Saturday, May 12, 2012

Harmony Gelish Tiger Blossom & OPI Servin' Up Sparkle Gel Mani


Today I want to share the gels that I wore for a while to make myself focus on final papers and exams instead of playing with my nails and wanting to blog! I got a Harmony Gelish starter kit from Sally's around Christmas time and have really only used it on myself three times (check out my one other post). My friends and family really love the gels, so I thankfully have gotten use out of it - but mostly I just want to change my nail polish too often for me to like having the same color on for 2 entire weeks! I am sure there are many of you out there that can share this feeling :)
I thought I would give a bit of a description on how to use the gels, and a few tips for application.

In the starter kit from Sally Beauty, they have the Mini Gelish Ph Bond, Mini Gelish Foundation, Mini Gelish Top It Off, Mini Gelish Nourish, Mini Gelish Cleanser, and Mini Gelish Artificial Nail Remover.


You start by using a lint free wipe, and wipe off the nail with the Nail Surface Cleanse, and follow it with the Ph Bond. Next you put on one thin coat of the Foundation, and be sure to wrap the tips of your nails. To get the gels to cure, you need to place them under a UV or LED light because they won't dry on their own like regular polish. I really like the Gelish Mini Pro LED Curing Light I got from Sally's, because the Gelish Mini UV Light was the first one I got, and it was cheaper however it was a 3 minute cure time. This one is a bit more expensive but the cure time is 45 seconds, and I just feel like it does a better job. Below is a picture of the LED light I use.

The foundation layer only needs cured for 20 seconds, but all of the following layers will be cured for 45 seconds. The nice part about this light is that it has an automatic timer on it so it turns off after 45 seconds. I love that part!

Next you choose your color and place one thin coat of polish on, again, wrapping the free edge of your nail with polish in order to help your mani last longer. Cure it under the LED light for 45 seconds, and continue with a second thin coat of the color, and cure it. Another tip would be to make sure you paint as neatly as possible so that you don't get the polish to touch the skin around your nail because the mani may not last as long for you.

When you are happy with the amount of coats you have on, you can follow it with the Top It Off, sealing the free edge of your nail, and then curing it for 45 seconds. The mani will remain tacky until you cure the final top coat and then use the Nail Surface Cleanse on your lint free wipe, and wipe off your nail. Then it's all done! Another tip would be to stay away from cotton balls during your gels, because the lint will find it's way into your mani!

Is this a long enough post yet? Sheesh! I did ONE more weird thing that I hadn't tried before... I wanted to see if I could put regular polish in between the layers of my gels. Before I put on my Top It Off, I put glitter on the top half of my nails, and waited for it to dry completely, and followed it with Top It Off. I noticed that some of the gel color came off on my regular polish brush, so I don't think that these gels and regular polish like each other. I also had a few glitters leave my mani during the time I wore it because I don't think the top coat was really thick enough to contain them. Either way, it was an interesting thing for me to try. Now... on to the pictures of the mani! For this one, I used two coats of Gelish Tiger Blossom, followed by covering half of my nail with OPI Servin' Up Sparkle.



I actually only wore this mani for 10 days, I just was ready for a change (it could have lasted longer)! I also had lost a few glitters from the mani, and it was a little rough so I kept getting my nails snagged. I just had to change it. Below are a few pics to show how the mani held up after 10 days. Thanks for looking!


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