9 answers, none of them "it depends"
How long it lasts
The most-asked question in this trade and the one most often answered with a shrug. Here is what each thing on the price list actually does, and what shortens it.
| What | Typically | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Regular polish on hands | 3 to 5 days | Dry to the touch in ten minutes and genuinely hard in about an hour. Chips at the free edge first. A top coat every second day roughly doubles it. |
| Regular polish on toes | 2 to 3 weeks | The same polish lasts four times as long on toes, because toes do not open things. |
| Gel on hands | 2 to 3 weeks | Hard when you leave. It does not chip; it LIFTS, at the cuticle or a side wall, and that is your signal to book rather than to pick. |
| Gel on toes | 4 to 6 weeks | Usually outlasts the growth, so what brings you back is the gap at the base rather than the finish. |
| Structured gel | 3 weeks | The structure is what buys the third week: a soft nail flexing under a rigid colour is what cracks an ordinary gel manicure at day twelve. |
| Builder gel overlay | 3 to 4 weeks between fills | Refilled rather than removed. Most people are on a four-week cycle within three visits. |
| Acrylic | 2 to 3 weeks between fills | The set does not fail at three weeks; it goes out of balance. The regrowth moves the stress point down the nail and that is when nails start breaking at the side. |
| Hard gel | 3 weeks between fills | Slightly longer than acrylic, mostly because it is lighter and flexes with the nail instead of against it. |
| Nail art | As long as what it is painted on | Art does not have a wear life of its own. Painted over gel it lasts as long as the gel; painted over regular polish it lasts as long as the polish, which is days. |
Nothing on this page is a promise
Wear is a fact about your hands, not about the product. Somebody who washes dishes for a living and somebody who works at a keyboard will get different answers from the same appointment, and no salon that tells you otherwise is being straight with you. What the shop controls is the prep, the application and the cure; what you do with your hands for the next fortnight is the other half.
The four things that shorten it most
Hot water and detergent without gloves, which lifts a gel from underneath at the free edge. Using your nails as tools, which is why the first casualty is nearly always the index finger of your dominant hand. Cuticle oil not being used, which leaves the nail plate rigid so it cracks the film on top. And picking at the first lift, which turns a fortnight into a week and takes layers of nail with it.
Gel does not chip, it lifts
Regular polish chips: a piece comes off the top. Gel lifts: the whole film starts to separate, usually at the cuticle or one side wall, and the rest of it stays perfect. That is why a set can look flawless and still be finished, and it is the signal to book rather than to wait for it to look bad.
Why toes are different
Toes do not open packaging, wash up, or go into pockets. The same gel that manages a fortnight on hands routinely does four to six weeks on toes, and what brings you back is usually the gap at the base rather than anything failing.
Everything here has a cadence. Most services have a cadence — a gel manicure at two to three weeks, a fill at two to three, a pedicure at four. We will offer you the date before you leave, and if you would rather not take one then, the reminder comes by e-mail when it is due.
The length is worked out, not assumed. Every service on this site has a length against it, and every add-on adds its own minutes. The calendar adds them up before it looks for a slot, so the time you are offered is a time that actually fits what you asked for.
The short answers
How long does regular polish on hands last?
3 to 5 days. Dry to the touch in ten minutes and genuinely hard in about an hour. Chips at the free edge first. A top coat every second day roughly doubles it.
How long does regular polish on toes last?
2 to 3 weeks. The same polish lasts four times as long on toes, because toes do not open things.
How long does gel on hands last?
2 to 3 weeks. Hard when you leave. It does not chip; it LIFTS, at the cuticle or a side wall, and that is your signal to book rather than to pick.
How long does gel on toes last?
4 to 6 weeks. Usually outlasts the growth, so what brings you back is the gap at the base rather than the finish.
How long does structured gel last?
3 weeks. The structure is what buys the third week: a soft nail flexing under a rigid colour is what cracks an ordinary gel manicure at day twelve.
How long does builder gel overlay last?
3 to 4 weeks between fills. Refilled rather than removed. Most people are on a four-week cycle within three visits.
How long does acrylic last?
2 to 3 weeks between fills. The set does not fail at three weeks; it goes out of balance. The regrowth moves the stress point down the nail and that is when nails start breaking at the side.
How long does hard gel last?
3 weeks between fills. Slightly longer than acrylic, mostly because it is lighter and flexes with the nail instead of against it.
How long does nail art last?
As long as what it is painted on. Art does not have a wear life of its own. Painted over gel it lasts as long as the gel; painted over regular polish it lasts as long as the polish, which is days.
Six tables · three pedicure chairs · a published price for everything
Book an appointment
Pick the service and any add-ons and the calendar adds up the minutes before it looks for a slot, so the times you are offered are times that actually fit what you asked for. A pedicure also needs one of the three chairs, and if none is free at four o'clock on a Saturday it will say so rather than book you in and hope.