Gel nails at home

[EmeraldRoulette]

Hello

Does anyone do their nails at home? I just use ordinary nail polish. I can't pay for regular nails to be done and it seems like a big faff.

If you have any recommendations for the lamp thingy and the gel polish, I'd love to hear them.

Thank you.

I use halo polishes from amazon usually.
After reading this i will give mylee brand a try.
My lamp is halo too.
Been doing it myself for years now,never had a problem.
I'm really bad at picking them off though and wouldn't recommend that 😀

I use BIAB (builder in a bottle) as a base coat, then a white gel for french, then BIAB top coat. A lamp from Amazon (£16 ish).

Ive been doing it about 18 months now and am good at it now! Keep it thin near the cuticle so you dont get a big ridge as it grows out, and file lightly between coats to help them bind together.

I can even do a french fade now! <proud>

With regards to how long it lasts - forever! It never chips off. I do infills at the cuticle and a general file and tidy with a thin new top coat about every three weeks. I have to cut my nails other wise they'd grow studiedly long. (they are very long).

IF i do have a 'peel off' my natural nail is always fine under there.

I bought a Mylee kit during lockdown and have never looked back. I use the Mylee kit with both Mylee and Bluesky polishes and never had an issue. I am super careful with my application, ensuring not to get it on my skin. I can get 3 weeks out of a set without chipping and they genuinely don’t look any different to when I do occasionally have them done professionally.

Well obviously, but unless you’re checking the optimum wavelength for the gel against the lamp you’ve bought, which most people don’t bother to do especially when buying cheap polish from Amazon, it’s the safest way for the average person to get a bit of certainty. Dry and hard doesn’t mean it’s properly cured but that’s all people tend to care about. Given the prevalence of allergy development and the fact the average person can’t guarantee not to get gel onto their skin, doing what you can to minimise risk is sensible. Doesn’t have to be the same brand, but it’s prudent. By all means get a Mylee kit, but there’s no harm in being aware of the risks and planning accordingly.

Not at all. I’ve been using them because gels wrecked my nails. I could never get more than a couple of days wear out of gel before chipping. The pictures I’ve posted are after 10 days of wear, so obviously growth showing but still look good.

I usually remove them one morning and then reapply the night after - some people don’t leave a break but I give them a little tlc in between.

Don’t bother. It’s hard to do your own nails using your non dominant hand.

If you get uncured gel on your skin, you’re likely to develop an irreversible allergy to methacrylates. I was training to be a nail tech alongside my hairdressing course and managed to develop this allergy!

Unfortunately, it limits some medical and dental treatments so if I break a bone or chip a tooth etc. I have to remind them of my allergy before they start treatment. The Consultant Dermatologist who diagnosed my allergy said not enough people are aware of the one of the dangers from gel nails.

I have a mylee lamp and a bunch of blue sky polishes but to be honest I can rarely be arsed and just use usual polish most times

I use the wraps sometimes too. If you just peel them off it can be bad on your nails but fine if you use cuticle oil to help remove them.

Just shows how ignorant people are about these things.

You're wrong about the physics. UV simply means ultra violet light and LED is the type of bulb, but essentially, they’re the same thing as the LED’s in nail lamps emit UV light. 🤷🏻‍♀️

A lot of gel brands are manufactured in China and some of it positively dangerous. Without the right testing equipment, you can’t actually know if the gel is fully cured as the surface feeling hard is no indicator of a full cure.

Yes, definitely don’t peel them off! I use oil and a dental flosser to remove, then wipe with acetone to remove any residue.

I used to use Mylee BIAB and loved it. Like others after a while I got an allergic reaction about 3 years ago. I took the nails off expecting my nails and fingers to recover and they never did. I have permanently red and inflamed skin around 4 nails and the nails on these fingers lifted and never recovered. But maybe it would have happened if I had them done at a salon, who knows? But just be careful is all I'm saying. My hands are permanently disfigured.

So I would try the wraps, they sound great from what I've read. Sadly I can't put anything on my nails now and I'm very jealous of pretty nails!

@Flakey99 "Don’t bother. It’s hard to do your own nails using your non dominant hand"

is it? I've been doing this twice a week since I was a teenager.

I'm convinced ordinary nail polish used to last a lot longer. I was thinking of doing the gels because I'd like to go two weeks without having to do this.

This thread really has made me think again

I think the fiddling with the wraps and trying to shape and all that filing is probably a nuisance. And if they are removed that easily, I'm wondering if they will even survive a hot bath!

I'm glad I asked because I had no idea about this allergy issue

I don't really want to get involved buying dodgy chemicals so perhaps I will just ditch the whole thing.

The wraps aren’t that fiddly. I just plonk myself in front of the tv and do mine while I’m watching. I’ve been on holiday swimming with mine on and they didn’t budge. And I’m not easy on my hands at other times either. I have an overactive bladder so they’re constantly getting washed after the loo!🤣

I use CND Vinylux top coat and it dries so quickly. Within a couple of minutes.

I had no idea people were doing wraps, and all the fiddle that involve, and then putting a coating on top, and then using a lamp.

Hello, can anyone recommend a decent UV lamp from Amazon please?

I have a home gel kit. It gives decent results but wraps are much, much easier. I rarely do the gels now.

Another convert to the wraps - I use MoYou gel wraps that need curing with a lamp, normally get them on offer and they last me 2-3 weeks. I take them off because of re-growth rather than chipping. Much easier to put on than I thought they would be and I get better results than I do with polish which I’m quite good at. Fine for washing up, baths, swimming etc. Really impressive.

I use semi-cured wraps too and it’s really easy. I’m not particularly good at this type of thing either! All in all, takes me about 20 minutes to do and they usually last around 2 weeks with the bonus of no damage to my nails.