Gel nail varnish at home?

[BitchyInnerMonologue]

I like nail varnish, but can't afford Gelish/salon nails.

Is there anything I can do at home that's similar? Normal varnish doesn't last on me past a day or two.

I have a 'Sensationail' gel kit from boots and buy the gel polishes on amazon / ebay for about £6 each. I do my own at home they are so much better than normal polishes, like you mine chips within about 10mins!

I love that the gel is completely dry immediately. Takes me about 30mins to do a few coats.

How do you get gel nail varnish off and does it ruin your nails?

Hasnt ruined mine and ive been doing them for a few years now. you can buy remover (which is basically nail varnish remover - acetone) and soak them off but i admit i pick them off. Depends how well you buff your nails beforehand.

One of my closest friends is a beauty therapist and qualified gel nail technician and she even told me that if i am gentle enough then picking them off once they naturally start to life (couple of weeks depending how they grow) wont ruin them.

I did mine on Saturday I will post a picture.

Typos beforehand. I meant lift, not life!

Here are mine.

Oooo lovely! Very shiny! I think I'll give that set a try. I always used to have painted nails prior to having DS but just find they chip so easily and then I look a mess until I have the time to take the chipped polish off.

I bought a set on Amazon last Christmas. It's great, takes about 30 mins to do all the coats but then it lasts a few weeks.

I got a gel kit from groupon for x mas. Very good for 25 quid.

Orly nail polish with Essie gel setter on the top. It makes any polish turn into a gel like polish and lasts a week without chipping. Even salon gel doesn’t last on me!

Love these!

Essie gel polish with their top coat as mentioned above. No lamp required. Incredible stuff. I sold my Sensationail kit after discovering it.

Yup. Essie gel polish is brilliant stuff!

Well, I've tried Essie polish before, and I wasn't too impressed, but that was the normal polish I think.

Boots have the Sensationail starter gel kit on offer, so have ordered that to see. Used points/vouchers so doesn't really cost anything and I'm hoping to pick it up today and start tonight. Will update when I've had a go!

Well, it was dead easy to do, and (apart from my usual wobbly hand painting the nails!) looks good.

I'll see how it lasts though!

Well, onto day 2 and it's still intact. I'm usually taking polish off in frustration by now!

Given the comparable prices for the polish compared to my usual stuff, it's about 50% more expensive but it's lasting much longer, so overall, probably worth it.

I'm thinking about buying the converter for my usual polishes - so will see how that goes.

They look lovely! What colour is that? Those using the Essie gel polish- how long does each coat take to set? I have sensationail but don’t really do it often enough to be good at it and can’t leave it on long because of work. Then it’s a bit of a pain to remove so interested in alternatives.

It's the Express Gel, Taupe to Bottom.

It's nice and simple - great for work.

How do you convert regular nail polishes? I have loads of nice colours but have given up using them because they chip in less than 24 hours. Treated myself to a gel starter kit from Amazon and I can get a week out of them.

I am a recent convert to nail wraps.
Put some on on Xmas eve and they still look good.
Have washed up, swum and generally treated them not very well and they're still pretty.

Is the Rimmel gel polish any use?

Well, according to the sensationail website, you can either do a mix, or just paint over like a top coat.

I've tried nail wraps; ex-friend was a Jamberry consultant. Please see Style & Beauty threads on MTM bots for reasons she's an ex-friend.
They're okay, but killed my nails.

As an update, I've been bowling. Two games. And they're still intact!

That makes sense - use the gel base, normal colour varnish then gel top coat. Might try it after I've finished shovelling cheese into my mouth!

Thanks

I'm on a long term quest for something that will last more than 3 hours. Shellac does it a treat but I can't afford regular salon treatments and it trashes my nails (suspect that's the removal more than the shellac). I bought the Rimmel gel polish and it will last about three days if I top up the top coat daily. Bought a sensational trial kit but it was missing an element and so I haven't tried it. Do you think I should replace the missing element and go sensational or try the essie top coat to convert?

I got a set for Christmas from a brand called Classy Nails. All the products are Shellac except the UV lamp.
I'm going to order a few polishes from blue sky's too as they get good reviews.
This was my third time doing them. I got over a week out of each previous one, could've stretched it longer but I'm enjoying the novelty of not having to have chipped nails.
I removed them by soaking them for ten minutes then gently removing using tool provided. There's no damage to my nails so far and I've been having shellac before this for 3 months.

I've just searched the Essie top coat and the reviews suggest it's not good? Goes gloopy and stringy in the bottle very quickly? Have you had that experience?

I use sensationail too, and while it never makes 2 weeks, I get a week out of it, which to be honest is how long gel lasts on me even if I go to a salon for a manicure. And at a fraction of the cost I'll take it!! It's also never caused me any issues with my nails, even if I've ended up peeling it off if I've run out of acetone - it actually leaves them in a much better state than shellac/gelish etc. I use the polish converter with Essie colours (mixed in 50/50, not as a topcoat) and mix in a little pot.

I got a mylee uv kit for Christmas with bluesky gel polish. It certainly lasts! It has dried out my finger nails though and was a bugger to get off. Had to soak nails in the gel polish remover for 15 mins and then scrape off.