Doing gel nails at home?

[OChristmasTreeHowLovelyAreYee]

I got my nails done for Christmas the other day, a mani pedi, and it was £80 🙄

I don’t do them very often, probably because I’ve got better things to spend my money on.

I did have a gel nail machine about 6 years ago but could never get the nail varnish to cure(?) and it came off.

Any recommendations for at home nails hands and feet?

I bought a lamp from Amazon for £17 ish and some BIAB gels and i do my own.

I use a pre gel base coat thing which is like nail varnish remover which i think removes any grease, Then BIAB in Teddy, then either a colour or french white then top coat. 2 mins under the lamp per coat.

Infill every 2 weeks or so, or a total redo on any nail which loses it's gel.

Be very careful if you do this at home. You need to make sure the polish and the lamp (I don't have my nails done so not sure of correct terms) are the same brand as it may not cure properly if they don't. Also you need to make sure you don't get polish on your skin.

This is important because gels can cause an allergy to one of the ingredients and that can affect you medically, no white fillings or some more serious medical intervention are also precluded

I had Mylee machine and polishes for Christmas last year. They lasted 2 weeks and looked amazing, as I always took time to make them perfect. However, I had struggled to make the time needed and found removal a hassle too, so sold the machine and went back to Essie Gel Couture with topcoat. Much easier and lasts a week.

I did this for a while, bought a kit from Boots. It was very good for a few times but then found my nails feeling itchy. Next thing I have huge blood blisters under the nails and they fall off.

Everything grew back OK and I got a professional to do one nail as an experiment but it was itchy and I had it taken off the next day. So I must have developed an allergy.

A horror waiting to happen. I used to do mine at home, water got under the gel and caused all of my nails to fall off as that caused a horrible fungal infection.
Do you know how hard it is to do anything without nails? I was lucky they grew back eventually.

Everyone buys a lamp kit but then they go back to the salon!

It just does not last as long and looks less smooth. Dd and I testify to this anyway.

Don't do this. The home gel kits are prone to allergies and once you have developed an allergy you will struggle with certain dental treatments etc. Look for images of acrylate allergies or check some face book groups. It really is a silent pandemic

Ok you’ve convinced me. I think I’ll just use the normal nail varnish I’ve got, and go to the salon for pedicures.

Thx for letting me know about allergies. I didn’t know that.

I've used one of the at home nail powder dips - sassysaints. It was pretty good. Took a bit of time, about an hour, but using a dehydrator and thin layers got a nice even finish and they lasted just over a week.

On the reverse side to the above posters, me and my daughter have been doing our own gel nails for years (8+). Mylee or bluesky brand are great. They last weeks, never had any issues what so ever. In fact, our normal nails are in much better condition, grow fast and are strong. You can now get a remover gel that dissolves the gel polish in a few mins which is much kinder to your nails when removing it.

Also been using mylee lamp and blue sky polishes at home for years, never any issues.

I've been doing Rio Nail Dip extensions at home since 2019 no issues. My own gel colours longer.

A good lamp is what you need. No need to match it to brands, that's bollocks.

I'd not heard the allergy thing, but don't appear to have any issues.

I’ve been doing it for years I use Mylee.

Another Mylee convert - use their lamp, polishes and Magic Gel remover. There are different types of lamp - UV and LED - which may be why some gels won’t cure under your particular lamp. That said, I used a different brand topcoat which should have cured, but didn’t. It was well-known nail brand, but not a gel specialist, hence sticking to Mylee.

Have you tried the nail wrap/stickers? I used the dip powders fir a bit but the removal really damaged my nails. I now use the wraps they last about 2 weeks sometimes longer. I use the lily and fox ones. I tried the holy grail ones but didn't find them as good quality. The ones on temu aren't bad either! To make them last you just have to make sure your nails are really dry on application and you don't get them wet for a few hours after and a clear top coat helps too.

I use sassy saints same as a pp. I like it and it doesn't take long once you get used to it. I've had them last about two weeks. I've also been able to redo any that chipped. Although that's only happened twice. Also they have great customer service.

Same here, right down to the daughter who does them too and using the magic gel stuff to remove it!

Been literally doing them for years, using a variety of different brands - Gelish is my favourite but it's quite expensive - never had any of the problems mentioned on this thread 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I do generally have sensitive skin but never had a bad reaction.

I've had a Mylee lamp for 3 years, no issues. I only do them about 5 times a year though - Christmas, holidays, work conferences. I use Mylee top and base coat with Naio Nails or Mylee polish.