Gel Nails Design Biography
(Source google.com)
Gel nails originally referred to nail extensions made using a hard gel product hardened by curing under a ultraviolet or L.E.D. (light emitting diode) light. However, recent use of the phrase includes just about any nail service performed involving the use of gel products, including the very popular gel polish manicure. There are two types of gel, hard gel and soft gel. Hard gel gets its name because, once cured, is tough enough to be made into a nail extension. Nail extensions are artificial nailscreated by using a nail product to extend the nail past the edge of the natural nail. Soft gel refers to the gel products that are too soft to create a nail extension. This includes gel polishes and thicker gels meant for gel overlay services. Gel polishes are used for the increasingly popular gel polish manicures. These manicures, when done by caring, experienced, and trained professionals, are gentle to the natural nail and the polish stays intact on the nail for at least a couple of weeks with high shine and no cracking, peeling or chipping.
The product used to create nail extensions using gel or Gel nails is gel, not to be confused with acrylic nails which are created using liquid monomer and polymer powder. All gel services are performed using some form of gel which usually come in pots of gel or bottles of gel polish. Gel also comes in a variety of colors and all forms of gel require curing under a U.V. or L.E.D. light to harden or cure the gel. Curing refers to the chemical process that occurs when the photo-initiators within the gel itself are exposed to the U.V. or L.E.D. light. The chain reaction creates heat while the oligomers combine to form long chains during the polymerization process. These bonded chains are what makes the gel become hard and it's the photo-initiators within the gel product that jump starts the curing process. Usually, once the nail extension has been created there is a residual tacky layer that is removed by wiping with a cotton pad soaked in high concentrate alcohol at the end of the service.
Acrylic nails are a more common form of artificial nails and may also be referred to as "liquid and powder nails". They have been around for decades whereas gel nail products are still a very recent addition to the nail industry. The most popular acrylic nail service is the pink and white which refers to the use of pink colored acrylic and a white acrylic powder to create a long-lasting French manicure look. Just as with gel nails, acrylic nail extension can be created using forms to create sculpted nails or tips. Forms are special stickers that are placed at the end of each finger, under the finger nail, and secured in place so that wet acrylic can be sculpted into a nail extension at the fingernail's edge. Thus, each nail extension is sculpted and why this procedure is referred to as "sculpts" or "sculpted nails." Tips are simply mass produced plastic nail tips that are adhered to the fingernail's edge using nail resin. Each tip is clipped and filed into shape before applying the wet acrylic and the nail extension is made. Fiberglass and silk wraps are overlay services. This means that a product is laid on top of or "overlaid" onto the existing natural nail. These products are not strong enough to create into extensions so they can only be laid over existing nails. In this scenario, the manicurist will cut pieces of fiberglass or silk and then adhere to the nail with a type of resin. This service is often used in cases of broken nails or to strengthen the natural nail.
Nail polish originated in China, and its use dates back to 3000 BC. Around 600 BC, during the Zhou Dynasty, the royal house preferred the colors gold and silver. However, red and black eventually replaced these metallic colors as royal favorites. During theMing Dynasty, nail polish was often made from a mixture that included beeswax, egg whites, gelatin, vegetable dyes, and gum Arabic. In Egypt, the lower classes wore pale colors, whereas high society painted their nails red. By the turn of the 9th century, nails were tinted with scented red oils, and polished or buffed. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, people pursued a polished rather than a painted look by massaging tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffing them shiny. One such polishing product sold around this time was Graf's Hyglo nail polish paste. After the creation of automobile paint, Cutex produced the first modern nail polish in 1917. In 1932, the Charles Revson Company (later Revlon) produced their first nail polish. Once nail polish was refined, it was often used in the place ofgloves to cover up the grime underneath finger and toe nails.
Acrylic nails are a more common form of artificial nails and may also be referred to as "liquid and powder nails". They have been around for decades whereas gel nail products are still a very recent addition to the nail industry. The most popular acrylic nail service is the pink and white which refers to the use of pink colored acrylic and a white acrylic powder to create a long-lasting French manicure look. Just as with gel nails, acrylic nail extension can be created using forms to create sculpted nails or tips. Forms are special stickers that are placed at the end of each finger, under the finger nail, and secured in place so that wet acrylic can be sculpted into a nail extension at the fingernail's edge. Thus, each nail extension is sculpted and why this procedure is referred to as "sculpts" or "sculpted nails." Tips are simply mass produced plastic nail tips that are adhered to the fingernail's edge using nail resin. Each tip is clipped and filed into shape before applying the wet acrylic and the nail extension is made. Fiberglass and silk wraps are overlay services. This means that a product is laid on top of or "overlaid" onto the existing natural nail. These products are not strong enough to create into extensions so they can only be laid over existing nails. In this scenario, the manicurist will cut pieces of fiberglass or silk and then adhere to the nail with a type of resin. This service is often used in cases of broken nails or to strengthen the natural nail.
Nail polish originated in China, and its use dates back to 3000 BC. Around 600 BC, during the Zhou Dynasty, the royal house preferred the colors gold and silver. However, red and black eventually replaced these metallic colors as royal favorites. During theMing Dynasty, nail polish was often made from a mixture that included beeswax, egg whites, gelatin, vegetable dyes, and gum Arabic. In Egypt, the lower classes wore pale colors, whereas high society painted their nails red. By the turn of the 9th century, nails were tinted with scented red oils, and polished or buffed. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, people pursued a polished rather than a painted look by massaging tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffing them shiny. One such polishing product sold around this time was Graf's Hyglo nail polish paste. After the creation of automobile paint, Cutex produced the first modern nail polish in 1917. In 1932, the Charles Revson Company (later Revlon) produced their first nail polish. Once nail polish was refined, it was often used in the place ofgloves to cover up the grime underneath finger and toe nails.