Gel Nails: A Step-By-Step Guide to Doing Them at Home
Beautiful new nails are a great way to elevate your style and achieve a fresh new look. However, getting them done professionally at the salon can be expensive or a lot of hassle.
Fortunately, you have the option to do gel nails at home too. In fact, with the right equipment and a bit of practice, doing them yourself really isn’t much different, but it is more cost-effective and it gives you the chance to get creative.
This short guide will walk you through the process of doing gel nails yourself.
1. Prepare your nails
Even a good quality gel nail polish kit isn’t going to give you strong, durable results if the nails are applied on top of poor foundations. Preparing your nails properly is important.
To prepare your nails, you should cut and file them into a shape of your choosing. What is important is that they look neat and tidy without being too long. You must do this before applying the gel polish because you cannot do it afterwards without ruining things.
2. Push back your cuticles
Grab a cuticle pusher and work your cuticles back gently until you can see the base of your nails. This expands the surface area of your nail bed, which is what the gel polish needs to stick to. This will make them much more secure and likely to last longer.
After you’ve pushed back your cuticles, be sure to apply rubbing alcohol and buff away any debris, oil, or residue. These can form a barrier between the gel and your nails which can mean that the gel nails don’t stick properly. This causes them to lift.
3. Apply the base coat
This is required to get the gel nail to stick to your nail bed. You want to aim for a thin layer of base coat that is applied evenly across the entire nail, not leaving any gaps.
Once this is done, your nails need to be cured, which can be done by placing them under a UV/LED lamp for between 45 and 60 seconds. You might need more or less time depending on the power of the lamp you’re using. When you are finished, the base coat should still feel sticky.
4. Apply gel polish
Once again, you want to apply this as a thin, even layer that covers your nails. Take care not to touch your cuticles by mistake.
Once you’re done, you will need to cure them again. You can either do this after each nail, or when you have done all the nails on one hand.
5. Apply the top gel coat
Once the gel polish has been cured, add a final thin layer of gel to your nails and seal the tips carefully, making sure that the edges are covered. This will help protect them from chipping or lifting.
Cure them once more, then apply some cuticle oil to help keep them looking healthy.
Conclusion
The keys to successfully doing your gel nails at home are preparation and patience. Before you begin, ensure that you have all the equipment to hand, then take care to follow each step in order.
