Professional Nail technician here: There are several different types of "Gel Nails" THEY ARE NOT ALL THE SAME! ***ASK YOUR SALON WHAT BRAND THEY'RE USING ON YOU!!! The GENUINE CND SHELLAC BRAND does NOT -EVER- need to be filed off ever! The other brands such as Gelish, Axxium, etc are TOTALLY DIFFERENT! They are true Gels, so with this product, the entire natural nail bed needs to be filed on top of the nail and the surface etched (taken off) = nail damage for the product to attach properly. The new nail growth at the cuticle also needs to be filed for adhesion EACH TIME A NEW MANICURE IS PERFORMED WITH THOSE TRUE GEL PRODUCTS. Also, with each new manicure, the top coat seal needs to be filed off (yet again) -off the top of the nails to allow the acetone to penetrate and take the gel off. Remember, every time you file off a layer of the top of your nails, you're making them thinner and thinner. PEOPLE WONDER WHY THEIR NAILS ARE BEING DAMAGED? True Gels are just as damaging as Acrylic Nails. Many nail technicians/salons call anything "Shellac". KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING! ONLY THE CND SHELLAC BRAND is a true non-nail damage soak off gel-hybrid.(Hybrid means: Not a true gel, not a polish). Your nail technician should use nothing stronger than a WOOD (not metal) cuticle stick to scrape off any remaining soft gel during the removal process -after the 10 min Acetone removal process. NO FILING!!! NO FILING!!! If any filing is necessary, it is NOT the Shellac brand! I also would like to make another BIG caution as well... I myself am very cautious regarding products unregulated and coming from China. I only buy CND BRAND SHELLAC, & CND lamps and bulbs from an authorized Creative Nail Design (CND) distributor. If a salon buys a knock-off or other manufactured nail lamp from China, with no regulation, health importation checks, or company quality control, how do you know how much UV strength is actually being emitted from those bulbs? How do you know what is in that polish? How about the ingredients? How do you know if ingredients in a non-CND product are coming from Japan (radiation)? I personally would NEVER fool around with my own health or the health of my clients by buying knock-off products for this item. It's not worth the few dollars per item to save. I am not against buying knock-off's in some situations, but I do not buy knock-off's from the internet etc. for anything I put on my body or face that can be absorbed, or ingested. You just don't know what's in them.

Homersmom, another question. The clear French tips come in lengths. Does the length of the clear part vary, or just the length of the white part? Hard to tell from pictures. I'd like to have more clear and less white but my nails are short overall. I did a search too. They appear to come off easily, so I don't see how they can damage nails -- the damage usually results from the removal, or from the nail being covered for a long time, or from roughing up the surface -- none of which is in play with Jamberry. I ordered some to test out. Watched some videos first.

Thank you for posting about this, joanne_fla!!! First, olejoyful, I believe that ingesting knox gelatin completely improved my nails. I used it for that *many* years ago!!! I was a kid who bit my nails. My neighbor kept giving me knox gelatin, saying it would make me stop biting them. She'd add it to orange juice or whatever. I not only stopped biting my nails, I had fingernails that all other women envied. Everyone asked if they were real. Fastforward: I completely abuse my hands and nails. I use my nails as tools both in the garden and in the house, and have hands in water too much, so there has been constant nail damage. I've used this Nailtiques Formula 2 for just over a week, and have forgotten to apply it some of those days, but my nails look and feel great! Excellent product. Thanks again!

One product that I have used and seems effective is "Fungi Nail". Its active ingredient is Undecyleric Acid 25%. It is available at Walgreen's and other pharmacies. A 1 fl oz bottle will provide many treatments, and many trreatments are required to rid you nail bed of fungus. Painting the top of nail with medication is not effective since it will not penetrate the nail. The treatment area is around the entire perimeter of the nail. Brush on the solution on and slightly under the cuticle and under the tip of the nail - everywhere flesh meets nail. Nothing can be done about the discolored nail with the fungus already trapped inside the nail material. The idea is to rid the growth area of fungus and keep it that way. As the old nail grows out, it gets snipped off and hopefully with treatment, the colony under the tip of the nail is wiped out to and will not get re-established from the infected nail at it grows outward. Treatment is complete after new nail has completely grown out. As you can see, treatment is lengthy since toenails are slow growing. Athelete's foot: - is caused by a similar fungus. I am very susectible to it and must guard against it whenever my feet may come into contact where the fungus may exist, principally motel/hotel showers, public showers at camp grounds, and public swiming places. There is always an infected foot stomping around in those places. (I went through the 8th grade at a country grade school and spent many hours during the summer bare footed and never got a foot fungus. After being exposed to the shower room during my freshman year at high school, I had a case of athelete's foot and battled that problem for the next 4 years. Prevention methods were poor at that time. The PE instructor urged us boys to step into a box of foot powder before we put our shoes on. Apparently, there was no antifungal agent in that powder, and for me it was sure exposure to the fungus. A number of years ago, I took internal medication for athelete's foot as prescribed by a podiatrist. It was a long process; I believe it was lamisil. He had to take blood samples periodically to check on liver and other functions. Doctors are getting more reluctant to use internal medication. For me, the best medicine is prevention. What has worked for me is to use an anti-fungal powder in my shoes after showering in non-home places or after occasions where I might have come in contact with the fungus. I have found only two, non-prescription foot powders that are effective. These are "Desenex" and "Tinactin". Desenex is the better of the two. The active ingredient in Desenex is 2% miconazole nitrate. All other foot powders that I have found do provided benefits, but do not contain antifugal components and do little against fungal infections. If you buy either Desenex or Tinactin, I recommend the power form in a shaker container. The most popular form, found on store shelves, is the spray can. I don't know the reason for this except maybe customer convenience. I had suspected a profit motive and ease of sales. The spray cans do not contain much active ingredient; The powder containers are the better buy. Keep a watch for the powder form, and when you find it, buy an extra container or 2 to stock your supply. Places where I have found the powder form: Target, Walgreens', and big box grocery stores.