What It's Like Being a Beauty Writer Who's Allergic to Manicures

The story begins with an unhappy accident using an at-home gel nail kit.

- Lia Mappoura

I try to live life with no regrets. #Yolo and all that. But there's no escaping the regret I still feel for how I treated my nails one Friday night in 2023. As a result, they'll never be adorned with a gel manicure again. In the words of Taylor Swift: like, ever. As a beauty writer whose job it is to report on nail trends, the tangled emotions are worse than those I felt after finally cutting contact with my ex-situationship of six years— which is saying a lot, I think.

Let me take you back to the fateful night. It was 9pm when I decided the best way to wind down after a long week of work was to start—well, rush—a full set of DIY gel nails using my low-budget at-home kit. Yes, I work in beauty and love a boujee buy, but sometimes a cheap fix speaks to me—I'm just a girl!

With a weekend full of outings to prep for, I unpacked the kit and sifted through colour options. Like many beauty lovers, I learned how to do my own treatments at home during the pandemic: Upper lip threading, hair lasering—the works! Sitting cross-legged on my bed, machine plugged in and dusty pink polish in hand, I started painting. Many coats and yawns later, my nails looked great—and I still had the money I would have spent on an in-salon mani saved in my back pocket... winning! (Or so I thought.)