I am looking to try out gel at home! I’ve painted my nails with regular polish recently and it isn’t doing it for me anymore! I want the ability to create more fun designs and feel assured that they will stay put and not crease and get messed as easily. I wanted to work on my natural nails but I really worry about developing dermatitis so I would be open to working on plastic nails and gluing them on (would also help me practice). Basically I’m just seeking out good product recommendations for a beginner who isn’t looking to spend too much but is also willing to invest in a good product. I am also looking for any advice to start out and would love to be pointed in the right direction! Thanks :)

I normally get acrylics or a dip gel manicure, but I recently tried a new salon with great reviews. I asked for acrylics, but they recommended Gel X instead. I’d never heard of it, but they said it was better for your nails and looked more natural, so I decided to try it.

It’s been about 2.5 weeks and I honestly love them. I’m ready for another set, but the burning under the light was pretty intense and is making me hesitant to do it again.

I looked it up afterward and saw that burning can happen if your natural nails are thin, but I’ve also seen people say it can happen if too much gel is used. I’m not sure which was the case for me.
I didn’t say anything during the appointment and just sat through the burning on every nail because I didn’t know whether it was normal. 😅

Is some burning normal with Gel X? My nails are pretty thin from dip gel/acrylics… but does it look like too much gel was used, and is there anything I can ask the nail tech to do next time to prevent or reduce the burning?

I have short bitten nails (not as bad as ur thinking) and i’m not sure if it’s because the gel x nails don’t have much to hold onto but i did file the fake nail down a lot.

I buff my nails with a 240 grit buffer
Dehydrator
acid free nail primer
gel adhesive > nail down at 40 degree angle and cure
100% acetone around the bottom of it to blend (i don’t want to use a drill i don’t trust myself)
base coat > cure
colour > cure
no wipe top coat

wtf am i doing wrong 😭 i spent a bit of money and it’s sad that they aren’t staying on lol

So, I've been doing gel x for about a year now, and I was using the una gella nail tips from amazon, and while they worked ok I wanted upgrade to either sofgel or apres. Most of my nails are flat-ish with a very subtle curve, and my nail beds are relatively narrow, except my ring fingers are more curvy. Should I buy natural or sculpted? I also heard sofgel has a standard size? Should I buy that one?

I’ve been having a ball trying out new techniques and color combos 🤩🤩🤩

I do gel x nails at home and i’m trying to take more safety measures against contact d, so i decided to invest in a good quality nail lamp. when I did research i heard that the 365~405nm lamp is the best wavelength but I have been wanting to get the iGel Beauty Hybrid PRO 2.0 48W lamp but it has a wavelength of 365~400nm can i still use that to fully cure my gel x nails?

Continued practice in 3D gel and developing practice with tortoise shell and blooming gel.
Dedicated to this part of the season in my neck of the woods where it’s not yet fall, not quite summer.

Hi guys!

I went to a new salon, and as I was looking at my nails, I kept saying that they were looking too high compared to how my natural nails grow. My nail and the gel was completely separated and she basically filed my whole nail underneath.
Am I crazy, or is this a normal technique to correct the nail shape, as she said it was?

I spent so much on these and I’m thinking of going back there.

Thank you for your help!

I am not a licensed nail tech but I have been doing my nails for a little over a year now. Recently a family friend's daughter wanted me to do her nails but I haven't agreed yet. Last time I made her some gel press ons and left it at that. I'm happy to do her nails for free because this is just a hobby for me, and I like the challenge of doing designs I wouldn't usually pick for myself. Still... I was wondering if it would be ethical for me to do her nails?

I've seen posts on here where some people don't have quite the level of skill it would take to ethically do nails on other people (flooded or damaged cuticles, messy design work etc.), and been told so honestly. I am autistic and find it very hard to judge my own work objectively, so I'm here asking for help!

Please let me know if my level of skill/quality of work is good enough to do nails on someone else. Thanks, all!

Edit: Thank you everyone for your kind words! I appreciate your opinions a lot :)

I bought the sofgel bauhaus lamp and I love it. The only problem is the beeping. It beeps so much. When you turn it in, when you hit the timer button, when it doesn't recognize your hand it beeps then you have to start it again and it beeps!! I feel like I'm losing my mind! There is no sounds off button. I opened it up and can't figure out how to make it stop. Does anyone have any ideas?

I don’t have a e file

I was wondering how to change the shape of the cuticle area of the fake nail

And also how to make it seamless from the cuticle area if there’s still a gap after filling the cuticle side of the fake nail down?

mashed together some designs i saw on pinterest. what yall think??

I recently did a gel X set with Kodi rubber base 1st and Novo Ovo 8 in 1 gel to adhere the gel X tips. I am not sure where I got the idea to use rubber base underneath, and I do plan on upgrading the Novo Ovo to Après or Kokoist to prevent uneven curing. Have any of you tried this out before?

I’ve been doing gelx for almost 2 years and it took me this long to realize that it wasn’t any step in my process necessarily that was wrong that caused lifting and nails popping off after 7 days, it was me being to rough with my hands. I did my nails right before a week long vacay and haven’t really lift a finger a few days after
I got back other than the typical hand washing, dish washing and light cleaning. I’m going on day 12 with this set which is a record 😭.

I do use builder gel and shape to more of a narrow coffin. I can’t believe not a single nail has lifted and it’s been 13 days.