How to Pull Off a Salon-quality Gel Manicure at Home

Do at-home gel manicures turn out?For this beauty experiment, I have some good news and some bad news.

First, the good news: Yes, it is entirely possible to buy a home-use UV lamp and gel nail polish to do a full gel or shellac manicure at home for a fraction of the cost of a salon manicure.

Next, the bad news: No, giving yourself a manicure probably won't yield the same results as salon gel manicures. (Or at least that was the case for me!)

Why you ask? Let's discuss.

The fact of the matter is it isn't the equipment that makes a good gel manicure; it's the manicurist. The equipment itself is fairly standard and fairly (fairly) inexpensive, and no gel polish that I've tried seems to be far and away better than any of the others. What it really comes down to is care and precision.

"Do you have what it takes?!?" (Said in a Rex Kwon Do voice, please.)

Here are 6 steps for using any gel-manicure product:

1.) Prepare nails.
You can do this by washing hands, drying hands, pushing back and/or trimming cuticles, buffing the nail bed somewhat aggressively, and topping off with a swab of rubbing alcohol.

2.) Apply gel base coat.
Dry for 30 seconds under lamp.

3.) Apply first coat of gel color.
Dry for two minutes under lamp.

4.) Apply second coat of gel color.
Dry for two minutes under lamp.

5.) Apply gel top coat.
Dry for three minutes under lamp.

6.) Clean nail with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol.
(The top coat remains kind of waxy and sticky until this step.)

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If you do decide to try the gel system at home, here are 8 things to consider:

1.) The Lamp
In my experience, the kind of lamp you purchase makes no real difference. I've used a Thermal Spa and a Gelish Pro-45, and both have yielded the same results. I might recommend the Thermal Spa if only because it's bigger and can fit two hands (or feet) at once. It's more about the number of minutes you let your fingers cure. Instructions will say two-three minutes between coats. I'd say three minutes, three times, and you're getting somewhere.

2.) The Buff Job
The key is a really great buff job. These gels dry into a vinyl-type finish, and when a home job comes off, it usually comes off in one giant nail-shaped peel. This is because your nail is oily, and the gel polish will only adhere completely if you are very meticulous about it. How does it adhere so much better in a salon? I really think it has to do with buff skill. The rubbing alcohol also seems to be key. You want clean, rough and dry.

3.) The Base Coat
You know what never seems to work for me? Those base coats. They work beautifully at the salon, but I just can't get it to work at home. So, I skip it. My manicure lasts much longer when I do, but I am not sure why.

4.) The Gel Top Coat
Know what works even better than skipping the base coat? Using your regular nail polish and applying the gel top coat. Don't use the UV lamp to dry your regular polish; just let it air dry as usual. But make sure it is fully dry before applying the top coat. If it's even the slightest bit gummy, that top coat will seal in the gummy and they will never harden.

5.) The Thickness of Your Coats
Simply put, use thin (repeat, thin -- not thick) coats!

6.) Nail Tips
Be sure to direct a lot of attention to the tips of your nails. Run the polish wand horizontally across the edge to seal in the ends. This is how you prevent chips.

Related: 5 ways to look well-rested when you haven't slept

7.) Cuticles
Watch your cuticles. Don't let the polish get thick or heavy near your cuticles because this is where the polish wants to start to peel. Think thin. As little polish as you can use is best. (This might be redundant from point five, but seriously: thin.)

8.) Acetone Soak
It is far easier to peel an at-home gel polish off than to do the recommended five-minute soak in acetone -- mostly because soaking your fingers in acetone for too long is kind of painful in a strange way. And peeling is satisfying in that elementary school-Elmer's glue kind of way.

If you want to go all out on this and give it the full attempt, here is the full CND Shellac at-home kit. Good luck!

- By Natalie Holbrook
Follow Natalie on Babble

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