Gel Nails at home

[Meredith99]

I have just brought a nail lamp and the polished but a complete novice. I put base coat on then three layers of polish and top coat. Took ages under the lamp and still felt tacky. Am I supposed to wipe after each lamp session? I’m using Bluesky polish. Any tips would be gratefully appreciated. Thank you

Did you wipe off the residue at the end with the nail prep and wipe stuff?

I’ve had the same.
It also peels off within 3 days :-( I’m trying to figure out how to stop it peeling or what I’m doing wrong

I have the mylee lamp and use mygel polish and always have amazing results. I do the following - use a file to buff shine off nails, prep wipe, base coat, 30secs in lamp, thin coat then 30 secs in lamp (repeat 3 times) then top coat and 1m in lamp. Finish with prep wipe on top.

And in terms of peeling the key is getting the shine off your nails first and using suuuuper thin coats. Good luck! It's amazing once you get the hang of it.

You can use olive or veg oil to take the sticky residue off at the end.
Also, do not get any of the gel on the skin around your nail or that may cause them to peel and also cap the tip. Good luck!

Hi thanks all! No I don’t have prep and wipe? What is this and when do I use it?

You use it on the clean nail before putting the polish on and then use it at the end to remove residue.

www.mylee.co.uk/nail-care/prep-wipe/mylee-prep-wipe-250-ml.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6ZbK-KaY7QIVkoBQBh1ilgVmEAQYASABEgLEofD_BwE

Think my dd has the mylee stuff too

i have the blue sky lamp and stuff!

nail prep is really important...buff gently to take off the shine from your own nail and then I use the Acid Free Primer and just let that air dry

super thin coats of everything and cure each coat as you go.

my nails are ridiculously flimsy so once I have the base coat on I put on a couple of coats of Hard Gel and if I can see that it is a bit uneven as it is quite goopy then I will use the wipes/cotton wool with the polish cleanser before giving that a buff over to even it up to get a smooth surface

then two or even three (for the dark colours) thin layers of polish, cure each one, then top coat, use the wipes/polish cleanser and you are done. I do find you have to be quite generous with the wipes/cleanser but I have not had a problem with peeling at all

Are you curing them all for the right time? It's 30 secs for base and 60 secs for everything else.

I am so pleased with my set and saving so much, my nail lady was really fabulous but £30 every three weeks...I have saved a fortune, get to indulge my amazon habit for pretty things (polishes, stamps, brushes, glitter) an d still be quids in!! :o

And really my nails probably only ever lasted two and a bit weeks so for that last week before my appointment I would be trying not to pick any ifting edges, or nursing a horrid chip or break, now if that happens I can re do a single nail and have had much less bother with lifting edges.

Ooh thank you. So I wipe with this at the start then add the base coat and put under the lamp, then colour and under the lamp then wipe with this? Then add another layer and keep going?

You don't need to wipe between layers I don't believe - just before putting any gel on and at the very end!

And capping your nails is a great bit of advice! Making sure you go over the end of your nail rather than just stopping helps it stay for longer.

Make sure you are not curing for too long under the lamp - I found that my nails weren't lasting long and when I searched online, apparently over-curing can cause issues with them lasting too.

just wipe the nails at the start, then once the top coat is on....they are all designed to meld together into a strong shiny layer

I only rewipe if I have buffed the Hardgel, to get rid of any dust and to treat that surface as the starting surface for the colour polish, but if I have done a good job and it's not bumpy to need buffing then I just do the colour
It's usually my right hand that I have to buff a bit...I am not good at applying the thicker gel with my left hand to get such even results as on my left hand!

Definitely wipe the nails before, and thin coats, avoiding the cuticle/skin otherwise it WILL lift. I cure each layer for 60 sec as I found for some polishes 30 didn’t seem to be long enough, and haven’t had a problem with over curing.
I have the Sensationail lamp and tended to use their polishes as I couldn’t find any cheaper ones that were as good, but in the summer came across Halo gel polishes and I’m finding them brilliant - huge range of colours and finishes, colour goes on consistently/not streaky so I can usually get away with 2 coats instead of 3, and really shiny. They also do a no-wipe top coat, which I was dubious about but is fine. And a bargain compared to what I was using before - about £5/£6 a bottle.
The only thing I’ve been less impressed with is a matt top coat, but only because as soon as you touch your nails oil transfers from your fingers and it’s not lovely and matt any more!

Thank you so much!

@Iliketeaagain I didn’t know you can overcure! That and thick coats of base/colour/top could be my issue.my colours seem to be thick from the bottle aswell as the base and top. What can I use to thin them down or is it a brand thing?
My colours came from HM I think from Amazon.
When another op said capping, that means going over the top of your nail slightly with each coat?
Once I’ve filed, shaped etc is it true have to buff the nail to a slight rough also for it to stick?!

I’ve never buffed my nails at home, and it doesn’t last any less time than when I’ve had them done professionally, so for me it makes no difference.

Yes, capping is going over the very tip of you nail, the exposed edge.

Some polishes are definitely gloopier than others! I had one that was so thick it had ripples once I’d cured it! Don’t know about thinning them down, I’d worry it would affect the curing? Might be worth an experiment though!