If you do your own gel nails at home

[FizzyPink]

How on earth do you make them look semi decent?

I got the whole kit with the lamp for my birthday and had a go at it today and they look absolutely horrendous I’ve had acrylics for the past 10 years so maybe I’m just not well practiced at doing my own nails but even my toes look terrible.

Is there a knack to it or is it just practice? It’s such a faff to take it all off, I’m not sure I can bothered with getting the hang of it and might just go back to the salon

Might just take a bit of practice. My dd does her own and they look great. Think its blue sky gel she uses

What's wrong with them when you've done them? Do you leave a tiny gap around the cuticle to make sure they're neat? Also build the gel up a bit in the middle then thinner towards the edges. If they look a bit uneven, file them before you apply a top coat.

Practice!
Really thin layers are key so they cure properly
Top coat covers a multitude of sins
I really like the bluesky set, I struggle with opi gels

I agree with thin layers ! When I first started I just slapped it on and they were huge 😆 practice really does make perfect with this
I also use blue sky

Blue sky is the one I used. Perhaps my layers were too thick thinking about it. How many do you usually do? I’ve done white on my toes and with two layers it’s not a bright white like they do at the salon.

I find three coats are needed to completely cover with a colour.

Does anyone else find that the gels just don't last very long? I think the home lamps aren't as strong as salon ones, but even curing for 5 mins per layer (which takes forever) doesn't help. Most I get is a week, and it's usually only a few days.

Anyone found a solution?

I can get 3 weeks easily - again I have really think layers and make sure they cure properly between each layer.

The longest time taken is the prep - buff, wash, wipe with acetone and then with the nail prep - make sure the nail bed is really clean and bone dry before you do the base layer.

Usually 4 layers in total - base, 2 colour coats and then top coat. Only time I use less is when doing a French manicure.

5 mins per layer is too long - you are probably over curing the nails

No more that 2 minutes a layer

Think the lamp dd has cures for 1 minute or 2 at the most. Certainly not 5. Her Polish lasts for weeks

I’ve been using the Sensationail peel off base coat. I only get around 10 days out of it, but at least it’s easy to remove them. I think it works with any brand of gel on top.

I like the peel off base coat too - it makes removal so much easier.

5 mins curing sounds way too long - my lamp flashes at 30 secs for layers and one minute for the final cure.

Builder gel instead of base coat then cure and buff
2-3 thin layers of polish I prefer CND
Extra strong top coat
I get 3-4 weeks out of mine
Getting them neat is just practice