Does anyone (amateur) do their own gel nails at home (successfully)?

[iknowimcoming]

Started getting my nails done regularly at the end of last year but original person has now quit and new person whilst lovely is so slow it's driving me crackers (an hour and a half plus for a soak off and re-gel). So I wondered how expensive it is to buy the lamp etc and do it myself, since I'm fairly competent at normal nail polish. Was surprised to find kits on amazon for around £30-35 which get good reviews - just wondering if anyone on here has done this and is it as good as a professional manicure? Thanks muchly in advance

I do now. I use blue sky hard gel and then paint over the top. I’ve got the Terresa UV lamp. Cost me £60 for the lamp, blue sky hard gel, base coat, one colour and top coat. I will probably buy a nail colour every month. That £60 is the cost of two nail appointments where I am

I love boots sensational. so easy to do but buy the blue sky gels from amazon, they're loads cheaper.

Yep, I do - invested about £100 on kit, learnt the methods on YouTube, never looked back! I even do my own extensions.

Don't go really cheap, but a middle of the road lamp (£30-£60) and mid range gel polish (like Bluesky) is good quality and should be fine. Read up on how to do it properly (prep, base etc, especially if you have weak or brittle nails) and you won't regret it. Good luck!

I do, I haven't been doing them long but I get respectable results, good results if I take my time.

I didn't spend as much as others, but I spent a lot of time researching. I use Mylee gels, I got a starter set of gels on groupon then bought a lamp on Amazon.

Yes, I've been doing my own nails for about 3 years now. I buy expensive branded base, top coats and builder gel to strengthen and extend my own nails but any brand of gel colour is fine.

I've been wondering about doing this too but wasn't sure if you could buy the hard gel base online, so great to read this.

I use CND shellac. Lamp was about £30 (not CND). Taught myself from YouTube tutorials.

The lamp has to match the brand of gel or the acrylic doesn’t cure & uncured acrylic is highly allergenic.

It’s impossible to buy cnd unless you’re qualified in manicures. Their supply chain is tight. You can purchase colour matched gel very easily, they even copy shades discontinued 5+ years ago.

@CatToddlerUprising please can you tell me more about the blue sky hard gel? I just do normal gel manicures at home but this sounds interesting... what does it do and how do I use it?

@TashieWoo- you can use it to create extensions with nail forms but I just do one layer on my natural nail. This video is good- m.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJS8tSyakM

I used to using bluesky polish.
As long as you ‘cap’ the nail properly they last as long as professional in my experience and look just as good.
I tend to just stick with regular cheap clear nail polish these days however

Does anyone have any links for what you're using/doing to remove the gel? That's the bit I struggle with and end up making a mess of my own nails

Yes I do, or did. I ended up being allergic to them and not entirely sure why, but Dr google says it may be because I painted the gel too close to my skin / on it and so I’ve now got sensitivity to it

So make sure you don’t do that!

If you’re in London I’ve got the full kit that I need to sell at some point!

I buy gel remover from amazon, you buff the nails to scuff the gel and then paint the stuff on. In five minutes it starts to bubble off.
I do also soak a bit of nail varnish remover and I have finger clips from tesco to hold them against the nails to get the last of it off.
I've got so much better at doing my own gels now. The trick is to do really thin layers and paint the end of the nail too.
None of my gels are the same brand as the lamp and they seem to stay on happily for a few weeks without chipping.
My nails do suffer so I do three weeks on and three weeks off.
My favourite is heat changing nail gel, I love watching it change colour.

does it damage your nails? i'd like to do it, but am worried about that

@ShirleyPhallus yes that is partly why. It’s a combination of getting on your skin and using the wrong lamp for the brand or type of nail polish. If the polish doesn’t cure properly due to the lamp being not “bright” enough (in layman’s terms) then it allows the chemicals to leech into your skin. Unfortunately once you’ve developed the allergy you’re stuck with it, so you won’t be able to ever have gel again without a reaction. It’s also cumulative, and you can end up losing your nails so it’s a good thing you stopped when you did.

Unfortunately this is going to become more and more of a problem as people don’t want to pay professionals for a service they are trained and qualified to provide. If you do decide to ignore all the risks and do your own nails, don’t for goodness sake offer to do other people’s as well, either for free or to try and make a bit of money.

I’m not a nail professional so I have no horse in this race, but I did a lot of research into this when I was thinking of buying my own lamp. Stick with regular nail polish, it’s so much safer.

Thanks @gingersausage, that makes sense. The polish I have specifically goes with the lamp so I can only assume I’ve been too heavy handed with it!

Have you got any views on dip nail polish instead? I’ve heard it’s meant to be better allergy wise because there is no curing involved?

@ImpossibleGirl86 that's exactly the same with me. I can paint my own nails really neatly and can't spare the time/money to get them done professionally at the moment but it's the difficulty in removal that 100% puts me off buying a kit and doing it myself :(

You really don't need to spend stupid money on a branded lamp. What you need to do is make sure that the brand of gel you are using is compatible with the lamp you buy i.e. the light spectrum it emits is in the band needed by the gel product.

It's science the brand thing is just a money making scam so they can charge 10x the price for the exact same lamp with a sticker on it!

Everyone has to start somewhere @gingersausage! I’ve just spent the morning researching this and I’m now very excited to get started on my own nails tomorrow - so thank you, op!

That’s factually incorrect Chequerboard, it’s not a scam. Dry doesn’t mean cured, neither does a long service time.

www.nailsmag.com/346465/led-nail-lamps-they-work-well-but-only-with-certain-products.

Acrylic allergy doesn’t just affect nails, what happens if you fall over and need bone cement? That’s acrylic, also dentists use acrylic.

@CandiceSucksCandy can you please link to the gel remover you buy from Amazon. And after you've done that, do you just use cotton wool pads soaked in remover and then hold them on with nail clips (that I'm going to have to google!)?
Thanks.

And after you've done that... I mean and after you've used that, what do you do next. Not after you've posted the link!

WingDefence
These are nail clips, they generally aren't expensive I use them over a bit of cotton pad soaked in varnish remover. It's never longer than 10 minutes. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01463FUJW/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_6LKAEbKYVZH95?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
This is the bottle of remover, I leave it on for about 5 minutes www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07V9D2ZWN/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_LIKAEbWRVP96B?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
I do scuff the gel first with an emery board.
I also use a nail strengthener with keratin in it as gels do weaken your nails.
This is the lamp I have www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VZBNYHY/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_Z3KAEbF0MTFT9?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
I use sunscreen when I gel too, and I think I might get some fingerless gloves.
I don't use my lamp more than every 6 weeks or so but it does emit UVB

Thank you! Hope this helps you too @iknowimcoming.