At home gel nail kits

I have one. From ebay (Christmas pressie) But I love it and do my own all the time now. Just don't go overboard with buffing and scraping off the old polish.

Yeah not going crazy with it seems to be the key to keeping your nails nice! What brand do you have?

This one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CCO-UV-Nail-Gel-36W-Lamp-Set-Shellac-Cleanser-Remover-Top-Base-Gel-Starter-kit-/371059696053?pt=Nail_Polish&var=&hash=item5664e1a1b5

I bought the Sensationail one from Boots a few weeks ago when it was on offer for £45, I think it's good.

J9 on here recommended Bluesky polishes though rather than the actual Sensationail ones as they are cheaper but I'm yet to try them

I use BlueSky polishes too

I've got a couple of bluesky polishes. They're nice colours - but you have to put on at least 3 layers.

I mostly use the Crystal G colours - they're fine with just 2 coats. We had a couple of bluesky ones which but they're a bit more gloopy and don't go on as nicely.

The sensationail kit is great though. The only thing is the sensationail top and base coat doesn't work well with crystal g or bluesky so you'd need to get their top and base if using them.

I was going to ask if the gel goes on easier than polish? I'm not bad at painting my own nails, with a bit of concentration they don't look bad, I could be better though and would get so narked if I kept messing up and having to start over!!

I can't comment too much on that as my friend does mine all the time for me. We went halves on the kit and she's much better than me. She's now mastering the art of the French manicure

Sillywrong I don't find the gel is easier to apply to be honest.

I use gelish nail polish, the same as they use in salons. I got the kit and polishes from amazon or eBay, I love it, it is a faff as it takes a while to do, maybe an hour as you light cure I between each stage which takes 2 mins each time, wheras the salons expensive light cuter takes just 30 seconds. Mine stay on for about 10 days - 2 weeks before I get bored of them! They have really lovely colours available.

My SIL was on about getting rid of her shellac (shallac?!) one cause she says it takes her too long ? these are all the colours she used I can ask her for the details if she still has it and if you wanted to try one 2nd hand?

?

I got my kit from QVC.

I have a huge nail polish obsession so have over 100 different colours and was annoyed that I wouldn't be able to use those colours anymore...I gave it a go though and used those with the gel kit...just used the bottom and top coats from the gel kit and then a regular colour in-inbetween .

It says online and with the kit not to use normal colours but it works perfectly every time so I guess they just so that so you buy their colours.

Thanks for all the replies ladies! Kjay, that's a fab collection,I'm guessing she'd be after a fair amount for them (which is fair enough as they must have cost a bomb!) and I'm thinking I should perhaps start on the cheaper end of things in case I find I suck at applying it or something ha!

Sensational does seem to get a lot of good reviews, I'm annoyed I missed out in the Boots deal though!

Hiya,

i have the sensationail kit andi swear by it!! used it since i got it on offer in Nov '13

I buy blue sky polish, as they are alot cheaper then sensationail but just as good if not better!

hope this helps

x

Just a quick update. I ended up getting a UV light from Amazon and a couple of bluesky polishes and the base/top coats and had it delivered at the weekend. Had a go with it and v impressed so far, I also got a colour change polish which is a bit of fun!

I love the colour change ones! I've just bought myself some lovely pastel shades for the summer

I think I thoroughly wound my H up saying 'look, look it's changed colour again!' ha.

Sorry for hijacking but this has made me wonder..

I have 'disfigured' nails. When I was about 7-15 years old, I suffered from lichen planus of the nails which has left me with very deep ridges on my right 'pointing' finger. The rest are just a bit ridgy and not all a uniform shape.

i've tried at home acrylic kits, and just couldn't get it quite right, I think they acrylic is too harsh for me and the stench just about killed me!!

Do you think gel would be better? Would this fill a deep ridge? My nails are something that bother me every single day because I find them so unsightly

I've never been to a salon to ask or get their advice as i'm just too embarrassed!!

Again, sorry for hijacking!

Haha the men at work were just really confused with mine!

My nails are a bit ridgy and the gel fills them nicely. They're lovely and smooth when done, I hate not having the gel on now.

Sorry to hear that wickywack

It could well be worth a try, and if you're clever with it, it doesn't have to cost a lot to try it out. I paid £35 for a UV lamp, one nail polish colour and the base/top coat. You'll also need some acetone nail polish remover for taking them off eventually and a lot of the kits have the sticky residue remover, but I was told to use regular (non-acetone) nail polish remover for that step, and the top coat I bought is Blueskys no-wipe top coat. All from amazon. If you found you didn't like it, I'm sure you could just stick it on eBay to resell, the light at least anyway. The Bluesky polishes are 5/6 quid each and the base & top coat were a tenner for both, the lamp was 20.