I’ve been testing different nail solutions for my salon clients lately, especially Rebase nails versus acrylics, gels, and dips. Lemme walk you through my messy trial-and-error week so you don’t gotta suffer like I did.
The Whole Testing Circus
First I grabbed all four kits: Rebase, regular acrylic, gel polish, and dip powder. Slapped each type on different fingers of my left hand. My thumb got Rebase, index finger acrylic, middle finger gel, and ring finger dip powder. Left pinky naked for comparison. Looked ridiculous but whatever.
Day one felt fine. Went grocery shopping, carried heavy bags – nails held up. But next morning while scrubbing coffee stains off my mug? Big mistake.
- Dip powder on ring finger chipped straight off like old paint
- Acrylic on index finger turned cloudy near the cuticle
- Gel middle finger survived washing but felt weirdly thin
- Rebase thumb? Perfect. No lifting, no cloudiness. Weird.
The Shower Betrayal
Took a long hot shower Thursday night. Gel nail turned foggy like bathroom mirror. Dip powder spot near the edge bubbled up. Acrylic nail lifted slightly like it was waving goodbye. Rebase? Still glued down tight, no bubbles, no fog. Annoyingly dependable.
Friday’s typing marathon wrecked acrylic and gel nails. The acrylic cracked sideways when I smashed the enter key too hard. Gel polish chipped exposing yellowy stain underneath. Dip powder stayed half-broken since day two. But that damn Rebase thumb nail… no dents, no scratches. Even after aggressively typing client emails till midnight.
The Peeling Showdown
Saturday I got bored. Picked at the acrylic edge – popped off clean like a bottle cap, left my nail thin and sore. Gel peeled like sticker flakes. Dip powder crumbled like stale bread. Rebase? Zero give. Tried tweezers, scissors, biting – that sucker wouldn’t budge. Finally soaked it properly Sunday night. Came off clean without scraping my real nail raw. Impressive but honestly kinda frustrating when you just wanna rip ’em off.
Final Tally
- Dip powder: Easy application but weak as wet tissue paper
- Acrylic: Strong until humidity hits or you type violently
- Gel: Shiny but peels unpredictably like bad wall paint
- Rebase: Survived torture tests like a tank. Annoyingly permanent
If you’re rough with your hands like me washing dishes, gardening, or rage-typing? Rebase lasts. But if you change nails like socks? Stick with gels or dips. Personally I’m keeping Rebase on my thumbs and big toes – where durability matters. Rest can rot.