Is it worth getting my own nail lamp and gel varnishes?

[DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel]

I get my nails done every 3-4 weeks. Ive been going there 3 years and pay £17 a time. However, there is not a lot of choice plus there has been a couple of times when its not been put on that well.

Anyway looking into Ebay I can pick up a lamp, some colours, acetone and supplies for a little under £60.

Im considering just doing it myself every week or two at home. The thing is how much money would I spend on replenishing stock? Would it work out more expensive? Plus where I go puts on gel before the colour. I would just put on the colour (with a base and top coat)

Im asking because once I decide not to go to my regular place Id feel uncomfortable going back if I decided it is better going to a proper place.

Does anyone else do it themselves? How does it compare with going to a nail place?

[Minshu]

Don't know from personal experience but a friend has just bought her own kit and is delighted

[Tanfastic]

I use Sensationail and love it. Do mine once a fortnight and have a good collection now of polishes.

It definitely won't work
Out more expensive.

[maz100]

DO it . It's the best purchase I've made lately . I bought the mylee kit off amazon . I buy polishes from eBay for £5 each so not too bad . So much cheaper than salon .

[DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel]

I think I might do. Had them done on Saturday and have had to sort one this morning. I've not even knocked it either.

[LooseSeal]

I've recently got a lamp starter kit from eBay - new not second hand - for about £45. That was lamp, top and base coat, a choice of three coloured polishes and some wipes. It's made by Bluesky who also make a huge range of polishes. It's pretty good, and certainly saves me money, unfortunately the timer on the lamp has stopped working so I have to use the stopwatch on my phone instead, but that's not a huge problem.

I get polishes for about £5 on eBay too, and I'd recommend if you do buy your own lamp to get a bottle of "Shiny Finish" liquid, which you can use to clean up any mistakes before you set the polish and to wipe off the sticky residue left after you've finished doing your nails.

[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtle]

I got a starter kit from amazon, lamp, base and top coat, three colours, and wipes for £45. I'm pretty pleased with it so far!! I just don't have time to get mine done as often as I'd like and I'm sure it will work out cheaper as I pay £25 around here each time.

[BleachEverything]

My SiL bought something like that and it works a treat!

[Duckdeamon]

While you're deciding why not just complain if the quality of the job from the salon is poor, or go back to get them to correct problems?

[cuntyMcCunterson]

I've had mine for 18 months (ish) and have saved myself a fortune! I redo my polish every 2/3 weeks depending on nail growth (not chipping as it very rarely chips) and its very rare that I have bare nails now. I also use bluesky, after being recommended the polish by my beautician- I actually prefer bluesky to cnd or red carpet.
The only thing I'd say I replenish a lot is acetone for removal but that's fairly cheap. The other bits and pieces last a long time and don't seem to need replenished at the same time which is good!
I now have a collection of about 40 polishes and often do my friends and family if asked, especially round holiday times.

[DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel]

Duck Im just going to complain with my feet and stop going TBH. I dont do complaining if I can help it. I know I should more, but most of the time I just decide to not use that service any more.

Thanks for the advice everyone I will invest in some nail stuff.

[rollonthesummer]

Any tips for doing your own gel toe nails from those who diy? I presume you file the nails, push down cuticles and then paint on a base coat. Then cure with the UV lamp, put a couple of coats of colour on, cure each and then put a top coat on and cure, wipe sticky residue off? At what stage do you put diamanté bits on if you want them? Any top tips for getting it to look really good? Thin coats, I presume? Any good makes of varnish?

[rollonthesummer]

And what do you do after the 3 weeks they're on for? How do you do the infills?

[AllThatGlistens]

Yep I've got a home kit and it's fab, so much less faff.

I don't wear charms or diamanté bits but I assume you'd put them on before the top coat

I don't bother infilling either, just soak off every few weeks and redo, it takes me 20 mins tops.

[DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel]

rollon the same at the place I go to. Soak off and re-do in a new colour. Im not having the same colour every time. I get bored far too easily for that. Plus most of the people I know get their nails done and have them changed each time. I wasn't aware many had infills. I thought that was more for false nails as opposed to gel nails (or is there not much different?)

Do the nails break easily?

[BlueberryMuffins76]

I've got an led lamp from eBay and use Gellux polishes from Amazon, practice does make perfect but I've saved so much money and love doing them myself.

[ADesperateMummy]

Does anyone have a link to the sets they've brought?

[knittingbat]

Could someone give me step by step instructions for getting them off yourself? always destroyed my nails while doing it and find it a hassle going back to get it done! Would also love to see link to these kits :-)

[minibmw2010]

I have the Sensationail kit and I clearly do something wrong as when it comes to the last stage where it should all be cured and you're just wiping away residue I get loads of colour coming off, boo.

[A57]

I do this and have done for 2 years - it's worth it totally!

[A57]

@knittingbat I pick mine off which is terrible! I do also have some lint that I soak in the remover and then wrap foil around my fingers but you can't do a single thing for 15 mins when it's on and I am a fidget bum and can't sit still for that long!

[cuntyMcCunterson]

For removal I buff the top coat well to remove all the shine, soak a small piece of cotton wool in acetone place it on the nail and wrap in foil. I then stick my hand under my legs to keep it warm for 10 mins. After this the polish flakes off. If there are any stubborn bits I wrap them again for s couple of mins too it's all off. I'm really careful not to rush the removal as I think picking it off/over buffing the nail plate is a sure fire way to ruin my nails.

[cuntyMcCunterson]

m.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=Bluesky+gel+polish+kit&isNewKw=1&isRefine=true&mfs=KWCLK&acimp=0&_trksid=&sqp=
This is a link to similar kits to mine