Nails/manicures how you do yours?

[caramelcraze]

^^^I saw someone on tiktok talking about how they do their nails is to instead of using nail glue and fake nails, they use curing gel with (clear) fake nails and they stay on forever. The next time one of my nails breaks and I need a tip instead of gluing one on I will cure it with my nail gel and see how it holds up.

You can use polygel or builder gel to attach nails. With polygel, you can do a lot of inlays this way. The issue (as Cutie101 pointed out) is getting them off because neither soaks off. You have to file them with an efile, which you have to be super careful with. it is very easy to over file and end up with sensitive/paper thin nails unfortunately. Soft gel adhesive (like Apres) lasts 2-3 weeks on me usually & it soaks off in 15-20 minutes (so no real nail damage that way). I seriously WISH someone would make soak off polygel that is decent quality though!

if you're interested in using polygel with press ons (usually referred to as the "lazy girl method"), here's a great video by Femi Beauty. She (the content creator) makes a bunch of lazy girl method polygel videos that are super informative & creative. SlayByJay is another content creator who does an amazing job and her stuff is probably a bit more beginner friendly if you just want to learn.

[Genoveve]

I wonder how they take them off tho... I mean, I gotta soak the shit out of my nails to take the gel off, idk how to soak them underneath the fake nail... I'd love to do this.

I personally would do fills on them as they grew out, but I assume the chicks who don't do acrylic and are relying just on the fake nails would eventually soak them off or wait until they started coming loose or falling off to pop them all off. No clue though.

[whirlerz]

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[Cutie101]

Yeah, too much work, I will stay on my short gel nails haha.

[whirlerz]

+, they get veins in them when they get that long, ew

[Cutie101]

I found a trick to remove the gel polish quicker off my nails (aka not scrubbing like a maniac and peeling the nails like crazy):

So, I was usually applying nail polish remover on cotton buds and clip them, with those nail plastic clips. And I'd usually leave it like that for 20 min. But after 20 min, the gel would get soft, but not soft enough to scrub it easily.
Then I saw a youtube tutorial, showing to also wrap the finger in foil, because the acetone disolves slower if it doesn't take contact with the air. Huge facepalm. I find wrapping each finger in tin foil too tedious so I found another trick: I shove my hand in a rubber glove )) It's big enough to get my hands in with those nail clips included.
And before that, I make sure I file all the shiny coat off the nail polish, basically till my nails look matte, then add the cotton buds with acetone, clip them, shove hand in rubber glove and let it sit there for 20 min. Now I easily scrub the nail polish and I am done quicker and with less mess, effort and damage.

For feet I've also found a trick and i am actually gonna start doing gel polish on toes too (I have ugly back pain, I wasn't entertained by the idea of having to bend over and scrub endlessly the gel polish): Put the cotton buds soaked in acetone, in a line, on top of all nails and wrap the whole line in tin foil, rather than wrapping each toe. Saw it in this clip, btw (at minute 03:55):



PS: I am loving the white pedicure and I am gonna try it!! I need to buy a white gel polish. It looks so clean and fresh, actually.

[Cashmere Star]

I've never paid much attention to my nails besides keeping them clean but I am REALLY getting into and appreciating press-on nails! I hated adhesive strips, but with glue it's much better. And even better and lasts longer if I apply a base coat to protect my nail bed, and then apply the glue and press ons - and then add a top coat to give it a glossy look. I can trim and file the nails to my preferred length, and french nails are so much easier to accomplish now. If I order the nails online, it's like 50 cents for a full set of nails that match my nail beds. This is so much cheaper than getting it done at a salon and still looks solid, and it's much faster and convenient than applying nail polish. I wish I learned about this sooner.

[caramelcraze]

I've never paid much attention to my nails besides keeping them clean but I am REALLY getting into and appreciating press-on nails! I hated adhesive strips, but with glue it's much better. And even better and lasts longer if I apply a base coat to protect my nail bed, and then apply the glue and press ons - and then add a top coat to give it a glossy look. I can trim and file the nails to my preferred length, and french nails are so much easier to accomplish now. If I order the nails online, it's like 50 cents for a full set of nails that match my nail beds. This is so much cheaper than getting it done at a salon and still looks solid, and it's much faster and convenient than applying nail polish. I wish I learned about this sooner.

You would probably really like Gel X nails. They’re essentially press ons that last a few weeks and, because they’re sealed, they don’t accidentally give you greenies.

[Cashmere Star]

You would probably really like Gel X nails. They’re essentially press ons that last a few weeks and, because they’re sealed, they don’t accidentally give you greenies.

I'll look into it, it seems right up my alley. Thanks!

[Harlo]

I bought Orly's gel system from their website earlier this year to use on my natural nails, it's been pretty good except when I first got it I had a mini disaster. Their easy off basecoat isn't supposed to be used with primer (only is mentioned in the video tutorial for it) and I had glitter polish that would not come off after soaking in acetone for 45 minutes, ended up filing off as much as I could which weakend my nails causing a break in one after the next manicure. I switched to gel because I was tired of having to bob around looking for a good top coat, I used to swear by opi's but after a few uses and making sure the cap is on tight they just keep turning thick.

[Cutie101]

I had those 2 nail polishes for like 3 years, but never used them because I thought they were bad quality, being semi transparent, lol. But my dumb brain was bad quality, those polishes are semi transparent on purpose, for simple manicures like that. Anyway, I decided to use them (1 coat is regular shiny and the second coat is shimmery) and I kinda became obsessed with those manicures now. I can't stop looking at my nails, they look so clean and fresh... I think I will do the same color in 3 weeks, it;s just so beautiful.

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[whirlerz]

Nailtopia is a newer, natural, plant based polish w/lots of colors.
I have a couple of their polishes in my Ulta cart.