Using regular and gel polish together?

[Dee*Jay]

I have gotten a new polish that I'm just DYING to use (I originally got it for my toes but I really love it!). It's a textured polish (so think slightly rough texture). Wondering if anyone has tried putting on gel base coat, curing it, putting on regular polish and letting it dry THOROUGHLY, and then putting gel top coat on and curing that. Think it will work... or recipe for disaster? I guess I could try it on just one nail over the weekend to see, but I figured I would ask here first!

 

[msop04]

I haven't tried it by myself, but I did take one of my favorite regular polishes to the nail salon, hoping for a gel base and topcoat. They said that it would not work... I think the gel polishes and gel base and topcoat are designed to work together only.

 

[msop04]

... Which is a shame, because I have yet to find my favorite color in the gel. [emoji53]

 

[Dee*Jay]

Hmmm... Maybe I can put on a gel base and top coat, sandwich the regular in the middle, and then do another gel base and top...?

As you can see, I'm grasping at straws here, LOL!

 

[yennyfire]

I tried it with one of my fav OPI colors and it didn't work very well. Lasted no longer than regular polish, however, I don't have a light, I just use the gel polish that doesn't require a light. Pretty color! Hope you can make it work!

 

[telephone89]

2 reasons this is bad

1) The gel polishes are made specifically to go together and bond that way. So it might not work, if it does, it could cause damage (melting/chemical reaction) or just not stay on properly.

2) The way these polishes dry are totally different. The light 'cures' the polish (as mentioned above, chemical reaction) totally. If you are to use a regular polish and it isn't cured totally, you can have bacteria/other yuckies on your nails. Then you trap them inside with a gel top coat. This is recipe for disaster, and can do real harm.

 

[monarch64]

DeeJay, what is the name of that polish--"180 Grit?"

 

[Dee*Jay]

DeeJay, what is the name of that polish--"180 Grit?"

LOL Monnie, yes, and it's about 250 grit if you pot a top coat on!


Telephone, Yenny and MSOP... so based on your feedback I'm thinking this might not be the best idea I've ever had... Ha! Oh well, it never hurts to explore new concepts, right?!

 

[monarch64]

DeeJay, what is the name of that polish--"180 Grit?"

LOL Monnie, yes, and it's about 250 grit if you pot a top coat on!


Telephone, Yenny and MSOP... so based on your feedback I'm thinking this might not be the best idea I've ever had... Ha! Oh well, it never hurts to explore new concepts, right?!

You're not supposed to use your nails as tools!

 

[madelise]

You can use regular base and polish then put gel top coat on after. Wait until the polish is fully dry first, though, or it'll get sealed with the gel still "unset" underneath.

 

[Slickk]

I also sometimes will use a regular base coat and nail color, allow to dry completely and use the gel UV top coat. I still find the color gel lasts longer so there may be something about the bond or lack thereof. It definitely comes off much easier with only one coat of the gel!
If you love the color, I would try it! Good luck!

 

[Cozystitches]

This is called a Gelly Sandwich. I, personally, haven't done this but I have a friend who has and has been successful. The most important thing is to make sure that the polish is DRY! You could always do gel base and top, and then do the RNP on the top of that. I've done that before. They also have a product that you mix with regular polish that creates gel

 

[Dee*Jay]

A gelly sandwich -- love it!

So here's a question... do you put both the base coat and top coat on top of the regular polish then or just the top coat? I've been reading about this and different people do it different ways. The most common thing I've seen is gel base, gel top, regular polish, get base, gel top. But some people say skip the gel base on top of the regular and just go gel top coat...?

 

[Cozystitches]

Well, I've never done it because I'm so impatient! Go over to The Purse Forum and the Nail Care section, there's TONS of info there (that's where I learned my stuff). My friend who did the sandwich did: base, regular, top and that's it. The only thing I've done is base, top, and then regular...