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Need a nail detox? How to break up with your nail therapist (and get back together again)
After 15 years of UV lamps, salon cheating, stress-peeling and nails so thin they practically folded under emotional pressure, I finally decided it was time for a break. This is the story of my gel polish addiction, the nail detox that followed — and how I slowly learned to love my natural nails again.
Words by Carin Hellman
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It was one of those tiny revolutionary moments that permanently changes the way you look at an everyday ritual. If you’re a millennial or Gen X’er like me, you probably remember the first time you tried an iPhone (you can zoom?!), the first time Netflix let you stream movies instantly instead of waiting for DVDs, or when someone introduced you to oat milk and suddenly regular coffee never tasted quite the same again.That’s exactly how I remember trying gel polish for the first time. Back in 2010, I was working as Beauty Editor at ELLE when I met manicurist Frida Selkirk through work. Today, Frida is known in beauty circles as the nail therapist, with celebrity clients and countless fashion shows on her résumé, but even then, she had an almost uncanny ability to spot the next big thing before anyone else. She called me up and said: “You have to come try this nail polish that lasts for two weeks and dries in a minute?”
In 2010, that sounded like pure science fiction. At the time, my manicure routine looked like everyone else’s: base coat, colour, topcoat, then sitting completely still while lightly tapping a nail and silently praying is it dry yet? Only to ruin the entire thing moments later by accidentally brushing against a table edge or digging through your handbag.
I still remember the feeling when Frida applied the polish — a deep Bordeaux red, eternally chic — and asked me to place my hands under a UV lamp. A few minutes later: done. Perfectly glossy, completely dry, almost impossibly durable. It felt less like a manicure and more like witnessing the future.
When gel polish changed everything
And that was it. From that moment on, I had unknowingly entered a new kind of addiction. The sort that feels completely harmless at first — like you’ve discovered beauty’s holy grail. Perfectly polished nails for weeks, endless colours and intricate designs created by one of Sweden’s best nail artists. All you want is for it to continue: a stable, comforting relationship with no chips, no panic, no last-minute fixes. Because it all just feels so… perfect.
Well, at least on the surface.
What gel polish actually does to your nails
Because no matter how careful or skilled your nail therapist is, there is no escaping the fact that gel polish takes a toll on the nails over time. And then there was the cheating. The moments when I strayed from Frida’s professional hands in favour of quicker, more convenient solutions: walk-in salons, rushed removals, over-filing that seemed to take half the nail plate with it, or the occasional late-night peeling session where I impatiently picked half the polish off myself.
Then came age, hormones and perimenopause — that delightful phase where suddenly everything becomes dry as the Sahara, including your nails. Ridges appeared, brittleness set in, and the signs of ageing started showing up even on the nail surface itself.
Why I finally quit gel polish after 15 years
Somehow, almost fifteen years passed in this on-and-off gel polish dependency before I finally decided to stop last summer. By then, I had introduced another nail therapist into the mix and had also started experimenting with polygel and strengthening treatments layered on top of the gel polish. But after an especially stressful year — professionally, emotionally, hormonally — my nails were paper-thin.
Every salon removal felt genuinely painful. And when one of my nails cracked straight down the middle, I finally thought: enough. I need to give my nails a chance to detox from this bittersweet addiction.
So, when summer arrived and we drove south towards the Mediterranean, I let my nails exist naturally for the first time in over a decade. I relied on salt water, sunshine and patience — but I also slowly began rebuilding them.
And eventually, I found a simple three-step routine that helped restore their strength, structure and shine again:
1. Essie On-a-Roll Apricot Cuticle Oil
Another product I became completely obsessed with during my nail recovery was Essie On-a-Roll Apricot Cuticle Oil — a surprisingly addictive little roll-on that quickly became a permanent fixture in every handbag I own.
2. Manucurist Active Smooth
Another product that became a genuine game changer during my nail detox was Manucurist Active Smooth — a tinted nail perfector designed to blur ridges and uneven texture while strengthening the nail over time. After years of gel polish, my nails had become dry, thin and visibly uneven, and this was the first product that made them look healthy again instantly.
3. B.A.M Technology Nail Serum
One product that genuinely helped me during my nail detox was B.A.M Technology Nail Serum — a Swedish, research-driven treatment developed by pharmacist Viktoria Engqvist together with her father, professor Håkan. Unlike traditional nail oils, the serum is built around a patented bioactive mineral technology using calcium and silicon to help strengthen weak, brittle nails from within.
Shop Notes
So where are we now, me and my nail therapist?
Well – we got back together. Just in a slightly healthier, less codependent way. These days, I still go for gel polish from time to time. Before an important event, a fashion week, a holiday or simply during periods when I crave that feeling of looking especially polished, clean and put together — the kind of feeling only a professional manicure can really give you. Because honestly, few things make me feel more “expensive” than beautifully done hands.
But in between, I take breaks. I let my nails breathe. I play around with traditional nail polish again, mostly because there are suddenly so many beautiful colours and it feels lighter, freer and more spontaneous somehow. Less commitment, less maintenance, less emotional damage.
And maybe that’s the real lesson in all of this. Not total abstinence, but balance. A little like sugar, wine or scrolling Instagram: enjoyable in moderation, slightly destructive in excess. Because perhaps the healthiest beauty relationship is not the one where you quit forever, but the one where you finally learn when to say: enough for now.