All things nails....

[QueenOfAllBiscuitsandMuffins]

I have 2 questions

1. Does anyone here who is not a nail technician do their own nails at home using the gel hybrids such as Gellux, Gelish, Shellac etc?

2. What have you found to be the most hard-wearing top coat to protect your colour nail polish? (this is not related to Q1, I mean normal nail polish)

I would like to start wearing colour on my nails again but with 2 young ones I seem to spend most of my time wrist deep in water/paint/playdough.

TIA

Seche vite top coat seems to have lots of fans but I'll how watching this with interest to see what others say. Recommendations for a base coat would also be good (not to hijack though!)

I do my own gel nails at home using Red Carpet Manicure products. It took a few goes to totally perfect the application but it's pretty easy and I think gives great results. As someone who loves having nice looking nails, I have saved myself a small fortune!

Thanks for your replies!

Wimbledonmummy - how long do your gel nails last?

I do my own gels (hybrid), used Artistic Colour Gloss, have now moved on to Gellux, not cheap to buy but def cheaper than having them done, plus, I do mine every week :)

Was going to do colour gels but they are harder to apply than hybrids which are more like nail varnish. I use a UV lamp, want to get an LED but they're still v pricey.

Can't comment on Red Carpet Manicure brand as have never tried, the ones I mentioned are professional brands, but am sure they're all the same?

The only diff between the two I've got is the clear ACG is 1 minute, and the clear Gellux is 2 mins. Colours are all 2 mins.

oh, if I didn't have time I can easily leave them on for 2 weeks, but my nails grow fast and I hate a big gap between the cuticle and the colour!

They certainly last a couple of weeks. I think being able to do them whenever I like means I've become more fussy about them growing out and don't let them go as long as I would do if I'd paid to have them done IYSWIM. They never chip so I could maybe even leave them longer.

Thanks, I keep wondering if it's just worth splashing out on the setup costs but then I don't really get them done that often. But if I had the kit I would probably do them a lot.

If you only do it once a month, it's not really worth it (taking into account the soaking off time, cuticle work, etc, application), but if you do it often (at least every 2 weeks) then it is worth it from a £ point of view - you get better and faster but obv it takes practice.
I soak off/file/sometimes do cuticles in evening, then put hand cream/oil on, and apply new colour following day; if I try to do it all at the same time it takes forever.....or seems like forever, don't forget you can only do one hand at a time, and whilst you are curing you can't do anything but sit there, so it takes longer than the salon.
Having said all this, I would never go back to normal nail polish, the most I could get it to last was 1 week and that was with a gel overlay.....