The concept for this post came from a few months ago – seems like that is a common theme on this blog of mine. I had my hand in the doorway to our house, and my son slammed the door, leaving me with a fingernail turned black and blue. It held on for a good month before it finally just fell off. Talk about feeling totally disgusted by yourself peeling your entire nail off. I gagged the entire time. I was left with a nub of a nail on one hand, and the germaphobic person I can be wasn’t about to take that exposed nail bed to a nail salon. So, I decided it was time I tried to get a gel manicure at home. If you look hard you can see that little nub nail I half painted resting on my knee.
I looked through Google, read a few reviews and then ultimately decided to build my own kit on Amazon. Amazon is where dreams come true, isn’t it? Total, I spent around $40 – the cost of one gel manicure at the salon.
At Home Gel Manicure Essentials
- Gel Base and Top Coat
- Gel Polish Set
- LED Nail Dryer
- Cuticle Pusher/Nail Scraper
- Buffing Block and File
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Cuticle Nipper
- Nail Polish Remover
The Process – Gel Manicure At Home
Ok, so I’m going to go through the process I personally went through to get lasting results. First, I had a gel manicure already on my nails, so I took a little cotton, soaked it in polish remover, applied it to my nails and wrapped them in foil. The same thing you see them do at the salon. I let my nails soak for about five minutes, then I used a cuticle scraper to scrape off the polish.
Then, I trimmed my cuticles, shaped my nails and buffed them with the buffing block. Next, I washed my hands with just water, for the fact that they tell you to do that in salon. I have no idea why. Then I wiped each nail with an alcohol prep pad.
Paint and Dry
I bought a base and top coat set from DND, but my base coat came in and it was solid, like totally dried out. The top coat was still great, but it was sad news for that base coat. Good ol’ Amazon refunded me for the product but let me keep it. So, I didn’t actually use a base coat and went straight for the color. I applied a thin coat, then cured my nails under the LED light for 60 seconds. Applied another color coat, then topped with the top coat. The instructions said you only needed to cure for 30 seconds, but I liked being on the safe side and let them sit under the light for about 1-2 minutes.
After you take them out from under the light, your nails will feel sticky to the touch. Since I didn’t buy a kit with instructions I was surprised by this. However, I learned that rubbing alcohol is your friend and takes the stickiness right off. Kits come with a cleaning solution, but rubbing alcohol does the very same thing. I used alcohol prep pads because the first aid kit I had at home was stocked with them, one swipe and my nails had that shiny, tough finish you would expect from a gel manicure.
How Long Did My Gel Manicure Last?
My manicure lasted a solid week before I started to get the itch to repaint them. However, the wear was just as good as what I would get from the salon, no chips. Since I purchased my product from Amazon, I really have no clue if it’s legit or some knock-off, my pink polish says “bellet slipper”, but knock-off or not, I can say it works.
In case you’re curious, I experimented using regular polish with a gel top coat and it didn’t work. If you watched my Instagram story about my first try with the gel polish, you may remember the wrinkly nail. Come to find out, that’s what happens when you try to use regular polish with a gel top coat. I also used the polish on my toes, and it’s been one fabulous pedicure. I’m looking forward to trying more colors and polish lines, and most importantly – saving money on manicures!
Have you tried an at home gel manicure?
-Brooke
Now, let’s…get…linking!!
Link up any post you would like to show off; your outfit, home decor, recipe, workout. Anything at all! Because, oh, hey girl! I want to see it!
