Calling DeeJay-DIY gel manicure ?

[Autumnovember]

My nails are gorgeous with regular polish, even with removing it once a week. Right now the look like they went thru the meat grinder and my gel was done sept 9. The ends have been all split and brittle. Acrylics were terrible the two times I tried it. The nail beds turned blue and the felt very tight.

OUCH!! That sounds painful How was your gel manicure taken off? Soaked in acetone?

 

[madelise]

Aprilbaby - weird. You're not the first person to insist gels damaged their nails, yet my nails have always been healthier and stronger with the use of gel nails! Did the manicurist buff your nails before applying the polish? I don't let mine file my nails, only slightly slightly buff it. Once my polish starts to lift, I actually do the horrible thing and bite them all off and peel them back. I hate waiting for acetone!! I only use acetone if I can't chew it off.

AutumnNovember - what type of gloves are those? I'm paranoid of aging hands and I'd love any sort of preventative measure... I can't give up gel nails!

 

[Cozystitches]

Well, I caved. I was going to be good and order from Amazon, but I couldn't wait! I bought the Sensationail kit today (paid more than I should, so I'm calling it a "convenience fee") and quickly did my nails. LOVE the color and am hoping they last! If they do, and depending on the removal process, I can see doing this more often. I have been reading of people using their normal polishes under the gel, just making sure they're SUPER dry (as in 24hr dry) or using them on top of the gel (not sure how well that'd work though). I may try that route too... but for now, I'm excited.

 

[madelise]

I use gel on top of normal polish. It works. Gel polish is thicker, so it makes the nails feel more sturdy with them on. And the high-polished surface doesn't fade like regular top coat does. So I like putting it on on top of regular polish. However, regular polish chips off the nails easier than gel polish does, so this will still happen. It's still a good way to get your gel glossy finish, thicker support, and longer wear (than just regular polish) without having to invest in ALL of the colors you own in gel polishes.

What's also fun is using gel polish, topping it with top gel coat... then after it's cured, drawing on nail designs. You can wipe it right off with polish remover if you screw up, and the underlying gel manicure won't budge. After you've gotten your design perfected, and it's dried, you can top it off with gel top coat.

Or.. Say you want glitter on your manicure, but just for *one night* since glitter isn't the most modest manicure for corporate America. You can get your nude-pink gel manicure on.. then put regular polish glitter on top of the cured gel manicure. After your night of NYE celebrations, you can remove the regular polish on top of it with polish remover, and the manicure will still be revealed to be pristine.

The possibilities are endless

 

[yennyfire]

Pretty cool Madelise! Can't wait to try it! I'm waiting for DeeJay to get back and try her new LED light before I buy anything....I'm pretty boring with nail colors, so I see investing in 4-5 colors and being perfectly satisfied.

 

[madelise]

Pretty cool Madelise! Can't wait to try it! I'm waiting for DeeJay to get back and try her new LED light before I buy anything....I'm pretty boring with nail colors, so I see investing in 4-5 colors and being perfectly satisfied.

Me too Can't wait til she's giving her review of the lamp.

I bought all the "normal" colors-- pinks, a red, some glittery ones..

but the purples, the blues, the black... I'm sticking with regular polish since it's cheaper.

 

[Rebecca0388]

My SIL bought a starter kit and lamp off eBay a few months ago. The other day she was using it and it started smoking and broke with a loud bang (we heard it out in the backyard!) I will find out what brand it was.

 

[yennyfire]

My SIL bought a starter kit and lamp off eBay a few months ago. The other day she was using it and it started smoking and broke with a loud bang (we heard it out in the backyard!) I will find out what brand it was.

That would be great, thank you! Yikes!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Holy cow! Yes, please post the brand! Most importantly, was your SIL OK?

 

[Autumnovember]

Aprilbaby - weird. You're not the first person to insist gels damaged their nails, yet my nails have always been healthier and stronger with the use of gel nails! Did the manicurist buff your nails before applying the polish? I don't let mine file my nails, only slightly slightly buff it. Once my polish starts to lift, I actually do the horrible thing and bite them all off and peel them back. I hate waiting for acetone!! I only use acetone if I can't chew it off.

AutumnNovember - what type of gloves are those? I'm paranoid of aging hands and I'd love any sort of preventative measure... I can't give up gel nails!

Hey! they were just plain black gloved with cutouts in the fingertips. Def can DIY!

 

[madelise]

Aprilbaby - weird. You're not the first person to insist gels damaged their nails, yet my nails have always been healthier and stronger with the use of gel nails! Did the manicurist buff your nails before applying the polish? I don't let mine file my nails, only slightly slightly buff it. Once my polish starts to lift, I actually do the horrible thing and bite them all off and peel them back. I hate waiting for acetone!! I only use acetone if I can't chew it off.

AutumnNovember - what type of gloves are those? I'm paranoid of aging hands and I'd love any sort of preventative measure... I can't give up gel nails!

Hey! they were just plain black gloved with cutouts in the fingertips. Def can DIY!

Thanks!


I tried my cousin's LED lamp that came with a set. It's only 6 watts, and it cured the gel top coat on top of my regular polish manicure in 45 seconds.

If that's only 6 watts, would a 18 watt lamp cure it faster? stronger? what's the diff?

 

[Cozystitches]

So, I went to Ultra today and bought FOUR bottles of Red Gel polish for $15!!!! They were having a sale and they are packaged two to a box coordinating colors. I'm totally stoked! I have a beautiful purple, sparkly blue and sparkly red, and a white. Not to mention the Gelish Vegas Nights (friend had this and it looked BEAUTIFUL!) and white and the french tip guides on their way to me. I'm a bit excited. I blame all of you enablers!

 

[manderz]

Hi, all! Sorry I dipped out of this thread pretty much at its peak. Just got back from our vacation I just wanted to share updated pics on my mani. Same one I posted last time, and the only reason I want to change it is because of the grow out and one chip. Sorry for my gross dry cuticles!

 

[yennyfire]

That's pretty impressive that it lasted that long manderz! What brand/model light do you use? What polishes work with it?

 

[manderz]

That was the Sensationail light, "primer" stuff (can't remember exactly what it's called), and base/top coat, and the color was 2 different Gelish glitter colors . I have only used Sensationail by Nailene and Gelish, and both work well interchangeably. I tried once to use a regular nail polish with the gel kind, and had awful results, so I've not tried again since.

 

[Cozystitches]

Um...did you guys know there are temperature CHANGING colors for gel??? I think I may be in trouble....I WANT THEM ALL!!!!!! I'm trying to be good, especially since I have (cough) 8 colors and have had my kit less than a week. But I love them....

 

[manderz]

Um...did you guys know there are temperature CHANGING colors for gel??? I think I may be in trouble....I WANT THEM ALL!!!!!! I'm trying to be good, especially since I have (cough) 8 colors and have had my kit less than a week. But I love them....

Gelish made a couple of magnetic ones, too. I think they all went on clearance, but I'm sure you could scrounge around Amazon and the like to find some. I brought one when they were on clearance. Maybe 2?

 

[Cozystitches]

So, today I have had my kit for a full week. And because I was getting bored w/my first color and some MINOR wear issues (as in I didn't cap the tops and so it was wearing down) I decided to change. It took FOREVER to get off, however I did forget to buff the surface first. I think next time it will work better if I remember this crucial step.

I used Sensationail's base/top coat, IBD Whipped Cream and Fireworks to create a sparkly french manicure. I obviously need more practice doing the French manicure but for my first try I'm pretty happy.



And since this is PS, here's one with jewelry.

 

[yennyfire]

Um, you did that French mani yourself Cozy??? I'm super impressed! It looks amazing! I'm reasonably sure I could do my right hand (I'm left handed) but know that I don't have enough control to do my left.

 

[Cozystitches]

Um, you did that French mani yourself Cozy??? I'm super impressed! It looks amazing! I'm reasonably sure I could do my right hand (I'm left handed) but know that I don't have enough control to do my left.

LOL! Yes, I did it myself. However, I only snapped a picture of the best looking nails I'm right handed so of course my left hand looks marginally better than my right. The camera hides most of the flaws. Thank you for the compliment. I used this tutorial: http://warfieldfamily.com/2013/05/diy-french-tip-gelshellac-nails/ Next time, I may try to do it free hand using this tutorial: http://www.freutcake.com/beauty-2/nailed-it/the-frenchy/ Or with a rubberband using this tutorial: http://xny.co/2013/10/touch-french-manicure-rubber-band/
The tips I've read you can use a q-tip dipped in alcohol and clean up any messes. So, I'll try that next time. Either way it's FUN and I LOVE it! Thank you again for the compliment. I've searched Pinterest A LOT for tutorials and have read a lot of blogs.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Hey there -- checking in on my new light! First of all the directions are utterly useless, so just throw those away immediately. The light has a time for 30, 60 and 90 seconds, so I cured the base coat for 30, the color coats for 60, and the top coat for 90. This literally cut my drying time in half from my UV light!

One thing about the size/shape of the light is that because it's a crescent shape there is no comfortable way to get your thumbs in without either crossing your hands completely over each other (so the thumbs are at the total opposite ends of the light) or putting your hands on top of each other, which is what I used to do with my other light anyway. Of course I could just do one hand at a time, but you are talking to Ms. Impatient here! The light is also a little shallow so I had to learn not to jam my hands in there like I did with the other one. All in all though, I'm happy with it!

Cozy, I love that you are a "convert"!

OK, of to run a couple of errands but let me know if you have any questions on the light or if you want pics.

 

[ringo865]

I know this post is old but hubby says he'll buy me a diy gel nail light and stuff for Xmas. I've been researching the heck out if them and trust you guys more than the people who "Received the item for free in exchange for their honest review". So if dee*jay is still out there or any of y'all that bought that one or others could chime in...that would be super. Thanks

 

[madelise]

I think I bought the one DEejay recommended but I can't remember and can't find my reciept in my email records. I don't remember spending more than $20. Seriously any cheap LED lamp will do!

 

[marcy]

I just tried the Sally Hanson gel. It's shiny. It's stinky not like a nail salon but stinky. I am used to polish lasting about one day so I'll let you know how it does. It dried pretty quickly but things dry here quickly. No humidity.

 

[manderz]

I use the sensationail kit from Nailene, and I love it! The whole kit is $50 from walmart, and they work well with several other kinds of polish I've tried.

 

[ringo865]

Manderz, that sensaionail light says led only and is is 7watts. Does it cure hard? The other one (or another one is uv and led and has 48watts but it's like 60 bucks. I suppose though, that's still only three stops at the salon. …

 

[Dee*Jay]

Sorry to be late in replying!

This is the light I got: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CEIDWK6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Bought it two years ago, use if every couple of weeks, and still works perfectly.

One thing I have learned is that with this type of light (LED vs. UV) you really only need to cure for 30 seconds unless you're doing a super dark color, in which case I do the last color coat for 60, and I do tend to cure the top coat for 60 even though 30 is probably plenty long.

Regarding different product lines, Gelish is hands down (no pun intended) better than Sally Hansen. I have tried SH's colors and also their base and top coat and Gelish is much better all around. The base and top coats stay on better and longer and the colors are much truer in Gelish (SH colors tend to go on true and then turn in a day or two -- I found this to be the case especially with a light pink color [Pink Pong] that becomes peachy and a purplish burgundy and goes to straight red [can't remember the name of that one off the top of my head]). I've also tried other brands for color with mixed results, especially in terms of viscosity (if that's the right word in this application; perhaps not...). Some are so thin and watery that they run all over your cuticles no matter how careful you are. I find the slightly thicker versions are more controllable and give a cleaner line.

 

[madelise]

I was an avid Gelish fan until I tried OPI's gel line. They go on thinner but aren't as watery so they don't move around before it cures. It's also much harder after it cures so I get the strength without the bulk.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Interesting! I will have to stop by Sally and see if they have any Opi to try. Are the colors pretty accurate once they're on?

 

[ringo865]

Thanks everyone for your input. I like the price of the sensational light better. Do you guys think higher versus Lower wattage really will make a major difference?