DIY Nails

[lechatnoir]

I can't afford regular gel nails & normal nail varnish barely lasts a day (& that's assuming I don't smudge it straightaway) but trying to up my game in the S&B stakes so looking for an at home/DIY long lasting nails solution.
I've seen Sassy Saint advertised - any good? Or there's the Mylee starter kit for gels but bit nervous about this sort of investment only to find it's awful/I'm useless at it. Any decent stick ons? I swim regularly so conventional stick-ons wouldn't last but maybe the think ones do. Want to avoid anything containing TPO.

Anyone found the holy grail of DIY nails?

I bought the Mylee kit last August - I like having gels but no time to go with two kids now.
I do them every 3ish weeks without fail, it’s been brilliant. Like being able to do my toes too.
I only really do them plain so nothing fancy but I’d replace the kit if something happened to it. It’s been worth it for me.

Thanks - and are your nails OK? Last time I had my nails done in a salon they completely buggered up my nails for about 6 months - not sure what was done differently or maybe I left them on too long but not great and worried about this happening at home.

Yes they’ve been fine. If I took the gel off and didn’t re-do them, I would say that my nails were ever so slightly thinner than before - only because you scuff up the top layer of the nail to prep them I suppose. (I took a break over Christmas last year and it took a few weeks from them to feel normal and as strong as before - maybe because I wasn’t used to the extra protection of the gel either).
They aren’t damaged but I do try and prep them carefully, don’t get the gel on my skin etc, and soak them off if I want to re-do them.

I tried Sassy Saints but the powder made my eyes sting and weep as soon as I opened the pot.
It also left powder stains on the surface I'd been doing it on, despite me putting down a protective sheet - the powder gets everywhere.
Did one manicure with it and then sold my unopened powders on Vinted.

I have the Mylee kit but I'm afraid it's wrecked my nails. I'm having a complete break now and my nails look shocking

On the back of this thread I've googled mylee nail kits and Boots are doing one for £49.50, so I've bought it!

I’m still looking and really tempted to try the nail wraps. Let us know how you get on @keepincool

I use OPI regular nail varnish. I use one of those buff/file blocks first, then trim cuticles, two coats of OPI and a top coat. The OPI lasts me well over a week, and I’m a teacher and they get bashed and knocked a lot. Plus there’s no faff of removing them! I would never go back to getting my nails done now.

It’s not the kit, it’s incorrect removal. Mylee is good for at home use

Try Glaize nails. You can get made to measure or just normal and cut file to size . They are just like stickers but made of thin gel like stuff. No curing needed. This morning did a bit about this today . Try and find it it was v interesting. They do toe nails too.
my nails are wrecked by gel nails over a year now and still not recovered they just keep splitting .

OP for your lifestyle with the swimming and bearing in mind you just want to up your S&B game, why not go for a natural solution? Get a good quality cuticle and nail oil, massage it in every day. Get a buffer to give them a natural shine. And perhaps a one coat gloss that makes them stronger. This is a low maintenance solution, low chemicals as you mention you want to avoid TPO and will work with your swimming and overall look (it sounds like).

PS - the one coat gloss will not look unkempt as it wears off (you mentioned it might not last long). But just the feeding nails and cuticles with a good oil and buffing them might give you the result you want

I use nail wraps, i don’t swim but they hold
up on holiday to daily pool and suncream use, have to make sure to use a top coat. Attached my current set.

After years of using polish , I too decided to up grade to gels - and wrecked my nails within months - took a year to undo the damage. Own fault, I didn't have a clue

Then Lockdown and I bought one of the mineral powder kits that's advertised on FB , been wearing that mostly since then - I do love a sparkle and a holographic effect. Easy to apply but it's still a soak off removal , which can be very time consuming. But my nails held up

I do sometimes use wraps - they are the easiest on the nails

Im just now starting with dips. These are the strongest on my nails , but a lot of filing is required to shape - and again a tedious removel

Nail wraps are awesome! They are easy to apply and remove and if your nails are just the right size you can do two with one wrap. Have a look at Holy Grail nail and let me know if you’d like a referral code 🙂

Is it just incorrect filing off of the old gel that damages nails? Or does the presence of the gel itself cause damage? Does soaking off cause thinning too? And how much can you mitigate that by applying lots of oil?

Well to buck the trend I have a drawer full of cheap plastic stick on nails in all colours and patterns to go with my outfits. Every few weeks or so when i am going out somewhere i choose a set and ….. shock horror…… stick em on with superglue!! They last a week at least of normal life, washing up etc more if i take care, then gradually loosen enough to ping off, the glue residue is easy to remove and so far my natural nails are not damaged, i do use an oil on them for a couple of weeks after and they are fine. So cheap, such a good effect, lots of choice for colours and patterns and way better than when i had them done at a salon which left them in an awful state for weeks.

I bought the Mylee starter kit, was about £100. I love it and do my nails every 3 weeks. Compared with the beautician, it paid for itself after around 9 weeks.

I did find the gel that came with the kit isn't quite the same consistency as individual ones I have bought since though, maybe the kit had been sitting a warehouse for while?

I tend to buy BluSky Gel now as its a bit cheaper than Mylee.

I also have the Mylee kit, can't remeber which one but was around £75 on sale earlier this year. For me it's ideal as my nails would break as soon at they got to a certain length and I'd have to cut them back and be back to square one.

Since using it, it protects my natural nail and I havent had a single nail break since. The polish doesn't really chip and what I really love is that if I need to replace a nail, it can be done and dry in 6 minutes. With normal nail polish it would take forever to be completely dry.

There will always be slight damage as you have to gently rough up the nail underneath, but as long as you soak them off correctly there shouldn't be any extra damage that a buffing wouldnt take care of.

Hi OP, another vote for the Mylee starter kit, I got it for Christmas 2 years ago and use it every 3-4 weeks for both fingers and toes (although toes last a lot longer!)

I use Halo gel polishes with it rather than the Mylee ones as I prefer them and love the colours.

Make sure you prep and remove the gel properly or your nails will be damaged. Peeling or picking the polish off is the worse thing for your nails. I also use CND solar oil which is a cuticle oil which helps keep them healthy.

It’s saved me a fortune in nail salon visits!

Its a bit of both

Filing, you need to know how to file and most people go in too harsh - I had a friend who had bleeding nail beds from filing too much

Also gels must not be cured to the skin and if you dont have clean nail beds, cuticles removed, side walls smoothed back, and apply the gels as thinly as possible, you are going to cure it to your skin

Not capping, curing to the skin, causes the gel to lift - water gets in under, and there you have a breeding ground and before you know it - allergies

An allergy to gel can cause you problems with dentistry and hip/knee replacements going forward . A gel allergy is not something easily recovered from

Most home users starting out dont even know what a cuticle is.

I use home kits , I also use some professional gels ( so much easier to work with but you usually have to show your qualifications to buy ) , and I learned the hard way and have invested in learning how to care for my nails

Right now Im back working in a kitchen and my nails are a short mess - I usually prefer real nail talons. However because of my job, I have to be careful with what I wear. I cant have something liable to chip or melt or pop off - so my press ons are out, wraps completely out ( they tend to melt on the cut edge ) and because they are short at the moment dips ( the stongest and longest lasting ) which will be the next thing on , I cant apply at the moment cos of breaks and splits, Im going through the stage of growing length and strength because I refuse now to cover imperfect nails

But I do that, every now and then go bare. First week or two I sang and split, then before I know it they are back rock hard and strong

Thanks very much, @suki1964 . That's really helpful.

I have had builder gel applied recently, in a last ditch effort to cure nail biting. I had it done in a v reputable salon, but I'm a bit apprehensive about it now, hearing all the ways in which problems can occur.

Although bitten to oblivion, my nails have never been subject to anything else that can weaken them or cause me other problems. Now I'm wondering whether I am solving one problem by creating others.

Whatever you do, dont allow then to use an e file to take it all the way back to the nail bed

Builder gel is great stuff - as you have found, you cant bite it off and it will allow your nails to grow - while protecting them

All the qualified nail techs I follow only file to remove and colour and bulk. Most leave the slip coat on and fill in from there. If the whole lot requires removing - insist on a soak off - not a file off

I use it and then gel colour and top coat on top. So I e file to take off the shiny top coat, use a hand file to remove the colour - and then soak - I never allow a file to get close to my nail beds - because Im a home user and I dont have the experience or training.

Soaking is a PITA , acetone is very drying but coconut oil added helps. I pour the acetone in a sandwich bag, add a dollop of coconut oil and then put it on a bowl of hot water, adding fingers to the bag . Keeping the acetone warm really helps speed up the process

Bare nails, kept clean and filed, with a white nail pencil run under the tips. Nothing else works for me.

DD uses the Mylee kit she has really nice , neat nails and keeps them fairly short .

She'll use the Base/Top coat the ones that are cured , and ither polishes . Nails Inc (lots of colours ) and Leighton Denny

Removal is the key . She has those foil caps with the gauze and applies the remover with a syringe to the cotton pad

There's a Mylee Builder Gel that she uses too .

IIRC the lamp was £50 ,