Two to three weeks of color that does not chip, applied in thin coats and cured properly. Then taken off by soaking rather than drilling, which is the part that decides whether your nails are fine underneath.
If a nail is lifting from the bed, discolored, thickened, painful or looks infected, we will not polish over it. Sealing a possible infection under gel traps it and hides it, and you would find out months later how long it had been there. We will tell you plainly and suggest you see a doctor first.
Please also tell us if you have ever reacted to gel, acrylic or dental adhesives, if you take medication affecting nail growth, or if you have diabetes or circulation issues. Any of those change how we prep and what we use.
On This Page
Thin Coats, Fully Cured, Free Edge Sealed
Regular polish dries by evaporation, which is why it stays soft enough to dent for hours and starts chipping within days. Gel does not dry at all. It cures, meaning the liquid undergoes a chemical reaction under a lamp and becomes a solid film bonded to the nail.
That difference is everything. A cured gel layer is hard, glossy and completely set the moment you leave the table. There is no drying time, no smudged nails in the car, and no gradual dulling. It stays exactly as it looked on day one until you take it off.
The catch is that it has to come off properly. Gel is bonded, not sitting on top, so it needs acetone and time to release. Everything good or bad about gel comes down to how it was prepped and how it was removed, not the gel itself.
Fifty minutes, and only about fifteen of them involve color. The rest is preparation, which is where a set that lasts three weeks separates itself from one that lifts on day four.
Nails and skin assessed, previous gel discussed, color and finish chosen. If you have had a reaction to gel anywhere before, this is where we need to hear about it.
Filed to your agreed silhouette in one direction rather than sawed back and forth, which is what causes splitting at the free edge on weaker nails.
Softened, pushed back, and the plate cleared of dead tissue. Gel applied over leftover cuticle will lift at the base within days no matter how well the rest is done.
A light refine of the shine, then dehydration and primer. Enough to give the gel something to grip, and nowhere near enough to thin the nail.
Applied thinly and kept clear of the skin, then fully cured. Gel touching skin is both the main cause of lifting and the route to developing a sensitivity over time.
Thin layers, each cured fully. Thick coats set on the surface while staying soft underneath, which is exactly what makes a set peel off in sheets a week later.
Any art goes on before the top coat so it sits sealed inside the finish. The free edge is capped at this stage, which is what prevents chipping at the tip.
Cuticle oil worked in and written aftercare handed over. You leave completely set, so there is no drying time and nothing to smudge.
Eight finishes, all available on a standard gel manicure. Some are included, some are a small add on, and the price is confirmed before we start rather than at the desk.
One shade, full coverage, high gloss. The default and still the most requested. Deep and dark shades take a third coat, which is included rather than charged as an extra.
Translucent nude, pink or milky white. Currently the most asked for look and the most technically demanding, because sheer gel shows every flaw in the prep underneath it.
Hand painted tips rather than stickers or guides. Classic white, or the thinner micro French and colored tip variations that have largely replaced the thick white line.
Fine pigment burnished over the cured color for a metallic mirror finish. Needs a specific top coat to hold, and it is the finish most often done badly elsewhere.
Magnetic particles drawn into a shifting band of light with a magnet while the gel is still wet. Every nail is slightly different, which is the appeal.
Two or more shades blended into each other across the nail, or a fade from the cuticle out. Done with a sponge and built in layers, so it adds time to the appointment.
A flat velvet finish over any color. It makes deep shades read considerably richer, though it does show fingerprints and marks more than gloss does.
Fine glitter, chunky flake or a textured sugar finish. Worth knowing that heavy glitter takes considerably longer to soak off, so removal is slower next time.
Almost everything people believe about gel damaging nails traces back to removal. Gel is bonded to the nail plate, so it has to be dissolved and released. It cannot be scraped, filed or peeled off without taking layers of nail with it.
Filing it off with a drill takes four minutes instead of fifteen, which is why busy salons do it. It also removes natural nail along with the product, and after a few rounds the plate is visibly thin and the client blames the gel rather than the machine.
If your gel peels within a week, one of these six things is almost certainly the reason. Five of them are the salon's responsibility and one is yours.
Gel applied over dead tissue still stuck to the plate bonds to the tissue rather than the nail. It lifts at the base within days, and it is the single most common cause of all.
If the tip is not sealed with a swipe of product across the edge, water gets underneath and works its way back. Chipping always starts at the tip when this is skipped.
The surface cures while the layer beneath stays soft. It feels hard on the day and peels off in a sheet a week later, frequently taking nail with it.
Gel touching cuticle or sidewall never bonds properly, so it lifts from the edges immediately. It is also the main route to developing a sensitivity over time.
Hand cream that morning, or oily nails by nature. Without proper dehydration before the base coat, the gel is bonding to a film of oil rather than to keratin.
Some nails simply bend more than gel does, and the bond breaks under the flex. This is the one that is nobody's fault, and builder gel is the answer rather than more gel polish.
What separates a gel manicure that leaves your nails intact from one that quietly wears them down over a year.
Cured rather than dried, so there is no drying time and nothing to smudge. You can put your hands straight into your bag and drive home.
Not chip resistant. A properly capped and cured set should look the same on day fourteen as on day one, with only regrowth giving it away.
No electric file on your natural nail at any point. This one decision is the difference between sustainable gel and nails that get thinner every year.
Free when you rebook, which removes the only reason anyone picks gel off at home. Picking is what actually causes the damage people blame on gel.
Several thin layers rather than two thick ones, each given its full cure. Slower on the day and the reason sets here last the full three weeks.
Product never flooded into the cuticle or sidewalls. It prevents lifting, and it also reduces the repeated skin contact that leads to sensitivity.
Often Booked Together
Six things clients describe about a gel manicure somewhere else. Most only become visible weeks or months later.
Four minutes instead of fifteen, so it is what a busy diary encourages. Layers of natural nail come off with the product, and after a few rounds the plate is visibly thin.
Here InsteadSoak off every time, with only the top coat lightly filed to let acetone through.Aggressive buffing to help adhesion. It works, and it also removes surface layers of a nail that is only about a hundred cells thick to begin with.
Here InsteadA light refine of the shine plus a proper dehydrator. Adhesion comes from clean prep, not from sanding.Pushed back but not cleared, so gel bonds to dead tissue instead of nail. It lifts at the base within a week and nobody can work out why.
Here InsteadPlate properly cleared before any product, without cutting the living seal at the base.Faster than four thin ones. The surface cures hard while the layer underneath stays soft, and the whole thing peels off in sheets around day six.
Here InsteadThin coats, each fully cured, with the free edge capped at the end.Color painted right up over the cuticle to save time on tidying. It lifts from the edges, and repeated skin contact with uncured gel is how sensitivities develop.
Here InsteadA clear margin around every nail, tidied with a brush before curing rather than after.A lifting or discolored nail covered rather than mentioned. It hides the issue and seals it in, and the client finds out much later how long it had been developing.
Here InsteadWe say something and suggest a doctor. It costs us the booking, and it is the right call every time.Gel comes off with acetone and time, not a cotton pad. If you like switching shade every few days, a classic manicure at $30 genuinely suits you better.
Gel polish is color with a hard finish. It does not stop nails breaking. If yours peel or snap before reaching any length, builder gel is the honest answer instead.
Repeated skin contact with uncured gel can sensitize some people over time. Keeping product off the skin reduces the risk considerably, but it is worth knowing about.
It cannot be rushed without damage, so it has to be built into the appointment. Tell us at booking if you are arriving with gel on so the slot is long enough.
Starting prices including the nail health check, sterile tools, cuticle work, shaping and cuticle oil. Finishes and art are quoted before we start, never added at the desk.
| Service | From | Time | Wear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matte Or Glitter Finish | $5 | Adds 5 minutes | With your set |
| Nail Art, Per Nail | $5 | Adds 3 to 8 min | With your set |
| French, Chrome Or Cat Eye | $10 | Adds 10 to 15 min | With your set |
| Ombre Fade | $15 | Adds 20 minutes | With your set |
| Gel Removal, From Elsewhere | $20 | 20 minutes | Free when you rebook |
| Gel Toes, Added To A Pedicure | $35 | Adds 25 minutes | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Gel Manicure | $45 | 50 minutes | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Gel Manicure With French | $55 | 65 minutes | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Builder Gel And BIAB | $65 | 70 minutes | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Gel Manicure And Spa Pedicure | $100 | 110 minutes | Saves $10 |
Two minutes of preparation and one daily habit afterwards. That habit is the whole difference between two weeks of wear and eight days.
You can request anyone by name when you book. If they are unavailable on your date we will tell you rather than quietly reassign you.
Joslyn runs the nail side of the salon. She is unusually slow at the prep stage and unusually fast at everything after it, which is the correct way round and the reason her sets last the full three weeks. She will also tell you plainly when a shape or a design is going to fail on your nails rather than doing it anyway.
Tia founded Erothots seven years ago and is fully qualified and insured. She does not do nails herself, but she set the rules on this page: no drill on the natural nail, soak off removal free when you rebook, thin coats fully cured, and nothing polished over a nail that needs a doctor. If something is not right, she wants to hear it directly.
Two to three weeks, and it should not chip at all in that time. What ends a set is regrowth at the base rather than the color failing. If yours lifts within a week, the cause is almost always prep, thick coats or oil on the nail plate before application.
A gel manicure starts at $45 and takes fifty minutes. With a hand painted French it is $55, builder gel is $65, and a gel manicure with a spa pedicure together is $100. Art is $5 per nail, and chrome, cat eye or French finishes are $10.
Gel itself does not. Three things around it do. Buffing the nail raw before application, drilling the gel off instead of soaking it, and picking it off at home. Remove those three and gel every few weeks is completely sustainable, particularly with cuticle oil twice a day.
The glossy top coat is lightly filed so acetone can penetrate, then acetone soaked cotton is wrapped over each nail for ten to fifteen minutes. The gel goes soft and lifts away with a wooden stick. Anything that resists goes back under acetone rather than being scraped.
You can, with acetone, foil and patience. Most people run out of patience and start picking, which strips layers of nail. Removal is free here when you rebook a manicure and $20 on its own, so there is rarely a good reason to attempt it yourself.
Usually cuticle left on the nail plate, the free edge not capped, coats applied too thickly, product flooding the skin, or oil on the nail before the base coat. The sixth possibility is very flexible natural nails, which is nobody's fault and is best solved with builder gel rather than more gel polish.
Gel polish is color with a hard finish and very little added strength, at $45. Builder gel is a flexible strengthening layer with an apex built at the stress point, at $65, and it lasts three to four weeks. If your nails peel or break before reaching any length, builder gel is the honest answer.
Exposure during a manicure is brief and limited to the backs of the hands. Some clients still prefer to take a precaution, so we are happy for you to apply sunscreen to your hands beforehand or wear fingerless gloves, and we keep a pair at the table. Just ask when you sit down.
Some people do develop a sensitivity over time, and the main route is repeated contact between uncured gel and the skin around the nail. Keeping a clear margin and curing fully reduces that risk considerably. If you notice itching, redness or lifting nails after a set, stop and see a doctor rather than booking again.
Yes, and it lasts considerably longer. Four to six weeks rather than two to three, because toenails grow at roughly half the rate and your feet do far less to them. It is $35 added to any pedicure and it is the best value on the nail menu.
Gel works on any length, including nails bitten short, and a short set often looks neater than a long one. For art with real detail you want a few millimetres of free edge. If you are aiming for length you do not have yet, builder gel will get you there faster by stopping the breaks.
Two to three days before, so it is completely fresh with no regrowth showing at the base. There is no drying time and nothing to smudge, so the day before works too. For art, book a trial a month ahead if the design is complicated.
Tell us whether you are arriving with gel on, what shape and finish you are after, and whether you want art. We will book the right length of slot so nothing is rushed.
Jump To Another Service
