If you have had your nails done anywhere in Albania over the last twenty years, there is a good chance they were acrylic. It is the older technique, it is cheaper to stock, and a lot of salons still work with nothing else. So when a client sits down and asks us whether we do acrylic, the honest answer is no — and this article explains why.
This is not a case of one product being fashionable and the other being old. Gel and acrylic are chemically different systems that behave differently on your nail, and the differences matter most for the people who wear them every day for years.
What acrylic actually is
Acrylic is made by mixing a liquid monomer with a powder polymer. The technician dips a brush in the liquid, picks up a bead of powder, and works the mixture onto your nail before it hardens. It cures in open air — no lamp needed — and it sets hard within a couple of minutes.
That air-curing is where the famous smell comes from. The monomer evaporates as it sets, and the sharp chemical odour that fills a salon is the liquid off-gassing. You are breathing it, and so is the technician, eight hours a day.
What gel is
Gel comes ready-mixed in a pot or a bottle. It does not harden in air — it stays workable until it is placed under a UV or LED lamp, which triggers the cure in 30 to 60 seconds. Nothing evaporates, so there is no strong odour.
This also means the technician controls the timing completely. With acrylic you are racing the bead before it sets. With gel you can shape, check the apex from every angle, adjust, and only then cure. The result is a more precise nail, and precision is most of what separates a good extension from one that lifts in a week.
Flexibility: the difference you feel
Acrylic cures very hard and very rigid. That sounds like a good thing until you catch your nail on a car door. Because acrylic does not flex, the force has nowhere to go except into your natural nail — which is why acrylic breaks tend to be dramatic, and why they sometimes take a layer of your own nail with them.
Gel keeps a small amount of flex. Under the same impact it bends slightly, absorbs part of the force, and if it does fail it usually cracks at the free edge rather than tearing at the nail bed. Over a year of wear that difference adds up considerably.
Removal
This is where the gap widens. Soft gel dissolves in acetone in 10 to 15 minutes and lifts off with almost no filing. Acrylic is far more resistant — it usually has to be filed down mechanically, and that filing happens millimetres above your natural nail.
A careful technician can remove acrylic without harm. But the margin for error is small, and if you have ever come out of an appointment with thin, bendy, sore nails, this step is almost certainly the reason.
The finish
Acrylic sets slightly opaque and can look thick near the cuticle if it is not applied well. It also yellows over time, particularly under sunlight — noticeable on a clear or nude set after a few weeks by the sea.
Gel cures glossy and stays clear. For French, nude and milky finishes, where any yellowing shows immediately, this is not a small detail.
Where acrylic still wins
We would not be honest if we said acrylic has no advantages. It is cheaper. It sets faster in experienced hands. And for extreme lengths — the very long stiletto sets you see in competition work — its rigidity genuinely holds up better.
But almost nobody walks into our salon in Durrës asking for a competition stiletto. They want a nail that looks natural, lasts three or four weeks, survives work and the sea, and does not wreck the nail underneath. For that brief, gel wins on every count that matters.
“We chose gel because we see the same clients every month for years. What matters is not how the set looks on day one — it is what their natural nail looks like after twenty removals.”
Quick comparison
- Odour: acrylic has a strong chemical smell, gel has almost none.
- Curing: acrylic sets in air, gel cures under a UV/LED lamp.
- Feel: acrylic is rigid, gel keeps a slight flex.
- Removal: gel soaks off in 10-15 minutes, acrylic usually needs filing.
- Colour over time: acrylic can yellow, gel stays clear.
- Cost: acrylic is cheaper, gel costs more in materials.
- Extreme length: acrylic holds better past a certain length.
If you currently wear acrylic
You do not have to grow it all out before switching. We remove the acrylic properly, assess the natural nail underneath, and in most cases we can build a gel set the same day. If your nails are thin from previous removals, we will tell you honestly and suggest a few weeks of builder gel overlay to let them recover before adding length.
Come in for a consultation and we will look at your nails before you commit to anything. It takes fifteen minutes and it is the difference between a set you love and a set you tolerate.