Gel Polish, Shellac, Soak Off Gel, My Experiences So Far. Part One

Ok guys, so for Christmas I started getting all the supplies I might need to do Gel Polish nails for myself and friends on the side. I've been playing with Gellish and the China Glaze range for a bit now and feel confident enough to fill you in on my experiences so far. What works, what doesn't my big error and how it can help us bloggers along the way.

I started off practicing manis on my right hand and testing what works with gel polish, and how long it actually lasts. This mani for example is something I've always wondered. Can you do acrylic paint in conjunction with gel polish? Yes you can, and stamping as well. The first two fingers were acrylic paint design over the base pink Gelish called Passion. The last two fingers were stamping over Gelish. This mani was sealed with Seche, but I've also sealed designs in under a gel topcoat and yes it worked well too.

On to my big error. Once I realized how strong this made my poor 'never grow' right hand, I used it to repair and grow out a broken pinkie on my leftie and since have been using a thin base on my nail art hand. Why you ask? Because I was too rough on my removal in the beginning and was using too thick of gel product and damaged my nails a bit and weakened them.

Any damage I caused is all grown out now, but for those of you who can't grow length this would be a great solution. Happy accident right!

In summery, I use a super thin Gelish base then cure followed by a super thin Gelish topcoat then cure. After this you can do any art on top using regular polish. I do this whenever I'm needing to grow out a break or know I'm going to have a week I may be rough on my hands. I also have found I can remove the art on top and reapply. The base holds up to polish changes for about a week. 

Any questions please ask, cause I've tried many combinations and techniques. I'm not a pro, but Gel Polish has definitely found its way into my rotation. Oh, and best thing ever for pedicures! I'll keep you guys in the loop any other tips I gather along the way.

Cheers all,