How I Did My First Gel Manicure At Home

I can’t remember the last time I got a manicure. I think it was about three years ago when I was trying a new nail polish for a blog post and needed to take some pictures of it on my nails.

I tend to stay away from manicures for one main reason. Nail polish doesn’t stay on my fingernails. I’m being serious. Probably an hour or two after getting a manicure the polish has started chipping and about 24 hours later it looks so bad I have to remove the polish. Which is essentially like throwing money and time down the drain.

(I received this product free for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own.)

I’ve mentioned my manicure woes to other ladies they suggested I try a gel manicure instead. Gel manicures are pretty new to me even though they’ve been “in” for a while. I think the last time I got a manicure at a salon gel wasn’t in yet. But several of my co-workers swear by gel manicures because of the shiny finish and there’s little to no chipping unlike regular polish if the gel is applied properly.

Because several of the salons near me don’t have good reviews and I don’t have time to travel to the salon during the day, I decided to try the Gel Nail Polish Starter Kit from Pink Gellac.

With the Pink Gellac Gel Nail Polish Starter kit, I got basically everything I would need to do a gel manicure at home:

• 1 Free Primer 
• 1 Free Color Dynamic Pink
• 4 Free online courses
• 1 Pink Gellac LED Lamp
• 1 Pink Gellac Base
• 1 Pink Gellac Ultra Shine 
• 1 Nail file 240-180 grid 
• 1 Orange Woodstick
• 10 Cleaner pockets
• 10 Remover pockets 

The cost of the kit may seem a bit high and depending on where you live it can be about the same or a bit more than getting a gel manicure at the salon. But if you like to get gel manicures frequently the cost could be worth it in the long run. Plus you save time wasted traveling to and from the salon and waiting for your appointment when you arrive.

I have to admit though when I started reading the instructions it was a little daunting. There are a few steps to follow to get the best results. I was also a little skeptical of the color Dynamic Pink. I thought it would be too bright and capture too much attention. But so far no one has said anything about my nail color, so I’m taking that as a sign that it’s not as bright as I thought it was.

I also really liked the shiny finish and the fact that I didn’t have any chipping within the first few hours after application. Even 24 hours later the nails still looked good.

Some tips I picked up from my experience are:

• Practice applying polish with regular nail polish first. The directions say to keep the polish about a millimeter away from your cuticle. I wasn’t sure how far away this was supposed to be so I ended up having some nails where you can see a weird border of my natural nail. If I had practiced with regular nail polish first I think I would have been better prepared for applying the gel polish.
• Apply the polish in thin coats. The nails with thinner coats of polish look a lot better than the ones that a bit thicker.
• Follow the instructions for cleaning your nails and curing your polish. You’ll be more satisfied with the results if you do.
• Particularly if this is your first time applying gel polish, take your time. Make sure you allow enough time that you don’t feel rushed. Also, watch the instructional videos so you can see someone else applying the polish. 

Let me know if you’ve tried an at-home gel nail kit.