Best at home gel polish- To UV or not to UV …:::

[Orchidflower1]

That is the question!

Feeling middle aged, fat and frumpy. I’ve had a hair cut and started (again!) on weight watchers but I’d like something that boosts my mood and appearance that I can maintain at home.

So is it worth shelling out for a UV lamp and associated nail polishes or am I better with the two step one from the high street? I’ve seen rimmel and sally Hansen do them- not sure what others.

If anyone has a preference and/ or recommendations, I’d really appreciate it. Also any top tips for either application method would be great.

Thank you.

I started with gel nails during the first lock down as I’d previous had my toes nails done in the salon but obviously they were closed. Had always just painted finger nails, but decided to to give them a go. Nails usually good length and strong.

Bought most of the kit from amazon, cheap ish lamp, blue sky varnishes, various removers, tools etc… probably spent £100 over the few months. At first they looked great, it’s not esp hard to do but quite time consuming as you can only do one hand at a time, soaking off is probably the worst.

Liked the way they looked and stopped them from snapping for a while so was ideal but after a few months noticed condition of nails was deteriorating and they were becoming very brittle and snapping, they actually loooked horrific, like little stumps. Took final vanish off, got aim intensive varnish and ride it out. Weeks. Weeks and weeks of horrible nails that split and flaked. They are better now but never again.

So. Varnish. Assuming you have nice nails buy nice varnish. Invest in base and top coat, do them twice a week. Steer clear of gel 😂

Oh thank you @Redtartanshoes that’s really useful to know.

I hadn’t factored in the time- I suppose actually using decent polish once or twice a week is less time consuming than with the gel.

I’ve previously used stick on nails at home and I know what you mean about the peeling- mine ended up looking like the dog had chewed them! It was hard to break the cycle of rubbish looking nails from stick on glue to actually giving them time to heal.

Blue sky is good. Most of my favourite colours are by them.

You mean just the polish right? Not extensions. The polish alone won't fuck your nails. Base, colour, top coat.

I bought a cheap uv lamp and gel top coat from Amazon. I now do my own nails using my favourite non gel varnish with a gel top coat. Much quicker and easier to remove and look good. Also, not too expensive!

I've been doing my own gel nails for about five years.
I think many issues with ruined nails come down to hasty removal which inadvertently damages the top layer of a nail. There are loads of tutorials on YouTube.
You must also apply nail oil at least twice a day.

LED lamp is the norm for gel nails, uv can cause skin cancer.

@theemmadilemma

You mean just the polish right? Not extensions. The polish alone won't fuck your nails. Base, colour, top coat.

Yes just the polish- I just want to look “groomed”.

Thanks @twilightcafe I don’t think in all honesty I’d remember to use the oil twice a day.

Sorry @CrystalMaisie I think I perhaps used the wrong term. I was meaning the things you put your hands under to cure/ dry the nail. Are they safe to use?

I have an LED lamp and a selection of polishes which I got off Amazon/eBay. I've been doing my own nails for about eight years now and I can do both hands in about half an hour so much quicker than waiting for normal polish to dry (impossible with two young kids!). It lasts two to three weeks. I learned how to do it by having a few sessions at a salon and watching how it's done.

Don't buy too many polishes at once, maybe get one of each brand and see which works for you. I use Gelish polish. Shellac and Sensationail don't last more than a couple of days on me. I've been told that this is because I have oily nails and these polishes don't work very well on oily nails. I don't oil my cuticles for the same reason, I find it lifts the polish off.

You can make your polish last longer by keeping your hands out of water as much as possible, wearing rubber gloves etc.

Soaking off can take a while, I don't usually bother, I just let the nails fall off on their own but that does mean looking scruffy for a week!

Don't buy too many colours because one bottle lasts a very long time. Some of my older colours have gone thick and clumpy and I've had to throw them out.

I really like the Sally Hansen two step gel varnishes. They usually last a week before having to redo x

Thank you @Skyeheather- I never knew you could get oily nails! Does it relate to your skin type?
Thank you @Ilovecardigans1980
I think this is what I’m going to try before I get a lamp.

I have mylee mygel polishes and a cheap lamp.

I love it, one of my best purchases. I hardly ever painted my fingernails before as it never lasted more than a couple of days before looking too scruffy for words and took so bloody long to dry. Now I have beautiful nails most of the time.

It doesn't take much longer than normal nail polish as it dries so much quicker and you can get on with your day as soon as it is cured. About an hour once a fortnight is plenty. It depends a bit if you are soaking off and how many coats you need.

The polish doesn't damage your nails but picking it off or removing it badly does. I try to do infills when I can and my nails are much better for that.

It gave me so much pleasure during the winter lockdown having beautiful sparkly nails.

I was bought a gel nail starter kit for my birthday and it makes me soo happy 😍
It was a 'modelsone' one from Amazon.
I'm still getting used to it and have started buying a different brand every now and again to see what works best!
They only last a week for me because I wash my hands soo much
But that's fine by me!
It takes about 30 mins to do hands and 30 mins to do toes
My toes last for longer
And I really enjoy it and it makes me really happy to have nice nails
Normal nail varnish lasted about an hour and my nails were still so thin and broke easily
But with the gels they are finally getting a little bit longer

I say go for it :)

Thank you lovely ladies!