Gel nails that are worth it

I’m recently married (did I mention that yet?!) and as part of my bridal prep I had a Shellac French pedicure. I normally don’t bother with pedi’s but I had some cute shoes to show off (even if they were hidden under my enormous dress for 95% of the time!) and I wanted the professional pics of my shoes to look great.

I’m relatively new to gel manicures and have had less than a handful, but each time I’ve been amazed by the nails I leave the salon with with; touch/scratch/handbag dry, glossy, strong, and chip free until they’re soaked off.

Most Salon’s guarantee a gel manicure for two weeks with claims that they can last up to three. This is all great, but, and it’s a big but; I’ve found that after a week the re-growth looks awful and by 10 days I want it off, PRONTO!

These super long lasting manicures cost a fair bit (around £30) and I pay this thinking it’s an investment, but when you’re removing the job 10 days in the price begins to sting a bit (well, okay, a bit more).

Now that I’ve had a French pedicure I’ve fallen in love with gel polish completely. It seems that pedicures take full advantage of the product offering. Toe nails grow slower, so re-growth is not so bad, and, with the main area of the nail being a clear colour, re-growth is less noticeable anyway.

Here’s a pic of my pedicure 3 weeks in (3 days before I cut my nails).

I proclaimed in excitement to my husband (I love writing that!) that from now on I will be having regular French gel pedicures. His reply? “I’ve never really understood that whole French polish thing, it makes people look like they forget to cut their nails”.
Well, I’ve always thought a French polish on the feet looks rather chic, and HE sometimes wears his work t-shirt on days off. Enough said.