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Gel-X nails and soft-gel tips

A Gel-X nail is a ready-made, full-cover tip made entirely of soft gel. It is glued on with gel and cured under a lamp, so you get length in one visit without anything being sculpted.

Gel-X is a brand name

Gel-X is a trademark of Aprés, which says it invented the system in 2017 and calls it the world’s first full-coverage soft-gel extension system; that is the company’s own claim. People now say “gel x” for any brand, and Who What Wear notes some even call these acrylics.

Other soft-gel tips

Similar tips, each named on the brand’s own site: Gelish Soft Gel Tips, OPI Soft Gel Tips, Kiara Sky Gelly Tips, DND Soft Gel Tips and Dashing Diva GelXtend, which needs an LED lamp.

How Gel-X goes on

Per Aprés: the nail is buffed, then a pH bonder and a non-acid primer go on. Gel goes inside the tip, the tip goes on, and it is cured for 30 seconds under an LED lamp or 60 seconds under UV.

How to remove Gel-X nails

Aprés’s steps: file off the color, clip the tips short, soak under acetone foil wraps for about 15 to 20 minutes, then scrape gently. There are no fills; the whole set comes off and a new one goes on.

How long Gel-X lasts

Aprés claims up to three to four weeks. That is the brand’s figure, and we found no independent one.

What Aprés says about your nails

Aprés says Gel-X needs less abrasion than acrylic and no acid primers, and causes minimal stress to the natural nail when removed correctly. Those are brand claims. Makeup.com notes that, like hard gel, it adds length, but unlike hard gel it can be soaked off with acetone.

Salon or home

Mostly a salon service: Aprés runs Gel-X certification for nail techs and sells kits. Some consumer brands sell soft-gel extensions for home as well.

See a long almond or coffin shape on a drawn hand, then ask a salon near you whether it does Gel-X or another soft-gel tip.

✦ Try a look on a hand

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Nail types

Every nail type, explained.

Gel, builder gel, Gel-X, dip, acrylic: what each one is, how it goes on and how it comes off.

Gel polishThe everyday salon manicure: color that sets hard under a lamp.

Adds length: No
Lamp: Yes
Comes off: Acetone soak

ShellacCND’s own brand of gel polish, the name many people still use for gel.

Adds length: No
Lamp: Yes
Comes off: Acetone soak

Builder gel (BIAB)A thicker gel that strengthens your own nail and gets filled in.

Adds length: Mostly no
Lamp: Yes
Comes off: Usually soaked off

Hard gelGel from a pot for sculpted length or a tough overlay.

Adds length: Yes
Lamp: Yes
Comes off: Filed off

Gel-XReady-made soft gel tips put on with gel: length in one visit.

Adds length: Yes
Lamp: Yes
Comes off: Acetone soak

PolygelA putty-like gel shaped by hand, then cured.

Adds length: Yes
Lamp: Yes
Comes off: Filed down

AcrylicLiquid and powder built into a hard nail; the classic for length.

Adds length: Yes
Lamp: No
Comes off: Filed or soaked off

Dip powderColored powder set with an activator instead of a lamp.

Adds length: No
Lamp: Usually no
Comes off: 100% acetone

Press-onsReady-made nails you put on at home, or salon-made custom sets.

Adds length: Yes
Lamp: No
Comes off: Acetone soak

Strips & wrapsPeel-and-stick polish, semi-cured gel strips, salon silk wraps.

Adds length: No
Lamp: Gel only
Comes off: Lifted off

Nail polishRegular and long-wear lacquer that air-dries.

Adds length: No
Lamp: No
Comes off: Polish remover

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