Gel Nail Polish 101 +How To

I’m sure most people have heard of gel nail polish by now. If not, it’s basically a type of nail polish that needs a UV light to dry. It’s like getting fake gel nails done, but it’s just nail polish and it can last for weeks without chipping.

My Story:

When I first heard of gel polish, I wanted to do my own gel nail polishing so. I began by buying the UV lamp, base and top coat, pH bond, rubbing alcohol, acetone and a few colours from eBay as it was a much cheaper option than buying from a store. All the polishes I got were much bigger than the more expensive brands. For 15ml it was just $4 each versus the more well known brand such as Gelish, Shellac, OPI gels, Quo and so on which sell for about $10-$15 and they’re only 0.5ml or floz. It’s ridiculous the price on some of these. I did however purchase a few Quo ones because that’s all they had when I first went to the store. I also didn’t expect much from the products I bought from Ebay since they were no name.

Once I finally received all of my purchases I was excited to try them out. The UV light worked fine, did its job. I wiped my nailed with rubbing alcohol followed by a coat of pH bond. I tried the no name base gel, it was ok, but I think I would prefer to buy a better quality one. The top coat seemed to work better than the base gel so I was satisfied with that, although they were the same brand. As for the colours, the ones from eBay were just dreadful. They didn’t go on right at all and the colours were bad, didn’t even look like the pictures from eBay, which I guess is almost expected. I ended up trying the ones I got from Quo which went on much much better. The beige one was not quite as opaque as I’d like but the pink one went on quite nicely.

In the end, it did turn out alright for my first time. I learned be careful to not get it on/around your cuticles because once cured it can lift off of your skin and can peel the whole thing off, which of course, happened to me. I also think I put too much on because it kind of flooded my cuticles, another reason why it probably peeled off easily. The day after I did them I ended up peeling them all off and did it again that night but more properly as I knew what I should and shouldn’t do. Just a side not, peeling them off definitely isn’t good for your nails, you should never peel anything off your nails. Before redoing them, I moisturized them with my vitamin E oil and prepped them once more. My number one piece of advice is your doing your own gel nail polish, go for quality, it will turn out a hell of a lot better and you’ll just waste money if you try and go cheaper. Guarantee you’ll end up just throwing them away and going for the better brand.

I’ve since bought numerous Gelish nail polishes and the Quo top and bottom coat. The lamp still works awesome.

A gel manicure I did back in March before going to New Orleans *partay*

All in all, I think gel nail polish is definitely awesome, it lasts for weeks and looks great! I also love the fact that since it’s so solid, it strengthens your nails. My nails are very thin in the way that they can easily bend without breaking, and when I had the gel nail polish on, my nails became super strong, it helps fight against breaking and splitting nails for sure! One thing I’m not so thrilled about is the fact that it probably damages your natural nail quite a bit since you have to basically dry out your nail for the polish to stick better and last longer.

Below I’ve listed the steps to doing it the proper way and some tips to make your manicure that much better!

How to do a gel nail polish manicure:

1. Prep your nails by shaping and pushing back your cuticles so it’s all neat and tidy.
2. Buff your nails to take the shine away but avoid over buffing as it can make your nails thin and weak.
3. Wash your hands so they’re squeaky clean and with some rubbing alcohol on a cotton pad, quickly wipe each nail so there’s no oil or debris.
4. Brush a coat of pH bond onto each nail to dehydrate the nail.
5. Apply a then coat of base gel and cure for 2 minutes.
6. There will be a slight tacky residue top, you can either wipe it away with rubbing alcohol or leave it. I find that the professionals usually leave it.
7. Apply your first coat of polish of your chosen colour and cure for 2 minutes. Repeat with a 2nd coat of the colour. Make sure to apply enough but not so much that it floods your cuticles or creates a blob. If you get any on your skin, wipe it with a Q-tip before curing.
8. Apply a final coat of the top gel and cure for 2 minutes and wipe off the tacky residue with robbing alcohol. The top coat should be left shiny. Your nails should be dry right away and you can go about your day, one of the best parts about gel nail polish!

To remove the polish:

1. Buff the nail with the polish so the shine is gone.
2. Soak your nails in acetone for 10-15 minutes (there’s these cute nail soakers you can get from Ebay!).
3. The nail polish should then come off easily, if not, soak longer.
4. Moisture your nails by applying Vitamin E oil to help refresh and heal your nail. You can go ahead and do your nails again if you like or let them rest and breathe for a few days.

Tips:

• You need at least a 36 watt UV lamp to do the job properly.
• If you need to cure for longer, by all means do so, the time I gave is just an estimate.
• Make sure to use enough polish but not too much or it will flood your cuticles.
• Moisture your cuticles once finished with your manicure!
• Avoid peeling the polish off.
• Use a pH bond to help the nail polish stick and last longer.
• Normal nail polish remover doesn’t do the trick to remove the tackiness or the gel polish.

Happy Monday!