mani monday: gellin'

I've had a few 'Mani Monday' posts in the works since my last one (see here) but I never make my own Monday deadline and 'Mani Tuesday' isn't as catchy or cute.  Good thing there's no shortage of Mondays, right?

If you re-read my first Mani Monday post you'll be reminded that I'm essentially a mani purist. I generally shy away from acryllic, gel, and the Jamberry-esque products not because I'm not adventurous but rather because I'm non-committal when it comes to nail color. I do my manis at home and exclusively use lacquer.  I prefer that medium for nail art because it's relatively easy to apply and remove which means I can switch up my manis/pedis frequently with ease.  If applied with proper product, I can make even cheap lacquer (what up, Wet n Wild) last beyond a week...if I want to.  I usually burn out on even my favorite hues after 5 days.

But in the spirit of embracing something new, I decided to try out an at-home gel manicure.  My sister has a kit and swears by it.  She also is very generous and let me borrow her kit twice to get a feel for the product and the results.

It took me a while to take her up on her many offers for me to give gel a try because of my following pre-conceived notions (some based on factual research, some based on exaggerated guesstimations):

• You have to essentially damage your natural nail to make a rough surface that allows the gel primer, base, and topcoat to adhere for maximum wear and durability.  If you don't rough up your nail, the gel literally slides off your nail after application or peels off days after.  True story.  I put effort into having healthy nails so I wasn't too turned on by the idea of roughing-up my nails.  I WORK TOO HARD!

• Removal of gel polish at home is THE WORST. It's like a thousand times worse than trying to remove glitter.  It also costs monies for you to get it professionally removed.

• Proper application of the gel polish requires several steps.  Though the polish dries super fast, there's like a bajillion steps involved.  Ain't nobody got time for dat.

Last week my sister told me that she started short-cutting her gel sessions by doing the following:

• Paint nails with traditional lacquer
• Apply the fancy gel top coat
• Cure for twice the recommended time for traditional application
• Use cleanser to remove the 'moisture layer' after curing

You know what?  Her results were great with short-cutting.  Her mani stayed flawless for well over a week and her pedi has been going strong for over 2 months.  To be fair, pedis, by nature, last longer than manis but STILL!

I tried her shortcuts and here are my own results:

• Amazing shine.
• Increased strength/durability
• No chips or peeling for a solid 7 days, some minor wear-and-tear and partial peeling starting beyond that (enough to annoy me and want to remove and start over but nothing tragic)
• Did I mention amazing shine?  I'm obsessed with it.  

When I went to remove the gel, it was IMPOSSIBLE.  Like, 100% acetone DID NOT EVEN MAKE A DENT.  I started freaking out at the thought of having to chip or peel or sand-off the product.  Then I remembered this little trick for stubborn nail product removal that perpetually shows up in my "What's Popular" feed on Pinterest.  I tried it immediately and it BLEW MY MIND.

#gross #effective #dryskin

#clean #tryforyourself

I mean, not every Pinterest trick is a home run but that tinfoil trick is GOLD.  So, if you take nothing else away from this post, take this: I endorse the tinfoil removal trick and it definitely is worth the extra few inches to set up.

Back to gellin, though.  Once I realized not only I could short-cut the gel process with similar benefits AND I could remove in less than 5 minutes AT HOME with NO HASSEL, well, I went out and bought one of these babies with my bonus Target gift cards that came with buying diapers, diapers, coffee, diapers, and more coffee.  I am about to be the mother of a toddler AND a newborn, after all.

Though short-cutting achieves an elevated look and makes my mani more durable, I have yet to find it goes the full 14 days that the traditional gel application process boasts.  And that is totally expected and not disappointing because I am half-assing it, afterall.  But the look and improved protection against chips has me sold.  I did get my kit at a deep discount but I'm pleased enough that I would pay the whole price to own it.  This particular kit is easy to use and offers a wide array of shades to choose from.  You can also interchange brands of gel polish that require an LED light and still works great.  One thing I do hate is that the top coat/primer is very small so if I use either the gel hack or the full-on application process, it's not going to last super long.

Short-cut gel mani

I do plan on doing a full-on, as-prescribed gel mani start to finish this week.  I am expecting to deliver a baby before the weekend.  I am also expecting to not have a lot of time to keep up my nail game.  So, might as well give the full-on gel a go, right?  Expect a full report on the full mani during an intermission in my soon-to-be gig as a milk truck.