Friday, February 15, 2013

Playing with Gel Polish

Ever play with gel polish?  I mean really play?

Not just buy a color, "bake" it on LED is the way to go! , and be happy for a week or more... PLAY with it! How about french tips? Nail art?

Gel polish bottles are not very photogenic... and also I forgot to take pics along the way. Ha. Rookie mistake.

The lip gloss just happened to match and looked good in the photo....
I did not use lip gloss at all in the mani. 


 I'll describe as best I can:
1) Prep nails
2) Prime/ Bake That LED light again
3) 1st coat of color... Taupe, applied only to the tips/ Bake
4) 2nd coat of color... Taupe again/ Bake
5) Red gel color, applied by putting 2 dots side by side and dragging the dots together in a point to make a heart. Or a bunch of hearts. In a line. Whatever floats your boat. :D
This is an awesome little pic-tutorial I found on Pinterest... Simple, easy, quick. 

6) Final top coat/ Bake...  

And Viola!! You got an aesthetically pleasing configuration....


 Little Mermaid reference? No? Ahem. 
 
Anyway...

I usually like to change my nails frequently... almost daily. And I have a favorite technique for that. To share another day.
Sometimes I need a more durable look, that won't chip or show wear for several days. Gel is good for that. But gel has it's limitations. Fewer colors. Almost no glitter. Boring. I say play with it, jazz it up a bit... have some fun! What do you do with gel? Any thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Come on people, chat it up! :)

*Heart* my nails- Heather

42 comments:

  1. Super cute! My hearts always look funky when I try lol

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  2. I tried making hearts like that but it didn't work so great :(

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  3. Love the little heart! :)

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  4. This looks cute! Funny how it matches the lip gloss!

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  5. That is super cute! I have bad luck with lip glosses, lol. Over 10 and only like 3 I can use. xD

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  6. Thank you for the heart tutorial!!!

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  7. the little hearts are cute but dion't think i'm patient enough to hold my nails under a light

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    1. I love the SensatioNAIL LED light from WalMart. My mom got a UV light from Sally's, and it is a pain, in my opinion. LED is faster, with less UV exposure (skin cancer, ya know?) and it has a built in timer. It beeps at 30 seconds and turns off at 60. Most steps only take 30 seconds, which is faster than waiting for regular polish to dry. *<3 H*

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  8. this is soooo cute:) i can't wait to try it!!!!!

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  9. ty I was looking for a way to do hearts

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  10. I get bored if I wear a polish for more than 3 days, so I have no desire to try gel nails lol.

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    1. Mostly of the time, that's exactly how I feel! But if I am traveling, or have a crazy week I like to use gel so my nails stay pretty all week. *<3 H*

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  11. I am not good at nail art and have never tried gel polish! This is really cute :)

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  12. I love gel..but i like to change my polish alot too and dont want to ruin my gel manicure either...its a conundrum for sure.

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  13. i'm no good at nail art but the hearts are so darn cute!

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  14. Thanks you guys!
    About the hearts: practice, practice, practice! I practiced on a piece of plastic, then on my daughter, then on everyone else who would let me. They bleed together if you get the dots too big. ;)
    About lip gloss: I have burgandy lipgloss everywhere! My desk, my purse, my car, my makeup bag, the bag I take to church. I buy them compulsively and leave them everywhere! haha
    *<3 H*

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  15. Thanks for the tip! I'll have to try out the heart shape :)

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  16. Love the heart tip :) will try to make it this way... Love Gel nails but on others; my nails are too weak so I don't experiment with them :D

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  17. Love the little hearts! I'll have to try that with my orange wood sticks because I've used my dotting tools and they come out like Mickey Mouse! lol

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  18. The hearts are so cute! Thank you!!

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  19. I would love to have a polish that I can use that is reliable as a base for swatching...I had heard it will stay put to let you change out regular polish. IS that true? If so, it would be awesome!
    Thanks for the giveaway!
    Sandra B

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    1. I have changed my glitter polish multiple times over a base of gel polish. Is that what you are asking? The gel will soften, but doesn't come off unless you buff the finish off the topcoat. Anyone else?
      *<3* H

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  20. Not sure if this is the right place to post for the giveaway and since I already commented on your post I'll just comment on how awesome the new spring polishes are! :)

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  21. That looks cute! I can't draw hearts or anything small with polish at all, it always looks like a bird sprang up and down on my nails :D

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    1. Practice on other surfaces! Zipper-storage bags, paper, other people's nails, or even a magazine if you have one laying around! That's how I've improved with my left hand. I am very right hand dominant. :)
      Good luck!
      *<3* - H

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  22. Never tried gel polish because I like to change too often, but I definitely see why people like it!! Thanks for the giveaway and the spring polishes look great!!
    Amanda H.

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  24. These are super cute! Can this method be used for flowers as well?

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    1. Any little thing your heart desires! I think I saw something on pinterest today about other tiny dot nail art ideas. Wonder if I pinned that? lol
      *<3* - H

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  25. I love the nude french manicure!

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  26. That's so cute! I have not tried any gel polishes yet.

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  27. Love this! I'll have to give it a try!

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  28. Very cute! I like changing my manicure easily and often, so I haven't tried gel polish yet.

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  29. Cute! I normally just do 2 coats of clear gel as a basecoat for extra strength with regular polish on top, but I'm way too fickle to keep a color on that long! Gel is great for a chip-free vacation mani though!

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