking a layer of the nail off with it and weakening the nail plate. Either get them soaked off professionally, or follow our guide to removing your gel mani at home without wrecking your nails. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! You would never wash your face without applying moisturizer afterward, so why would your nails be any different? The gel polish prevents air and moisture from penetrating the nail, and the acetone remover further dries them out, so you've got to make sure to replenish them. Here's what you need in your arsenal: Oil (like Sephora's Formula X Quench Nail Cuticle Oil, $15; sephora.com); cuticle moisturizer (such as Dior Crème Abricot Fortifying Cream for Nails, $27; sephora.com); and nourishing hand cream (we love Skinfix Ultra Rich Hand Cream, $10; target.com). Apply the oil and cuticle cream to the nails, then slather the moisturizer all over. Lay...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news