WELL, WELL, WELL those damn little promotional videos I watched on poly gel nails were a LIE! It's a good thing I wasn't holding my breath about how easy it was going to be because, I WOULD HAVE DIED. To say my first attempt and experience went okay is a huge understatement. I would like to think I'm pretty good at painting and doing my own nails. I've even dabbled in doing my own acrylics (and let me tell you, it went AMAZING the first time), this was a WHOLE DIFFERENT BEAST.
~*~*~*the dramatics*~*~*~*
It really didn't go horribly but, it was certainly unsuccessful! I managed to apply them (very poorly) and I managed to ruin them (very quickly). I learned a lot, I laughed a lot, I cried a lot. (Okay I didn't cry but lord help anyone who watches my YouTube video with any shred of hope that it's a tutorial--I'm sorry in advance.)
I wanted to both document my here and on YouTube. The world needs to know that poly gel nails are not impossible but they're not easy. If I can kind of do it, anyone can. If you'd like to see the video version of this blog post, you can check it out by clicking "YouTube video" in the previous paragraph or you can click here! The screenshots that are throughout this blog are taken from said video (also the reason why some shots are super blurry or awkward, sorry!!)
Let's jump into the process and what I did...
First things first, I washed my hands and wiped off my nails with an alcohol wipe, I then wiped my nails dry with a cotton pad. You want to ensure your nails are clean before you begin doing any kind of nail art or treatment. After my hands were washed, I filed and buffed my nails. I like to file my nails super short when I'm applying fake nails, I find I get more longevity with the fake nails when my nails aren't super long to begin with. You can file your nails as long or as short as you'd like. I filed my nails straight across into a "square" shape.
Next, I like to pick out the tips/nails that I am going to use. You want to try and find a nail that is as close to your natural nail as possible. This is important because this is going to be the mold for the nail; if the stencil is much larger than your natural nail, you'll end up with the poly gel all around your nail and on your skin. The idea is to make the fake nail look as natural and as "real" as possible. Finding the correct fit is important in ensuring this.
The next thing I did was painted my left hand with the BASE COAT. It then instructed me to let the polish cure for 30-60 seconds (the shortest amount of time on the LED lamp I have is 60 seconds so that's what I use throughout this video.) This base coat helps adhere the poly gel to your nail. I must admit, when I first applied this base coat, it looked VERY STRANGE on my nails. Fear not, after curing it, it all made sense.
I originally started this journey by starting with my thumb nail and for some reason it went VERY poorly, so I switched it up and tried out my pinky nail; that seemed to be a little bit more successful (that would also explain why some shots are me working on my thumb nail and then working on my pinky without the rest of my hand being complete. Honestly, I don't think anyone would notice but I feel the need to point it out. Anyway~) The poly gel comes out of the tube in the exact consistency you'd think it would. Kind of like a stickier putty. I was definitely unsure of how much product I needed to use to make the first nail so the amount you see me working with was totally a guess. I still haven't really figured out the perfect amount of poly gel to use for this to be super successful but I guess thats what trial and error is for.
After putting a dab of poly gel into the mould, I dipped the end of the brush into the nail slip solution and began trying to fill the mould with the poly gel (as demonstrated above). The poly gel was super sticky and not super easy to move if you didn't use enough of the slip solution. Ensuring your brush is just wet enough is a key component in being able to move and shape the poly gel within the mould. Without the slip solution, the poly gel is sticky an impossible to work with!
This is where I was excited and then immediately regretted trying out poly gel nails on camera.
Now, because I'm using photos, I could make this look like it was all easy, breezy, candy canes and rainbows but I assure you it was NOT. After putting the poly gel into the thumb nail mould, I pressed it to my thumb and I could not get the nail to stick, no matter what. As soon as I'd let go of pressing on the nail to attempt to cure it, it popped right off. It was a big, sticky, goopy mess. Admittedly I was frustrated but not defeated. The picture above is of the thumb nail I could not get to stick to my finger, the poly gel is smushed all over the mould and my thumb nail, the base coat on the rest of my fingers was super sticky and my fingers kept getting stuck together--I was more confused than annoyed, if I'm being honest. The instructions made this look so easy and the promotional videos I'd seen of people applying poly gel nails looked so easy. I should have known better *insert eye roll.*
I didn't give up though! I watched a tutorial (yes while in the middle of filming my video) and made another attempt. This time I tried starting with my pinky. Which proved to be much easier and more successful. I'm not sure why, maybe it was a mental thing or maybe my pinky nail shape is better? Whatever the reason, starting with my pinky was a good place to (re)start.
Attempting again on another fingernail I think was a good way to switch it up without giving up. This time I was smarter about the application. I paid more attention to the amount of product I used this time around. I was also more diligent with how wet I was making the brush and the kind of pressure I was applying to move the poly gel around. Push too hard and it becomes too thin in areas, don't push it around enough and when you press it to your nail, it squeezes out the sides. Finding that sweet spot is still something I'm struggling with. You also want to make sure you put enough poly gel into the mould so it covers the entire nail (pictured in the third picture, above). The idea is to keep the nails as consistent as possible, making them all the same length and thickness.
After putting the poly gel into the mould and pressing that to my nail, I cured the nail for 60 seconds. I did this for the rest of fingernails so each nail had a poly gel mould.
The second photo is after completing my pinky and ring finger, you can see the little plastic tabs on the side of the nail. Later, these will be used to remove the mould from my nail (pictured below).
After finishing the rest of my nails and curing them, they've set, they've cured, they've dried. Now it's time to remove the mould and expose just the poly gel. This was surprisingly easy. I was worried maybe the removal of the mould was going to be super difficult but they kind of just, popped right off! The final photo in the set (above) shows me mid-rip, removing the mould from the poly gel itself. The power of a screenshot! Some were harder to remove than others but nothing was super difficult. When I removed the mould from the poly gel, the mould actually was clean, nothing stuck to the mould itself and all of the poly gel was stuck to my nail! This leads me to believe that, whatever you're using as a mould, can be re-used. This is great news because I was worried I'd have to buy new moulds every time I wanted to do my nails using this method.
Again, the power of a screenshot, but the other side of the coin--very blurry haha. Sorry! This is the only "photo" I have of the completed poly gel nails. The reason for this is, when I went to file them, I broke off my pinky finger and then I think my index finger? I then proceeded to break the rest of them off and remove the nails. For a first attempt I'd say this was moderately successful? This definitely went NOTHING like I expected it would. As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I really expected to be better at this than I was. Rather disappointed when I saw how poorly I had done. I am not completely defeated though, I feel like I learned a lot this time around. Definitely a learning experience.
If you'd like to check out the video I made of myself attempting these nails and you'd like to see where I got all the screen shots from, you can check out the video
HERE!
Have you used poly gel nails before? What was your first attempt like? Were you more or less successful than my first attempt?
Look out for a part two, where I attempt to do this all over again! (Hopefully it'll be more successful!)
xo
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