Gel nails at home

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When doing your own gel nails, does the actual colour polish need to be high quality, or will this not matter as long as you use a high quality top and base coat?

I have used normal nail polish between gel base and top coats, but I find that it doesn't last as long. Using actual gel colour seems to give a better finish too as it evens out better under the lamp.

Thank you! I do have a gel polish for the colour but it is a bluesky one and I don't know if it will last well even though I'm using cnd shellac top and base coats!

Ideally you should use the same brand for colour, base and top (primer if you use it) as they aren’t all compatible, although most are.
Most professional gel polishes are of a similar quality (Jessica, ibd, orly, shellac etc)
Bluesky isn’t bad though.
Ultimately good, long lasting gel polish is all in the prep and application.

I use Bluesky for top coat, base coat and colours and i get 3 weeks out of it. The secret is thin layers. So rather than 2 thick layers, id put on 4 thin layers. Its time consuming but worth it. Ive found though that the colour depends on how many layers i need to do. Some need less. Youll know as soon as you paint it on how opaque it goes on.

Thank you both, that's really helpful!