Gel polish chips for a small number of reasons, and most of them start at the edges rather than in the middle of the nail. Some of those causes are ours, some are the week you had. Either way, if a set lifts, chips or breaks within 10 days of your appointment, contact us and we will repair it at no charge. Do not pick at it and do not wait it out. Peeling gel takes layers of your natural nail with it, and a small repair on day three is a much smaller job than a rebuild on day twelve.
People call it shellac. Strictly, Shellac is CND's brand name for their gel polish system, the way Kleenex is a brand of tissue. Our menu calls it gel polish. If you came here searching for why your shellac chipped, you are in the right place.
Chips Almost Always Start At An Edge
A cured gel surface is genuinely tough. What fails is rarely the middle of the nail; it is one of the two places where the product meets something else.
The first is the free edge, the tip. If the gel is not wrapped down over that edge, every time you open a can or type hard, you are levering against an unsealed rim. Water gets underneath. Once it does, the chip has somewhere to travel.
The second is the cuticle line. Product flooded onto the skin instead of stopping cleanly at the nail has nothing solid to hold. Skin moves and sheds; the nail does not. Within a few days that edge starts to lift, and lifting invites more lifting.
The Causes That Are Ours
Some chips are a workmanship problem, and we would rather name them than pretend otherwise.
Under-prepped nails, where oil or moisture is left on the plate before the base coat goes down. Layers applied too thick, which cures unevenly and stays slightly soft underneath. Product flooded into the cuticle. A free edge left unsealed. A lamp cycle cut short.
These are the ones the guarantee exists for. If your set failed for one of these reasons inside 10 days, that is our work to put right, and we do it at no charge.
We would rather look at it on day three than hear about it at your next appointment six weeks later.
The Causes That Are Life
Then there is everything else, and this is where honesty serves you better than a blanket promise.
Nails are flexible. Gel is not, especially at length. A long natural nail bending under a car door or a keyboard puts stress the coating cannot follow, and the coating loses. Heavy manual work, gardening, moving boxes, anything that treats a fingertip as a tool. Acetone, cleaning products, industrial-strength hand sanitizer. Very hot water repeatedly. Picking at one lifted corner, which is the fastest way to turn a small repair into a bare patch.
Dry air matters here too, more in Utah than most places. A dehydrated nail plate flexes differently from a healthy one, which is part of why cuticle oil is worth the ten seconds. We wrote more about the climate side of that in our Utah dry climate guide.
What The 10-Day Guarantee Actually Covers
Worth reading properly rather than assuming, because the boundary is real.
Our 10-day guarantee covers lifting, chipping or breakage within 10 days of your nail service. Contact us and we schedule a complimentary repair. It covers workmanship, which is exactly the list in the section above.
It does not cover damage from improper care, heavy manual work, chemical exposure, or intentional removal. It also does not cover a change of mind: color changes, design changes, or wanting a different style after the fact sit outside it. If you are unsure about a shade before we start, say so and we will help you decide, because that is a much easier conversation before application than after.
For lashes and other services the window is 48 hours rather than 10 days. Anything reported after its window is assessed case by case and may carry a service fee.
In practice we do not spend your appointment arguing about which column a chip falls into. You come in, we look at the nail, and most of the time it is obvious.
What To Do The Moment You See One
Three things, in order.
Stop touching it. The urge to peel a lifted corner is strong and it is the single most expensive thing you can do. Gel bonds to the top layer of the nail plate. Pulling it off takes that layer with it, and the nail underneath comes back thinner, more flexible and quicker to chip next time. That is how one bad week turns into three bad sets.
Call us. Do not wait for your next scheduled appointment. A single chipped nail on day two is a short fix. The same nail on day nine, after eight days of catching on things, is a longer one.
Tell us what happened. Not to assign blame — it changes what we do next. If you lost one nail moving furniture, we repair it. If three lifted at the cuticle by day four, that is a pattern and we should look at the prep, the product or the length rather than just patch it.
Making The Next Set Last Longer
Most of the durability question is decided before you leave the chair: the finish, the length and the shape you choose for the week you actually have. Gel, dip powder and acrylic each behave differently, which we compare in our gel versus dip powder versus acrylic guide, and length is its own decision covered in the nail shapes guide.
After that it is small and boring. Cuticle oil twice a day. Gloves for cleaning. Open things with a tool rather than a thumbnail. None of it is dramatic — together it is most of the difference between two weeks and four.
Where To Find Us
We are at 10509 S River Heights Dr #104, South Jordan, UT 84095, and we see guests from Daybreak, Riverton, Herriman, West Jordan, Sandy and Draper. Call us at (801) 909-8989, and current pricing is on our service menu.
Frequently Asked Questions
My gel chipped after three days. Will you fix it for free?
If it is a workmanship issue, yes. Our 10-day guarantee covers lifting, chipping and breakage within 10 days of your nail service, and the repair is complimentary. Contact us as soon as you notice it rather than waiting for your next appointment, because an early repair is a much smaller job.
What does the guarantee not cover?
Damage caused by improper care, heavy manual work, chemical exposure or intentional removal. It also does not cover color changes, design changes, or wanting a different style after your appointment. If you are unsure about a shade or a design, tell us before application begins and we will help you choose.
Why does gel polish chip at the tip first?
Because the free edge is where the coating ends. If the gel is not wrapped down over that edge, everyday use levers against an unsealed rim and lets water underneath, and a chip that starts there has somewhere to travel. The other common starting point is the cuticle line, where product applied onto skin rather than nail has nothing solid to hold onto.
Can I just peel the lifted part off?
Please do not. Gel bonds to the top layer of your nail plate, so peeling it removes that layer too. The nail grows back thinner and more flexible, which makes the next set more likely to chip. Leave it alone and call us instead.
What if I notice a problem after 10 days?
Contact us anyway. Issues reported outside the guarantee window are assessed case by case and may require a service fee, but we would still rather see the nail and tell you honestly what happened than have you guess.
Is the window the same for lashes?
No. Nails carry a 10-day guarantee; lashes and our other services carry 48 hours. Either way, contact us as soon as you notice something rather than waiting.
