From The Straits Times    |

nails philip lipThere’s nothing nicer than admiring a lovely new manicure.

But however perfect your freshly-polished nails look, you can be sure those beautifully varnished and meticulously shaped fingertips will be looking less than perfect within days.

Not fun. Luckily, there are new methods to make your manicure last for weeks.

Clever salon brands such as OPI and Creative Nails Design have produced a new product called soak-off gel and there are also new brands specialising in this new kind of nail strengthener.

The soak-off gel is a gel-hardener that comes in a wide range of colours and applied to your natural nail it stays for three weeks.

It is thinner than the acrylic or other artificial nail tips you can do at the nail therapists so it can’t be used to make your nails longer, but the stress it puts on your own natural nails is much less.

The soak-off gel polish is best described as a hybrid of the traditional nail-tip extension and a manicure.

OPI’s version is called Axxium, Creative Nail Design’s is called Shellac and one of the most popular new brands is Gelish.

When you decide to try out this new long-lasting nail varnish, make sure you pick a salon with experience.

As the soak-offs are a novelty, many therapists haven’t had much time to practice with the material.

When calling for an appointment, ask how long the salon has had the soak-off gel polish on the menu and how many times a week it is done.

That way you are sure to get someone who knows the effect on different kinds of nail qualities and someone who knows how to fix errors. © COVER MEDIA

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