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Just before I left for my trip, I had to redo my manicure. I have always either traveled without any manicure or with a very toned down manicure in case of any chipping or tip wear. I had read on another blogger's blog that she had done a very simple gel nail manicure using mainly clear polish with gold glitter at the tips. I decided that it was perfect to do for this trip.
By the time I managed to take this picture, this manicure was already almost a week and a half old. Sorry, the color also is a bit off, don't know what happened.
I love doing gel nail manicures. It is easy to do at home and no wait time for the nails to dry other than when you put it under the lamp. It is very long wearing on me despite the fact that I am very hard on my hands and nails. My nails are also very soft and they bend and rip easily. Although you have to buff your nails, which weakens it, after applying the gel polish, my nails are much stronger.
The downside to gel nail manicures is removing it. Being the lazy person that I am, I decided to try to just buff/file down that current manicure, paying close attention to the cuticle areas that had lifted a bit. I then went ahead and started the whole application process and did a new manicure. I was curious to see if it would work and it did!
The end result is great and my nails are even stronger right now because of all the layers of polish. I actually have never had my natural nails this long before, I was going to cut it down but I am interested in seeing how long they will get before I have to redo the manicure again. Hopefully I can hold out because I am finding it very difficult to type with the longer nails. I keep making typos.
When it is time to remove this manicure, I will take a break from doing gel nail manicures to let my nails rest and recover.
*Kat*
This is just a quick update to the "new" gel nail manicure that I posted about here.
It is now two weeks since I did the manicure and I'm happy to report that there is no tip wear or chipping. However, it did start to lift at the cuticle line and peeled a bit just before I took pictures.
Overall, I'm really happy using gel nail polish. It stands up to my nail abuse. I have really soft nails, which bend and tear easily. Using gel nail polish helps to strengthen my nails so that they can grow longer.
*Kat*
I think that I'm finally back to normal life schedule. I also finally got my new computer to replace my dead one. I've been itching to blog but since I lost all of my pictures which were on my old computer, I had to start taking new pictures. Since I'm so anxious to do a blog post, I'm doing a NOTD type of post, although my polish application technique is something awful.
I had been looking into DIY gel nails and reading reviews on various products out there. I was thinking of getting the Sally Hansen one until I read about how small the LED lamp is. While my daughter-in-law was here visiting, she ended up buying Sally Hansen gel nail strips not realizing until after she got home that you need an LED lamp. This was just the motivation that I needed to go and buy one. I decided to get Sensational by Nailene.
I bought the starter kit, which was great. I also like the fact that the lamp is small but can do 4 nails at a time and then you do your thumb. The instructions are simple and basic application is easy to do. I decided to be adventurous on this first time around (not a good idea) and try to do a gradient nail, like I've done in the past with regular nail polish.
After nail prep and base coat, I applied the 1st coat using a pale pink shade. You really can't see it well.
I then tried (key word is "tried") to apply a really light coat of the darker pink shade slightly higher than the pale pink shade. And then I tried to do another light coat of the same pink shade slightly higher than the previous one.
I then applied a silver glitter shade, which I tried to lightly apply to blend out the various layers. Topped with top coat and did the finishing step.
Between each coat of polish, you need to "set" it under the LED lamp. For the base/top coat, it's 30 seconds, for the color polishes it's 1 minute. I really liked that it doesn't take much time under the lamp and the polish sets and dries. For me, it's a real plus because I almost always end up smudging my nails because they aren't completely dried.
I also bought the gel polish removal starter kit. It's great to have although not completely necessary.
I love the look of the gel nails. It was easy to do. I love how the polish seems to last on me without chipping for at least a week. Regular nail polish manicures have tip wear and/or chips by the next day. I don't like that this brand doesn't have a huge shade variety. I would have liked to have more shade variations to make a nicer gradient nail. I think that next time I should use eyeglasses to see better and do a cleaner application. The polish removal is a bit of a humbug.
I really want to find a source for gel nail polish that has a nice selection of colors as well as a clear with holographic glitters. If any readers know of any sources, please share with me.
I can't believe that it's September already! I hope you all had a great summer.
*Kat*
