Gel nails at home

iammumtoone

Ganderson1804 wrote: »

Hi ladies

Sorry to interrupt your thread… I am away to start trying my own gel nails at home.

I have ordered some lint free pads and also a smile line brush. I’m just going to buy bits at a time. My friend has a lamp so she’s going to send me the link to it.

I was thinking of using harmony gelish. I did think about using shellac but from what I can see gelish seems to last a little longer. Do any of you use gelish? I want to get a couple of colours and also the stuff for doing a French x

What is a smile line brush use for? Now wondering if I need one :rotfl:

I am just starting out on this and got a used bundle off ebay, it included some red carpet which is a brand name and some other cheaper brands. I intend to stick with the brand name top and base and use cheaper colours for the moment. When I get some money and have proved to myself this is not a fad that I will get fed up off then I will invest in some gellish.

Personally I think it is a good idea to try it out before you spend all that much. Can you use some of your friends the first time to see if you like it before you pay out?

Let us know how you get on.

AbbieCadabra

what about a sensationail starter kit? you'll get a decent LED lamp to re-use even if you change brand of polish, that's what i did. might be worth waiting to see if they have another offer on again, kit was on special offer at £45 (see my post in this thread from about a week ago). also Red Carpet do a kit, direct & on QVC i think.

i tried bluesky, before i understood about the brands/ingredients etc., it seems to get good reviews on amazon but i didn't get on with it. uneven coverage, didn't wear well & was a pain to remove. i also tried INK (you can only buy direct now if you're a professional, but it might be re-sold on ebay), nice enough with no real issues, but wear was less than gelish & colour choice limited.

edit - completely forgot about megamix, i have some but haven't used it yet (trying to get down my gelish stash a little 1st). you mix it with regular polish & it turns it into a gel. cheaper than a big name branded kit & has very good feedback on salongeek.

AbbieCadabra

iammumtoone wrote: »

What is a smile line brush use for? Now wondering if I need one :rotfl:

step away from the 'newly mentioned bit of kit' immediately! (i think it's for french manicures, to wipe the excess white/tip colour to get a crisp line? not too sure am i'm a steadfast colour & bling girl!).

ganderson1804

Thanks ladies.


A friend gave me a shot of her Gellux stuff last night and it was great! But again so pricey.


I have wondered about buying a decent bond, base and top coat and cheaper colours. Any experience in mixing brands / systems?


The smile line brush is for doing French tips - think it might take a bit of practise!x

Saban

AbbieCadabra wrote: »

what about a sensationail starter kit? you'll get a decent LED lamp to re-use even if you change brand of polish, that's what i did. might be worth waiting to see if they have another offer on again, kit was on special offer at £45 (see my post in this thread from about a week ago). also Red Carpet do a kit, direct & on QVC i think.

i tried bluesky, before i understood about the brands/ingredients etc., it seems to get good reviews on amazon but i didn't get on with it. uneven coverage, didn't wear well & was a pain to remove. i also tried INK (you can only buy direct now if you're a professional, but it might be re-sold on ebay), nice enough with no real issues, but wear was less than gelish & colour choice limited.

Hi AC, where do you get your Gelish polish's from? I really want to try them but them seem very expensive, about £12 for a used on on ebay

AbbieCadabra

Saban wrote: »

Hi AC, where do you get your Gelish polish's from? I really want to try them but them seem very expensive, about £12 for a used on on ebay

mainly off ebay, £12 is pretty good as new they are about £24 for the colours.

i purchased the fantastic four starter set from here a while ago, they aren't a recognised distributor in the UK so it's likely they've imported from USA/elsewhere. i'm happy that what i ordered was genuine, but i can't comment on anything else. if there was a specific colour i really, really wanted, i'd probably order from them again.

once i've used up my current gelish stash, i will probably just use megamix with my regular polish. it will use up my large collection of normal polish & the whole megamix system is pretty cheap compared to others.

iammumtoone

link is not right AC. I'd like to know where you got it from as I have been looking but can only find US companies, they will ship to the UK but it will make it expensive with the import duty. I don't want to buy from ebay or amazon due to risk of fakes.

AbbieCadabra

iammumtoone wrote: »

link is not right AC. I'd like to know where you got it from as I have been looking but can only find US companies, they will ship to the UK but it will make it expensive with the import duty. I don't want to buy from ebay or amazon due to risk of fakes.

whoops, sorry, no idea what happened there, corrected it now

i've been wary of mentioning them before as even though i was happy with the kit i got (i'm no expert by any means, but it works well & seems genuine to me from what i've learnt), for those prices, something could well be 'off'. they do have a cash & carry in Leeds, no idea if it's professionals only or open to the public, but i couldn't find anything out about them online. i did contact them & they assured me it was all genuine, but they would wouldn't they! selling at half of rrp must mean something, hopefully they are just 'grey imports' but are genuine. as they are in the UK & i could contact them by phone, i took a chance & ordered.

beverly beaute sell at similar prices, but again, no guarantee it's genuine & you're likely to get clobbered with import duty etc. as it's shipped from overseas.

i'd hate to mention somewhere, then someone have issues, so please bear in mind what i've said if you decide to purchase.

wort

Hi I got the red carpet kit about 18 months ago and have used blue sky and crystal g polishes too all work well. I usually use the foam pads that came with the set ( still in use)with normal kitchen foil cut in strips to take off just use acetone. I cleanse with a muslin cloth which is lint free and can be washed and reused:)

iammumtoone

wort wrote: »

I cleanse with a muslin cloth which is lint free and can be washed and reused:)

That is a really good idea, once I have used all my little cloths I brought I will be doing that.