At Home Gel Nail Tutorial

Hey, ya'll! Hope you are all staying safe. I wanted to take a minute before jumping into this post and say that if any of you are feeling anxious, scared, stressed, or hopeless, you are not alone. I know for me personally, so much seems uncertain, but I'm hopeful. There is so much goodness, kindness, and light in the world. This too shall pass.

With all the craziness I've learned that it's good for me to carry on with as much normalcy in my day as possible. The days I don't get ready I feel the most slothy. The days where I take the time to get dressed, do my makeup, and even spritz some perfume on, life feels normal.

For years, I've gotten questions about my nail colors and at home gel nails. Now, with the quarantine #stayhome, more of ya'll are asking that I share an at-home gel nail tutorial.

I'll walk you through how I do my gel nails and share my favorite liquid gel polish colors for spring and summer.

Preface

I have been doing my own gel nails since 2013. My dreamboat of a man bought me a UV gel light starter kit that has held up all this time! Fingers crossed she never breaks because she's a beast!

It was my first Mother's Day present. I was super pregnant. We were broke college kids, and getting my nails done was a luxury I wasn't willing to pay for. It's a lot of upkeep! So, we invested in a gel UV light kit, and honestly it has saved us so much money!

Let's do some math here. If I did a gel manicure every two weeks at $40 each (Google suggests the average manicure starts at $35 without tip), at a salon, for just one year that would be $1,040! $1,040 x 7 years (that's how long I've had my UV gel light for) would total to $7,280!

I think it's safe to safe I made back my initial investment of $200, and will never get a gel manicure at the salon again. Those numbers are staggering.

I do my own nails, at home, and the gel polish I use is professional grade. It's the same kind they use at the salon. This creates a hard shiny coat which is perfect for people who's nails are prone to breaking or chipping.

The Gel Nail Tutorial-

What you'll need-

Gel UV light- This one comes with the a base and top coat, gel remover, surface cleaner, and a few colors! It's professional grade, meaning it's one that you'd see them using at a salon, and it is made by a brand I have been using for years.

• Please note, if you decide to go with a different light that does not come with all these extras you'll need to buy-
• Surface cleaner (rubbing alcohol works fine)
• Strong acetone to remove the gel polish when you want to redo them
• Gel top coat
• Gel base coat

Liquid gel nail color(s) of your choice- My favorite gel colors are numbered below and they are all on Amazon.

• 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Nail file or buffer

What you'll do-

Push back your cuticles.

File your nail into the desired shape.

Wipe down nail with rubbing alcohol or surface cleaner.

Buff the shine off your nail.

Apply top coat. A little goes a long way. If you put too much it will bubble, and if you don't get the entire nail, the rest of the manicure will not apply evenly or stick as it should.

Allow to cure in your UV gel light.

Apply liquid gel color.

Cure 90 seconds.

Apply second coat of gel color.

Cure 90 seconds.

Depending on your color you may not need a third coat of liquid gel color. This is all preference. If you do apply a third coat cure for 90 seconds.

Apply top coat.

Cure 90 seconds.

Wipe down with surface cleaner or rubbing alcohol.

Enjoy!