If you want salon styled Gel Nails, but don't want to pay $40-50 for them, then do it yourself! It's easy and fun. Below is the run down so you know how to get started. Don't be intimidated. I go into all the details which seems like a lot, but the only real skills you need are the same you use for regular polish. :)
Why Gel Polish?
It wears better than regular polish because as opposed to being hard when it dries, the gel nail polish is more bendy and gives instead of breaking. It can tear, but overall, I've found that gel nails are more forgiving. Usually they last me a week looking awesome (maybe a tiny nick here or there seen only to your own critical eye), but usually I keep them on for close to two weeks until they grow out and then I easily peal them off (But you can soak it off if you'd like). Oh and did I mention that you can find gel products for between $7-12? Yeah, not too shabby when they last longer than a day. :)
Things you need to start your own Gel Nail Salon:
36 Watt UV Lamp or 18 Watt LED Lamp
ph Bond
Base Coat (base foundation)
Top Coat (sealer)
Gel Color of Your Choice
The start up price for all of the above is between $50-120 depending on what brands you get (all of which can be purchased off Amazon), but its totally worth it if you love having your nails done a lot. Remember what you'd spend on one trip to the nail salon. :) My top coat bottle lasted a year before I bought a new one and I do my nails religiously every 2 weeks so I put a lot of use into that sucker! :) The colors will last you forever. (Whatever you purchase, pay attention to reviews!)
*Prices for the above mentioned items are listed under the Products & Pricing Tab.
Tips and Tricks for Gel Nails:
1. Do thin coats when painting with the Gel Polish. If you use too much, it will run into the side cracks of your nail and be thicker there or run onto your skin.
2. Stop just shy of the cuticle when painting the nail. I have found that if you try to pain the whole nail right to the cuticle, it ends badly with lots of correcting what has run over the cuticle. Paint without ever touching the cuticle. It just looks better.
3. Go around your nail with the fingernail of your other hand if you need to make sure you get any excess polish off your skin. If you don't, it will be stuck to your skin after you cure it in your lamp. This isn't the worst thing in the world, but it will start to peel and be annoying. It may also catch on things and then eventually tear off. If you have this happen, you can peel it off of the skin a tiny bit and clip it with nail clippers, then reseal with another round of top coat. But it is optimal to stay off the skin for a better and longer lasting finish.
4. Notice the cure time instructions on the back of each bottle. Lighter colors of Gelish need only be cured for one minute (it says on the bottle) under a UV lamp so be careful to not over cure or else it can start to bubble or warp the finish. Darker colors are to be cured for two minutes. For LED Lamps the time is even shorter (30 seconds or less).
5. Use Rubbing Alcohol to rub onto the Top Coat after you have cured it. This takes it from tacky to a perfect and smooth finish. Simply wet a cotton swab with the rubbing alcohol and rub over each nail after you have cured the Top Seal coat.
6. Stamp and Design!! This is my favorite thing about Gel Nails. After you have cured your top coat, you can go on your merry little way and be quite pleased with yourself...OR you can make them look even more fantastic with some stamping. I have used the 2nd Monster Bundle (25pc) set of nail stamps for $22 and the konad double ended nail stamper and scraper set ($5). You can order these off Amazon as well. (More information about stamp tools is under my Products & Pricing Tab). Make sure you don't order the first set of nail stamps from Bundle Monster which has a smaller width of design and doesn't quite fit the whole nail. The second set will fit most nails relatively well. On my thumb it still doesn't quite fit, but if you center it, it looks absolutely fine and you are the only one who will notice minor things like that anyway.
7. Removal. I just rip my gel polish off when I'm ready to be done with it. Some people may not like this method. It leaves your nails looking a little dry and flaky, which I don't mind. I simply file it smooth and redo my nails. But everyone's nails and sensitivity are different so you may not like the feel of ripping off the polish. So soak in some acetone for 15 minutes. If soaking becomes a pain because you have to repeatedly soak and scrape, soak and scrape, here is a link for possibly quicker and easier results.
http://athomeinthenorthwestblog.com/2012/05/how-to-remove-gel-nail-polish.html
Tips For Great Stamping:
Use regular nail polish for the stamped design, NOT GEL POLISH!! The amazing thing about stamping on gel polish product is that you can stamp on it with regular polish and if you make any mistakes, you can rub it off with acetone-free nail polish remover which will not affect the gel polish at all! Make sure your gel polish is cured and rubbed with alcohol before you start stamping. After the designs are done, put another top coat on and cure. Now you can rub the nail with more alcohol. Clean any mistakes after this process is all done with more acetone-free polish remover.
Using the nail stamper and scraper is easy. (These items are shown in the Products and Pricing tab). Simply dab some regular nail polish onto the design you wish to apply, then scrape off the excess with the scraper and immediately press while rolling the stamper across the design to pick it up. Then place it on your nail with another roll of the stamper, pressing firmly. This will take some practice. Do not be discouraged. :)
You can try any brand of nail polish you like for stamping. Some will naturally work better than others. Darker or more concentrated colors usually work best. Thin ones won't show up very well. I stamp with all different brands from O.P.I to Wet N' Wild and Pure Ice. It just totally depends.
If you go dark on your Gelish color, then go light on your stamp color for greater contrast. And vice versa. If you do a light color, pair it with a darker stamp. A light color paired with a medium stamp will offer a more subtle design, but then that might be what you want to go for. You can always try whatever you like! Play around with it.
Remember if you make any mistakes, you can rub the stamp off with acetone free nail polish remover and try again!
(*Step by step instructions for stamping are also listed after directions on how to apply Gel Polish in the Step By Step Instructions tab shown above.)
If it Ain't Workin'
You may need to clean out the stamp with nail polish remover after every time you stamp to make it pick up better. Again, this depends on the nail polish and sometimes it depends on the temperature or whether you are close to a vent or fan. Thicker nail polish remnants can start to dry in the cracks of the stamp in seconds making it difficult to re-fill with polish and be able to pull it out with the same clarity you did the first time. I usually clean out the stamp after every try with fingernail polish remover, then I wipe it dry before trying again. And make sure you get the residue off the stamper too after every try!
*Just as a side note: You can also apply stickers onto the finished Gelish product, but its a little tricky and I don't do it very often because of this. The sticker will stick to the Gelish product until you apply the topcoat to reseal it. This makes the edges of the sticker un-peel and you have to get a toothpick to press it down into the topcoat and then quickly cure it with hopes it won't rise again before it firms up. When it comes up and gets cured that way, it's annoying and get caught on things and rip off.
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