Has anyone used it? I ordered some opi gel color off amazon and I can't wait to get it! I don't get my nails done anymore to save money and after doing some research found that gel polish lasts about 3 weeks (give or take)......and you can use it on your natural nails. No acrylics necessary.

Anyway, I know I need a uv dryer, base coat and top coat.....but is that it? Has anyone attempted this at home?

I use Shellac at home fairly regularly. I apply the base coat, two coats pof color, and the top coat with time in the dryer in between. Then youll need to rub each nail with rubbing alcohol to remove the stickiness.

3 weeks would probably be close to accurate for a profesisonal manicure, and someone who is a little nicer to their nails than I am. I've never gotten them done profesisonally, and the bets I've ever gotten is about a week and a half. With that said, I usually manage to chip my professionally painted (with regular polish) nails before I even get home. I never pay for manicures unless my cuticles are a wreck because I've never had polish last even three days.

I've never tried the OPI gel, but love my Shellac. Theres a relaly soft neutral called Negligee that's just perfect, very light pink shimmer. I use it all the time.

Awesome!

I have the base coat and top coat on order.

I usually get acrylics, but they tear up my nail beds and at this point its not worth the 50 dollars every 2 weeks to keep them up.

I'll still do a pedicure every now and then though.

Yay!! I love it. Ok here is a tip. Put on primer first, like they do with normal gel or acrylic. Put on your first layer of polish, dry under the uv and then take a cotton swab with alcohol and wipe it a couple times, then do your second coat, dry under uv and wipe again with alcohol before adding your top coat. You will notice when you do the first coat it is kindy filmy and not pretty, so I think thats why its good to use the alcohol.

They still do tend to chip though, so be careful, but not usually before the first 10 days. it saves so much time its awesome!!

I don't personally use it but my mom does. She has the Uv lights and all and she does them for me. They work great. Shellac and some other brand, I forgot. They stay on for 2-3 weeks and for me, my nails always end up being nicely long and strong

Yeah, I recommend wiping them with rubbing alcohol after each coat under the UV light. Acrylic nails are a pain to keep up with and it's honestly not worth the money. And people charge so much to get Shellac done nowadays! It'll be so much cheaper to buy your own things. I know my mom charges like $15 extra for the Shellac painting alone and yet people still do it! Other things you can do to keep the polish on for a longer period of time is to use a little acetone and rub it on your nails before you apply your polish, to remove all the oils on your nails. You can also take a nail filer and kinda lightly trudge it along your nail bed so it becomes a little rough, making the polish stay on longer.

Feel free to ask any other questions! I've had a nail tech. license since I was 16 and it certainly came in handy!

I'm also an at-home Shellac-er. I had it done in the salon twice to observe the process, then did research on my own as to the proper way to apply it. Now, I've got 20 colors, do some amazing layering effects, and when I feel like taking a long time, even give myself hand-drawn french tips.

Each brand of product is different. I would recommend NOT mixing base, color, and top-coats of different brands during the same manicure, and I WOULD recommend visiting sites like Salon Geek to read about the proper process for each product. I use Shellac, so I would never try to give you directions for Gellish or whatever OPI is calling their product. Drying times and application processes vary by product. Someone above said to wipe the sticky layer off in between coats, and maybe you should for another brand, but CND says NOT to do that with Shellac. So do your research and at least START with the manufacturer's process.

Look up Holly Schippers/Finger Nail Fixer on Facebook or You Tube. She has lots of videos that show how to do amazing nail art with these products. (She works for CND, so she tends to use their product.)

A VERY light touch is important, as is VERY well shaken bottles. Be patient, be willing to try a few times and have it come out poorly until you get used to the products. But then, be ready to save your money, because it really is so much cheaper to do at home.

If you teach a girlfriend how to do it and do each others nails, you can get some excellent results. When I do my own right hand (with my left), I usually have to soak off and redo at least one finger because I'm just not coordinated with my left.

Set aside a few hours for your first attempt.

Great advice! I'm still waiting for the base coat and need to get some alcohol but I cant wait to try this! I'm so tired of my polish chipping after 2 days.

So I sat down last night and did one hand. I noticed that after I cured each layer under the UV, it came out still "wet", like if I touch the coat, it smudges.

I cured for 3 minutes each layer and the polish wasn't dry DRY until this morning. Am I doing something wrong?

I don't have a UV light, but I usually do my nails at home (splurge 2 or 3 times a year on a salon mani/pedi). I really want to try the OPI gel polish - my friend got a salon manicure and they used it on her nails and it looked great! Not sure if it would look as good or last as long if I used the polish at home, but it's worth giving it a try.

Yeah I think if I can get this right, I'll NEVER go to a nail salon again. Ok I lied lol, maybe just for my feet.

I think my issue MIGHT be that I have an off brand UV light with the Opi gel colours, Im not 100% sure though and would hate to spend 400 dollars on the Opi LED light!

WOW this is all so interesting. I've been going to the salon to get gel polish for about 3 months now and it does get rather expensive. I'm definitely going to try doing my own. Mine usually lasts from 2-3 weeks. Yesterday was the first time I got color (I usually get white tips with clear nail bed) and it might not last as long since my nails grow pretty fast.

It could be your light, or the wattage of the light. But it could ALSO be the thickness of your coats. I don't know Gellish, so check somewhere like Salon Geek for confirmation, but with Shellac, each coat needs to be VERY thin, or it won't fully cure.

I did not get the CND brand UV light. I got one from Amazon that people said they had used successfully with my product. I think it was around $50-$75.