Beauty Binges

At Home Gel Manicure

February 24, 2020 /

I’ll admit it, I am REAL picky when it comes to my nails. I was not blessed with slender, feminine hands; so having well shaped and polished nails makes a huge difference. I got real tired of having to come home and fix my nails after I had just spent $50+ at the salon. I also got real tired of gel polish only lasting a week, dip powder cracking after 5 days and I was not about to go back to acrylic.

After a quick YouTube search, I found a video that broke down exactly how you can get the gel manicure of your liking from the comfort of your home. Here is the video, and I pretty much follow her technique to a T. I will walk you through how I do it and link the products I bought.

Remove Old Polish

You will need cotton balls torn up into smaller shreds (I only needed 1 cotton ball for this)

Using a file, rough up the polished surface so there is no more shine on the nails.

I then soak a small piece of the cotton ball in acetone and place it on my nail. I wrap the nail with the cotton piece on top of it like a little chipotle burrito. 

After soaking for about 10 minutes, the old polish should crumble right off. I just used a metal cuticle pusher tool to gently scrape the rest off. Works like a charm.

Manicure

Again, I wasn’t blessed with lovely feminine hands so I gotta put in a little work to make them look nice. I have to, I mean HAVE TO trim my cuticles. They grow like crazy, they get long and dry and honestly they look ratchet after a week. I bought this cuticle cutter tool and this cuticle softener gel on amazon. The buffer and nail file are just from Ulta.

I soak my hands in soapy warm water for a few minutes and then apply the cuticle softener gel and let that sit for another few minutes. After my cuticles are good and mushy, using the rounded edge of the cuticle pusher tool I push back my cuticles very gently. I will then use the nipper tool to cut away the loosened cuticles. To finish it up, I will shape the my nails in a very square fashion as I feel that is most flattering for my hands.

The last step is very important, you must buff or file the tops of your nails to ensure the polish can grip to your nails. Wash your hands when finished with all of these manicure steps.

Gel Polish Prep

Before you start polishing, you will need to prep the nail bed. I decided upon the Gelish System and this kit includes all of the items you will need. One of the items is a nail surface cleanser.

I also purchased some lint free cotton pads so that I would not get little fuzzies stuck on my nails. Worth.Every.Penny. I soak one of those pads and really wipe down every part of my nail surface. I even go over it a second time to make sure it is super clean.

After the nail is cleansed, you will want to use some sort of bonding agent. This is the PH bond that comes with the Gelish kit linked above. This will go on wet and dry almost instantly. It will help to build a bond between your nail and the polish. Again, I am generous with this and I make sure I have applied to every part of my nail. The last thing I want is my polish to peel.

Gel Polish Application

Now that the nail bed is clean and ready for some polish, it’s time to start on the gel polish process. You will need a curing lamp, there are hundreds out there but I ended up picking this one.

As you can see there are lots of different polishes to be used, 4 to be exact. The Beauty Vault video stresses the importance of thin, even layers and I have to echo that. Each layer should be applied as thin as possible. The gel texture is different from regular polish in that it allows you to apply it in a thin later without streaking or gumming up.

The first actual polish layer is the Gelish foundation layer. Again, thin even coats are best. After you apply the polish you will need to cure it under the lamp. I cure for 45-60 seconds FOR EACH LAYER. You must cure each layer or the polish will not set.

After the foundation I like to apply 2 thin coats of “Structure Gel” and cure each layer for 45-60 seconds. I have thin brittle nails that don’t like to grow and break all the time, this gel helps to beef them up so that the polish on top will not break away. This stuff is awesome and a total game changer. I would highly recommend.

Once I feel that the thickness is better I will move onto the color polish. I bought a set of 6 polishes and I have found they work perfectly with the Gelish system and the colors were everything I could ask for. The black only needed 2 layers to make it totally opaque. Again, curing for 45-60 seconds between each layer.

The last layer is the top coat. I apply a thin layer and I run it along the edge of the nail to total seal in the look. I Cure the last coat for 90 seconds just to make sure.

To finish everything off I apply a healthy amount of cuticle oil to rejuvenate my nail area as it has been through a lot.

Here is the finished look! I have done this about 6 times and I am really liking it so far.

Worth Noting

  • I am not a licensed nail technician.
  • I do not do anyone else’s nails other than my own.
  • I spent a total of about $100 for the items needed for the gel polish, I already had the other items as I regularly do my own manicures.
  • I take my time. This entire process takes me about 1.5 hours but in my eyes it is worth it to know that I will like the way my nails look when I am done.

Feel free to send me any questions you have or tag me on IG if you decide to do your own @laurenletter.