So I tried to do my nails with gel polish but they just look terrible, part of it may be down to the cheapish polish but I tried a different one and it still is terrible I try to go really slow and be careful but it still ends up looking crappy. Advice please?
by Leahfaith6077
8 Comments
Just take time to apply it more carefully, have something besides you to clean the cuticle area. And if the polish is a bit runny do one nail at the time, flash cure it for 10 sec before you move on to the next so it wont flood. Goodluck (:
White is a hard color to make look perfect. As long as you’re applying even coats and avoiding your skin it should be okay. Also making sure to cure fully between coats.
I’m sorry to dump this on you, people say this is just fear mongering, but the science behind it is very VERY serious…
Gel nail polish is incredibly dangerous to get on your skin, even in tiny amounts, even just little bits on your cuticles, it should never be cured on your skin, and it should immediately be removed off your skin with alcohol & a cleanup brush. But not even just that, it’s so dangerous that any contact on your skin is incredibly dangerous even for tiny amounts of time, which is why if you’re doing gel polish you’re meant to learn how to perfectly stay within the guidelines with normal nail polish first – like you’re fully meant to practise it until you never touch the skin on your fingers, even I don’t know how to fully do that yet… I’m getting close but I’m nowhere near being allowed to do gel on my nails
Speaking of my nails… a nail tech got gel nail polish on my skin for a year straight, and exactly what is meant to happen happened to me… I now have a permanent lifelong allergy to all acrylites. I’m no longer allowed to have gel polish on my nails, or anything made from acrylic even, so I can’t even have basic acrylic nails anymore. And not only that, I am now allergic to dental procedures or any medical procedures that use acrylites ☹️
There is lots of misinformation about “safe gels” for people with allergies, but unfortunately once you have the allergy… you’re done for life with all of them.
This stuff really should be sold with way bigger warnings than it is…
You need to remove these immediately and not use gel again until you practice with regular polish. Getting gel on your skin like this is exactly how you get allergies. Using cheaper gels is even higher risk for acrylate allergies. If you develop allergies you won’t be able to use any nail enhancement products (gel, polygel, acrylic, most nail glues), but it will also impact your ability to get dental procedures and surgeries.
It may sound obvious, but something that helped me was realizing that the polish doesn’t need to go all the way to the sidewalls/cuticle. Also, white is like the hardest color to make look perfect. Some people may advise you to flash cure the individual nails between applying coats but please fully cure each nail 60s at least. I tried to flash cure white but it caused it to bubble. Just practice and you’ll get there!
Not too bad for DIY! But here’s some tips, nail prep is everything, push your cuticles back before you start. And make very thin layers, like so thin it’s almost too thin. Cure between each thin layer. It’s tedious but will come out evenly. Also a q tip with acetone to wipe off of your skin before you cure.
White is notoriously hard to get even, so you need to have a really good quality polish if you want to stick to the white.
Also, you really need to be careful about getting gel on your skin. Over exposure can cause allergies down the line.
I would suggest you practice painting with regular polish to get the hang of before moving to gel. A clean brush ( with acetone) is your best friend when it comes to painting nails.
Hi! I am also new to gel polish specifically and had this same issue applying a light pink polish my first few times around.
Your overall application actually looks really even, but I see it’s pooling just a little at the tip of the nail. I thought I was applying thin coats, I had to go even thinner. My nails weren’t curing fully between coats until I did this. Better to do more coats than thicker coats.
Another commenter here mentioned having something to clean your cuticles with. Those wooden cuticle sticks are a life saver for this. Keeping the polish off of your cuticles and skin around the entire nail will elevate this look a ton!
My polish was all the way back to my cuticles like yours when I started, and when it grows out that part curls up and ends up lifting/peeling. The sides of your nails may do the same if they touch cuticle/skin. So it will help you with your longevity too to ensure that you leave the tiniest space between polish and cuticle/skin. Best of luck!