Gelish Info

Back in August Polish Insomniac posted about at-home gel nails, something I had been thinking about trying, but just hadn't gotten around to. At that time, Sally's was running a special on the Gelish mini UV light and the Gelish starter kit, so I went for it. I am SO glad I did!



Here's my first try at a full mani- this is two coats of Harmony Gelish Star Burst. I actually purchased Star Burst on Amazon because it seemed to be the cheapest option for full-sized bottles.

Here's what comes in the starter set.

And this is the light. I read all the reviews on this light and it seemed like a great way to go to begin.

A few tips:

1. One thing I read was that even though the light uses batteries, it is better to use a power adapter because the strength of the light goes down as the batteries go down. But if you use a power adapter, the strength of the light is constant and it works much better. So that's what I've been doing- we have tons of power adapters lying around from toys, so I just grabbed one of those and just plug it in each time I use it.

2. It's not really necessary to use the Gelish Cleanse.... once I run out of the starter bottle, I'll use the higher percentage Alcohol and it will work just fine- I think it's 90%. You just don't want to buy the 70% Alcohol because it won't work as well.

3. I use an old t-shirt for my lint-free cloth to wipe the cleanse across my nails- you do it twice- once before you start, and then at the end to remove the sticky residue that remains after curing.

Have you tried at-home gel nails? I am having fun! I do have to say I practiced a bit using it to mend tears before I tried a full mani. I followed Loodie Loodie Loodie's tips for using gel polish to mend a tear.