How Damaging Is Gel-X For Our Nails?

Not a wellness trend necessarily and writing a bit more so for myself here, but I’d quite like to know: just how damaging is Gel-X for our nails?

If you aren’t familiar, Gel-X is a full-coverage, soft-gel nail extension that adheres to your natural nail via builder gel or a similar soft-gel adhesive.

(Note: if you aren’t using a full extension – a style I’ve preferred as of late – the builder gel is still applied to attach what length you’ve added and create a level base where the tip meets your nail.)

Gel-X is often preferred to acrylic, as it provides the strength and length of the latter, “minus the damage to your natural nails,” per L’Oréal’s blog. 

Builder gel, too, is preferred as a base, as it provides a protective layer between your nail and the gel polish itself – and (!!) builder gel has received the endorsement of Zola Ganzorigt, a celebrity manicurist and creator of “glazed donut nails.”

However, Gel-X is not without its concerns, particularly as it requires curing beneath a UV/LED lamp, which may be correlated with skin cancer and premature aging due to radiation exposure – though the risk of the former is low.

So, healthier (and cheaper!) alternatives?

Dazzle Dry – a recommendation I received from my mom who is much too style savvy for her own good – is a non-toxic polish that provides long-lasting wear without the use of UV light. (Bonus: As its name might suggest, it’s fast-drying!) Dazzle Dry, however, is BYOL (bring your own length).

Or, you may prefer press-on nails, which are both easy to apply and damage-free – provided they are removed correctly!

I’m a bit of a YOLO-er these days – though I very much understand if this lifestyle is not for you! – and (infrequent!) Gel-X manicures bring me joy. I just might continue with Gel-X for the time being, but I’ll let you know if I stumble across another technique I prefer!

P.S. The builder gel design I'd gotten (pictured above) was a butter yellow base with a studded perimeter in silver.