If you’re a woman with painted nails, your nail may look good but what goes underneath might be a different story.
In fact, if you’ve been using acrylic nails for years, there is a possibility that your nails have gotten weak over time and without acrylic, you are left with a crusty thin line that resembles a nail but not without its original function.
The bad news is, it’s just going to get worst if you don’t get it treated.
Such revelation will definitely create quite a reaction, especially in the beauty community but a 30-minute conversation with award-winning pedicure podiatrist Bastien Gonzales who was in Oman for the launching of his Pedi: Mani: Cure Studio by Bastien Gonzalez at Jumeirah Muscat Bay last week was not only educational but made the attendees look at nail art differently.
With more than 20 years under his belt in the wellness world made strong by his background in the medical field, Bastien has established himself as one of the world’s best, not just as a salon operator, but as a feet wellness hub operating within his exclusive niche.
His studio now has over 26 operations worldwide following a strict rule of 1 country, 1 hotel, 1 studio concept that way he doesn’t compete with himself and only partners with brands that understand the value of what he does.
What you’re doing wrong
Bastien shared that there had been numerous no-nos done by some salons not just in Oman but all over the world simply because the salon staff don’t know what they are doing.
“Often people who do manicures and pedicures, they don’t know what they’re doing because they are machines having taught to do something without understanding that what they are doing is not right,” he said.
He noted that mainly the over-pushing of cuticles, improper cutting of nails as well as the persistent use of acrylics and a new generation of nail paints are causing more harm than people realize.
“Many salons tend to overpush the cuticles. You will see as well that some totally remove these when in fact, they serve a very important function. If you imagine your nail going out from the body, from inside out, the cuticle is the closing door. If you cut too much or remove it, it’s an open door for germs. When I see customers coming in and they show me their cuticles, I tell them don’t touch your cuticles,” he said.
He added, “On the side of the nails, if you notice some white accumulations there, those are not cuticles but dead skin often pushed down but not taken out. So I have instruments that help take it out. So the approach we do is completely different.”
“Ingrown nails have nothing to do with the normal growth of your nail, it’s bad behaviour. Many people love to cut down very very low on the cuticle. There are times that you meet pedicure dealers that tend to do more harm because each time the nail grows, it becomes ingrown. So you always go back to the same salon because they know how to cut it. You’re hooked to them,” he said.
“When you go to a salon, you’re not supposed to bleed. Going for this service is supposed to be for pleasure. So if you go to a nail art salon or beauty salon, do beauty. Painting the nails is fine, but don’t touch the skin. That’s what I try to do more and more, we explain to people, ‘Be soft. Don’t be aggressive.'”
On acrylic nails, Bastien explained, “Women who have bad nails start to have beautiful nails when they use acrylic nails but what is happening is that the body is very lazy. What happens is that if you put an acrylic nail or fake nail, then the body, being lazy, will no longer create strong nails. What the body does is that it stops putting energy into creating good nails.”
“After a few years of being accustomed to acrylic nails, when you remove it, you no longer have nails. so what you end up with is this very thin line that covers the tip of your fingers and you have women freaking out because they don’t have nails,” he said.
“I use acrylic nails for medical reasons. When you break your nails, then that’s the time I recommend it to fix broken nails. But acrylic nail is not good for the long term,” he said.
He warned, “Now there is a new generation of nail paints, these do not nail polish but products similar to car paints. In car factories, they have to use masks to spray them. Being in the wellness world, I will not allow this in my studio. We don’t have them because these are harmful products. What they do is fuse with the nails, they penetrate the nails and get very strong. It’s even worst when you take them out because you go through aggressive procedures to remove them.”
Bastien said that as part of his education program, he tells people that “Nails are dead they don’t breathe. But the bed of the nail breaths. Nails are porous which is why when you keep your nails in water, they become weak. Nails are porous that’s why the bed of the nail can breathe through it — oxygen can come in and carbon dioxide goes out through the nails.”
But when you put colours and plastic, the oxygen cannot go in and the carbon cannot go out so they are trapped in between the bed and the nail and over time, weaken the nail. That’s why when you remove the colours, you would notice white spots, it has nothing to do with calcium but the space between layers has no zinc that glues them together. This is why the scientific approach is important,” he shared.
Education and emotion
Bastien explained that his studio is not just a classic nail salon.
“As much as you have different salons in Oman, we do something that none of them does, we cure feet. We come from a medical background but we don’t want to present ourselves as doctors even if we have medical degrees we want to be able to cure people’s feet and teach them how to take care of their feet which is something very important,” Bastien said on the sideline of the launching.
“Mani: Pedi Cure is not painting the nails. It is curing the nails that are often abused by nail art that I have nothing against. We not only cure the nails but also the skin, the feet and the leg with massages. When you have cured the nails and you have cured the skin, and there is no more problem, then you focus on the wellness part,” he said.
“When you come to us, we cure. We want you to feel that you’re feeling good and that you don’t have any more pain,” he said.
He added, “But for those who want their nails coloured, then we do colour touch. We do a lot of touches. Massage touch and so on but they are not under the Pedicure de Bastien. We paint because it’s part of the protocol. But when it comes to the brand, I never change and compromise my philosophy.”
“For Jumeirah Muscat Bay, I created Mani:Pedi: CURE studio where I give them training and knowledge personally. We go through all the process of recruitment and training following the training in Paris and the studio here is to create an experience based on education and emotion,” he explained.
“I have created a whole set of instruments. When you want to do things differently, you have to think 360 degrees. That includes inventing instruments that are designed for a specific purpose. Overall, what we want to do here is, other than education, work on the emotion, make people smile and make them learn something,” he said.
Looking forward to doing more in Oman
With his studio in Oman, Bastien said that he really enjoys the country and has been coming here for a long time.
He also shared that he is looking forward to sharing what he knows with a lot of people living in the country showing them a different side of wellness that not a lot of people know to exist.
He is also proud to partner with Jumeirah and has secured in Talise Spa one of the best spots to do his services overlooking the beautiful Muscat Bay panoramic view.
A pioneer in the field of bespoke hand and foot beauty for over two decades, Bastien Gonzalez is a recognized and award-winning pedicure podiatrist with outlets in luxury hotel establishments around the world. The uniqueness of his concept lies in the synergy between treatment, beauty and well-being. His treatment protocols are based on medical-grade care for the nail, resulting in restored, incredibly shiny and healthy nails. The ultimate secret of these exceptional treatments is their relaxing properties: whether for a hand or foot treatment, a massage is performed which relieves any muscle tension or heaviness from toe-to-knee or finger-to-elbow.
“At Jumeirah Muscat Bay, we are committed to working with leading wellness practitioners from around the world to offer exclusive treatments and products that get results. We are delighted to partner with award-winning Bastien Gonzalez to provide our guests with his breakthrough treatments, which will deliver a truly transformational experience for our guests.” Said Zeki Ozal, General Manager – Jumeirah Muscat Bay.
Combining unique treatment concepts developed by experts in the French medical pedicure field with specialised, innovative products developed in collaboration with cosmetologists and formulated using responsibly sourced natural ingredients, Pedi:Mani: Cure Studio by Bastien Gonzalez promises to bring a memorable experience for all its guests.
