hello!!

OK so I did my nails like four days ago and every since then my nails have been so itchy and I don’t know what the fuck is going on and I just looked under my nails and there’s blisters and Puss and now I’m freaking out and I don’t know what to do please help me !!!!!!

Hi everyone, I'm new to gel extension --i haven't fully tried it yet because I'm having a hell of a time finding tips that cover my whole nail. I prefer short length tips but the kind I bought (beetles short almond) don't fully cover my nail. Do I have to size up and cut them down? Try a different shape? Or is there a brand that makes short length tips that cover the full nail? For reference, my nail beds are on the small/medium size and don't have a high c curve. Thanks for any help 😊

About a month ago I posted asking about stamping with gel and I did some experimenting. I thought I'd share my results for anyone who was curious.

I got pretty good results with using a really really squishy soft stamper, a thick gel (I used the Venalisa mud gel) and flash curing the gel for 2-3 seconds before stamping it. So after picking it up with the stamper, but before actually putting it on my nail.

Just I thought I'd share in case anyone wanted to do any stamping in a pinch and all they had was gel.

Does anyone here do stamping with gel polish? Any tips on how to pull it off?

What's the best way to do aquarium nails? I'd prefer to not have to buy tips just for one look since I don't use them, but the tip-free methods seem far more complicated.

It seems like ever since gel took off over the last few years, you rarely hear anyone talk about acrylic anymore. Even my favorite acrylic youtubers have all moved on to gel. I kinda have a soft spot in my heart for acrylic since it was the first thing I learned. Anyone still using it?

Hi!

I would like to buy full gel cover nails but do not want to buy a set that has all the sizes since I am only doing my nails. Are there any Instagram shops or sellers that let you buy individual sizes?

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Thanks!!

Hello! New mod here. Hoping to get this sub active again!

Hi, I am new to the DIY nail world, and am having a terrible time finding a brand that has little to no "C" curve for wide nail beds. I just purchased the Beetles Gel Glue, Gel Builder, Dehydrator, and Primer, and the KiaraSky Flash Cure Led light. My nails came from Etsy and are full cover Clear Gel Short Square. I am learning how much glue to use, as in 'not much', but it is the nails that bother me. I really need a round style. I have spent hours upon hours trying to find anything that might work, but all I can find not only are ridiculously long, but also have a high C curve, and very small thumbs. I happen to have wide, flat thumbs. Surely not all women have these petite thin fingers? When I get more practiced I want to try polygel, but for now I am wanting to play with the gel glue. Thank you in advance for any help in my endeavor.

Hey guys. So, I’m fairly new to doing my own nails but I find it really fun. I’ve been looking into Leafgel because I keep hearing about it but the shipping price, the price tag itself - yikes, right!

I wanted to know your guys’ thoughts on Leafgel and if you think it’s worth the hype

I started doing my own gel nails a couple months ago, and it's been a blast. However, I've encountered one problem.

When soaking off, the gel never fully comes off for me, no matter how long I wait (I use 100% acetone, and I've tried both nail-quality, and solvent-quality). So I end up gently filing off what's left, which at that point is mostly the base coat. And, since the base coat is clear, I never really know when to stop? I keep seeing unevenness, which I assume is the polish, and just keep filing. Which, as you can imagine, has resulted in pretty severely overfiled nails. And since my nails are naturally very thin, it's a bit of a problem! I've been dealing with them getting caught on things and bending backwards my whole life, but now it's even worse (P.S. All hail builder gel 😍).

So here are my questions: how do you know when to quit? If I leave bits and pieces of the old base coat, how badly will it affect the new manicure? I'd rather have some unevenness but healthy nails, obviously, but will that make it start chipping faster? And what about those "magic removers" (not the lye-based ones, but for example the one from Mylee), could that be a better option for me?

I feel stuck in that "I know what I'm doing now but it still takes me several hours to do my nails" phase. How do I get faster?

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem lately.

I'm using Gelish soak-off gel polish. I just ordered the colors Sea Foam and Curls & Pearls April 2021. Today I went to paint my nails. I'm using a professional 18G LED Gelish lamp and Gelish top and base gel coats as usual. The Sea Foam would not cure. I then tried to cure it for double then triple the amount of time recommended. It would not cure and I could scrape it all off with my fingernail. It was gummy. So I removed it all and tried my Curls & Pearls color purchased from a different vendor but still Gelish brand. Same thing, but it kind of cured better than the Sea Foam. Still though, I could scrape most of it off. So I tried one of my older Gelish colors. No problems at all. By the way, I'm keeping my layers nice and thin and there is no doubt I'm using Gelish soak-off gel polish.

All I can think of is their formula is wonky from the world supply chain being messed up. Has anyone else had problems with this? I've never encountered this and I've been doing my own soak-off gel polish for about 5 years.

Thaniks

-x

Hey peeps, just hoping for some help. Has been a couple of years since doing any SOG but getting back into it. I have the gelish home kit and led light. When checking their site to refresh my brain on instructions says 5secs for foundation, 30 secs for colors (20s if light) and 20s for top coat. My lamp auto sets to 45 sec and I remember that being correct for one step. Have cute times changed? And if so is that she to a change in formula because all my stuff is old, so I’m just not 100% sure if what I’m doing now!

Hi everyone! Gonna be as detailed as possible- sorry in advance for the long post!

i recently bought a kit on Amazon (included the lamp, base&top coat and a bunch of colors, etc) i used to get gel mani's at a salon every 2/3 weeks and my nails would grow so fast and be so strong...ever since i started doing my own nails (about a month ago) my nails havent grown as much and feel so weak and brittle :( i firmly believe its the brand of the nail polishes & base/top that came in the kit plus probably my removal process?

first i file off the top coat, then i soak cotton balls in 100% acetone, place it on the nail and wrap it in tin foil- i check back every 10 min but before i know it 40 min have gone by and the polish is barely lifting and i still have to scrape it off. if i soak my nails in the acetone directly my nails end up curling very dramatically? i dont know why they form a strong C shape but its mad ugly. and yet still!!! does not remove the polish!

in conclusion lol, does anyone have any base/top coat and polish recommendations? i remember my nail tech used Gelish 24/7 but its expensive :/ might do it tho.

also does anyone have a better way to remove the gel polish than what i alr do? does anyone recommend i buy that machine to drill i off or whatever it is i dont know what the machine is called lol but my nail tech used it

Hi everyone, I’m new here :) I need some help with nail extensions, I bought a box of tips from Ali express but the C-curve is way too curved and bought some glue from boots but it doesn’t stick properly I do know if it’s because of the tips or the glue. What is best for nails extensions (gel-X, tips, poppits and acrygel or paper forms? My fingernails are arched and I don’t like it so I’d like to best technic to correct this. At the moment I’m using PremierGel on my natural nails. What do you think of this brand? The gel is quite thick I think. The brand recommends to keep the gel for 12months after opening. Is it a problem to use the gel after this? I am using a 12w lamp, it’s not very powerful but so far I didn’t have any problems with curing the gel polish. Would it be enough to cure hard get though? Thanks for your answers 🙂

wanting to do a gel extension set but i can’t do apres on myself and i’m also out of builder gel...just wondering if this works at all? i usually use BIAB so i’m used to applying builder with a built in brush anyway. thanks in advance!

I recently ordered the Gelish Probond for my gel nails. I was wondering if it can be soaked off? I’ve read from some stories online that it can be a nightmare to remove, so I’m scared to use on my nails!

I tried using those duel forms that came with it and the cat eye gel (which didn't fully cure due to my own mistakes) I made a huge mess, got tons of gel on my skin, I had no alcohol to remove it just acetone which didn't work well... It was a disaster (my first time using gel AND first time with duel forms to build nails) I've used acrylic, and while i'm allergic it's just a tiny bit of itchy around the cuticle for a few days.

But this gel... I had a HORRID allergic reaction with hundreds of tiny blisters around my fingers, Holding objects, bumping things, typing, everything HURT to do, you couldn't see them without looking really hard but I..FELT...THEM. Now my hands are all dry calloused looking and healing (which is normal from the sort of eczema reaction I got. I seriously wanted to put my hands in fire to get the itching to stop)

But my question is, if I use nail forms instead of messy duel forms i'm not used to and was careful not to touch skin this time do you think i have a chance of using the kit? My nails are paper thin and nothing strengthens them, so it's building nails or nothing for me. Plus acrylic dries fast, smells AWFUL and lifts within 2-3 days no matter what I do. I went over 4 with poly 0 lifting at all before I realized my reaction wasn't just the normal sort that goes away and I had to take them all off.

I was super excited and i don't normally have money to spend on nail stuff I'm not likely to be able to get more stuff for months, if not next christmas.

I've used gel polish plenty with just the normal itching acrylic gives me and I don't mind that, I get eczema so i'm used to it. I don't know if it was the poly gel, the slip solution or just the sheer amount I got on my fingers (The worst spots i ALWAYS get polish all over, but i even had it on my finger tips and anywhere the gel touched. I even got a red spot on my thigh where i either wiped my hand from some gel or slip on my "crafting" leggings.

Do i have options? Has anyone else dealt with this?

I’m looking to start doing my own acrylics at home as I can’t get to the salon to get them done. I’m looking at getting a kit or buy the stuff individually where is the best place to go? Thanks in advance

Hi all - I wonder if you can help:

I recently purchased a trial kit of builder in a bottle, which included the BIAB, base coat, top coat, dehydrator and wipe off fluid - it's all from the same brand and designed to be used together.

Now I know that some of the lifting I'm getting is due to inexperience, but the whole layer of builder (plus gel colour) is lifting off from the basecoat after a week or so, leaving the basecoat layer behind, smooth and shiny. The basecoat isn't meant to be peel off or anything fancy.
The basecoat doesn't get a sticky layer, but I've tried wiping it with the wipe-off solution anyway which makes no difference.

Am I supposed to file the surface after applying? I'm baffled. I feel like I'm missing something obvious.

I’ve been using Sensationail topcoat and have noticed that it yellows pretty significantly after one week. I don’t work with particularly harsh chemicals or anything… I’m wondering if I should switch brands. Any recommendations for topcoats that are less yellowing?