I have a beauty post today, for a nice change. I recently got a new camera on eBay: the Olympus E-P3, which was an absolute bargain. I'll be using it to take my photos today! This will be quite an image-heavy post.
I love nail polish and have an impressive (read: disgustingly large) collection of colours, glitters, effects and stickers. Unfortunately, I have real trouble keeping polish on my nails: a manicure will last a day without chipping if I'm lucky, and I usually end up taking it off by day two. This is quite a waste, I feel, so I began looking for solutions to give me longer wear.
I tried Seche Vite, but it causes terrible shrinkage for me and makes my nails look really poorly-done. I'd heard a lot of hype about Shellac and other gel systems, but I feared further damage to my already brittle nails.
Last week I had an idea that I could perhaps just use a gel top coat over my regular polish, protecting the nails with a base coat. I looked into it through various beauty forums and it has been a popular topic lately, with some women getting excellent results and most members who do their own gel manicures finding their nails in better condition than ever. My mind was made up.
My mum used to do her own acrylics so we have a 6 watt UV lamp, but this is annoyingly not powerful enough to cure gel polish. After some deliberation in Sally, I ended up buying the Red Carpet Nails starter kit which comes with an LED lamp, and all the various potions required to do your own gel nails. With trade discount it was much cheaper than buying everything separately, especially as Uv lamps retail at around £80 and some LEDs can reach £200. I also bought some lint-free pads for wiping down the cured polish. The system isn't cheap, but three gel manicures at a salon will cover the cost of the starter kit. The gel polishes themselves are a bit cheaper than other brands, and happily you can use any LED-curing polish with the lamp. I was so excited to try it!
I love nail polish and have an impressive (read: disgustingly large) collection of colours, glitters, effects and stickers. Unfortunately, I have real trouble keeping polish on my nails: a manicure will last a day without chipping if I'm lucky, and I usually end up taking it off by day two. This is quite a waste, I feel, so I began looking for solutions to give me longer wear.
I tried Seche Vite, but it causes terrible shrinkage for me and makes my nails look really poorly-done. I'd heard a lot of hype about Shellac and other gel systems, but I feared further damage to my already brittle nails.
Last week I had an idea that I could perhaps just use a gel top coat over my regular polish, protecting the nails with a base coat. I looked into it through various beauty forums and it has been a popular topic lately, with some women getting excellent results and most members who do their own gel manicures finding their nails in better condition than ever. My mind was made up.
My mum used to do her own acrylics so we have a 6 watt UV lamp, but this is annoyingly not powerful enough to cure gel polish. After some deliberation in Sally, I ended up buying the Red Carpet Nails starter kit which comes with an LED lamp, and all the various potions required to do your own gel nails. With trade discount it was much cheaper than buying everything separately, especially as Uv lamps retail at around £80 and some LEDs can reach £200. I also bought some lint-free pads for wiping down the cured polish. The system isn't cheap, but three gel manicures at a salon will cover the cost of the starter kit. The gel polishes themselves are a bit cheaper than other brands, and happily you can use any LED-curing polish with the lamp. I was so excited to try it!
The system is surprisingly very easy to apply. You cleanse your nails, apply a protective coat that dries in seconds, then apply a gel base coat, polish, and top coat curing between each gel layer. Curing takes either thirty or forty-five seconds, with the light conveniently turning itself off after forty-five. You can therefore do a whole set of gel nails in under fifteen minutes!
However, using your own nail polish takes a bit longer, as you have to let the regular polish fully dry in the air before you apply the gel top coat. My nails aren't perfect as I was getting ready and so didn't have time to just sit still, watch Netflix for an hour, and let them dry properly: there are a few dents and sheer patches where I've been doing my makeup and getting dressed. Still, the top coat cured brilliantly and so far I haven't seen a chip!
This photo was taken this morning, so here my nails have survived a party unscathed.
I will post an update in a few days to let you know how they've lasted. I have high hopes. (^_^')
4 comments:
This is amazing! Argh I'm so tempted to try this as I have the exact same problem that nail varnish just does not last for long enough on my nails! xxx
It's not a cheap kit but it makes your polish last way longer which then saves wasting them! It's now Monday morning and my nails still look just-done. :) If you have a friend/relative who is a hairdresser or beautician you should be able to use their trade discount. It's a great saving (it brought the price down to £70, which is roughly what you'd pay for a UV lamp alone, so not a cheap buy but one that will pay for itself eventually)! xx
Beautiful camera and nails!
Thank you! I hope my next set of nails is a bit neater but I am really in love with this stuff. :)
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