UV Gel nail polish - any recommendations?

Hi! I am going to invest in some hybrid UV gel polish but am still undecided which brand to go for. I am thinking about Jessica, Gellux or Gelish so far. I am hoping it will protect my nails at work and give them a chance to grow a bit before keep getting broken. I am also planning on using them as a base for normal nail polish, which I have read about on a few blogs, as it should make it last longer and can be changed using acetone free remover, leaving the gel intact underneath

Does anyone have an experience to share please?

I haven't tried them myself but my sister in law and a friend have both had excellent results with shellac. My friend was able to grow her normally quite short nails a lot longer and was so pleased with the results. My sister in law bought a bottle of shellac off eBay and cured it under a uv nail lamp herself but tbh I don't know if its a simple as that or if there were other steps etc.

Good luck

Suz x

Thank you Suz It is very encouraging hearing it works for others! I know there are quite a few do's and don't's in order to get good results but I am hopeful lol
Maria xx

A few suggestions from me:

If you haven't already bought a lamp, I would recommend a n LED rather than a UV. Both do the same job but the LED lamp is so much quicker to cure the polish. If you haven't purchased, I would recommend the Red Carpet Manicure system. You can get it from Debenhams, Sally's or I got mine from QVC. The beauty of QVC is you have 30 days to try it and you can return it if you're not impressed.

I have friends who have used Gelish and they like it but it's expensive as is Shellac I believe. A friend bought me a bottle of CCO Shellac polish and this works just as well as the Red Carpet colours. I've found them on ebay and they're as little as £4 a bottle so it's an inexpensive way of trying new colours. I've just ordered some Sensationail colours but I haven't tried them yet so can't recommend. They also do an LED system as a reasonable price plus you can chose which colours come with the kit.

When applying, take your time! If the polish gets on your skin make sure you remove it before curing. Thin coats are the key too. If you apply thick coats, it's likely to lift and chip.

The best part is having glossy nails and them being dry immediately. I do find the colour lasts for 2 weeks and so it is worth it if you have problems with chipping nails. Plus if you like nail stamping but find it a bit 'hit and miss', it is a great way to practice! Use normal polish for the stamping and if it goes wrong, you can remove with non acetone remover and the gel underneath stays shiny and intact.

I'm not an expert in gels (although I am qualified in mani/pedis) but will try and answer any questions you may have

Thank you so much for all the info! I will look into the Red Carpet system. A friend gave me a UV lamp so I will go with that for now and invest in an LED if I get on well with gels! I have only been really into nail polish for the last year, but am just about ok now at applying it without touching the cuticles lol. I know I will have to be extra careful before curing the gel...

I do indeed love stamping so that will be great... I also had in mind to buy a black gel as I have various 'normal' polishes that look amazing layered over black. Hopefully I will be able to swap them over without having to change the black underneath!

I would be interested to hear what the Sensationail gels are like, once you have tried them.

Thank you again, Maria xx

I've just applied Sensationail polish to myself and my mum. One thing I will say is that the box clearly says it is for LED lamps only so something to keep in mind.

As a polish, I was most impressed. I applied 2 thin coats of desert rose to my mum's nails and the coverage was excellent. It's a shimmery beige and very pretty. I applied after hours to my nails which is a light grey with a shimmer running through. I felt 3 coats gave better coverage. It is a lovely neutral colour and in my head I'm already planning a stamp or 2 in a dark grey. It's got a lovely shine too.

Of course it's all in how long it lasts so I'll keep you posted.

That's interesting that it says LED only... I wonder if it's because that's what the instructions are for, re the curing time, or if it is formulated differently to other UV gels? Good luck with the wear - I look forward to hearing how it lasts thank you xx

I ordered the Red Carpet Manicure system from QVC yesterday - seemed to be better value than ASOS etc as it included more polishes and supplies. I am sooo excited to try it xx

How exciting! I got mine from QVC too.

I have been impressed by the Sensationail polish. I have to confess that I have redone my thumb nail because it started to peel yesterday but I suspect this more down to the break I have on my nail rather than the polish. The After Five grey is perfect for day to day wear. I plan to stamp over it this weekend as I need the practice!

I've swatched all my gel colours on false nails and the Sensationail glitter polishes are packed with sparkles too!

I'm hoping it will be delivered tomorrow! I'm glad to hear your Sensational polishes are working well. I'm hoping the gel polish won't peel where my nails are thin from peeling - that's where normal polish always chips off. I have been using Orly Nail Rescue on any bendy bits of nail which makes polish last a lot longer but takes ages having to keep redoing it between manicures. Fingers crossed I won't need it any more xx

jo4576 wrote:A few suggestions from me:

If you haven't already bought a lamp, I would recommend a n LED rather than a UV. Both do the same job but the LED lamp is so much quicker to cure the polish. If you haven't purchased, I would recommend the Red Carpet Manicure system. You can get it from Debenhams, Sally's or I got mine from QVC. The beauty of QVC is you have 30 days to try it and you can return it if you're not impressed.

I have friends who have used Gelish and they like it but it's expensive as is Shellac I believe. A friend bought me a bottle of CCO Shellac polish and this works just as well as the Red Carpet colours. I've found them on ebay and they're as little as £4 a bottle so it's an inexpensive way of trying new colours. I've just ordered some Sensationail colours but I haven't tried them yet so can't recommend. They also do an LED system as a reasonable price plus you can chose which colours come with the kit.

When applying, take your time! If the polish gets on your skin make sure you remove it before curing. Thin coats are the key too. If you apply thick coats, it's likely to lift and chip.

The best part is having glossy nails and them being dry immediately. I do find the colour lasts for 2 weeks and so it is worth it if you have problems with chipping nails. Plus if you like nail stamping but find it a bit 'hit and miss', it is a great way to practice! Use normal polish for the stamping and if it goes wrong, you can remove with non acetone remover and the gel underneath stays shiny and intact.

I'm not an expert in gels (although I am qualified in mani/pedis) but will try and answer any questions you may have

Well, I am on my 2nd manicure with the Red Carpet system - it took me ages to do each time as I was being really careful to get it neat and not on my skin. I did exactly as instructed, having spent ages reading about gels and watching videos on youtube before buying lol. I was really pleased with it to start with. My first one was a light shimmery neutral which I stamped after a day and top coated with gel. All good. After another couple of days I tried stamping again but unfortunately the stamp just melted when I put my normal (non UV) top coat on. I had to cover with normal varnish which chipped off the gel the next day. No problem I thought, I will just take it off with non acetone remover and leave the gel underneath. Nooooo - the gel was all lifting after the varnish came off . I had to take it all off after just 4 days of wear.

Next I tried the 'red carpet' gel - a gorgeous shimmery red which looks stunning - that has been on for 2 days - my left hand is still perfect, but my right had a chip after just a few hours, then 2 whole nails peeled off today. Luckily aEngland Percival is a great and quick match!

I am so disappointed! I was really hoping this would help me grow my nails but it isn't lasting any longer than normal polish . I am glad you told me QVC take things back as I think this is likely to be returned. I wonder if Shellac or Gelish would be any different...

Maria xx

Oh Maria - how disappointing

I wonder what's happened there? I painted the After Five Sensationail colour and removed it 2 weeks later. If it wasn't for the slight regrowth you could see, I could have got away with a few more days I think. It came off quite easily but I struggled to remove it from my mum's nails. It took forever! So much so that she didn't want hers done again this week. I read online that Sensationail is now available in over 300 Asda's so maybe it's worth £10 to try theirs and if that's no good, return the RCM kit to QVC

I've redone mine in red carpet 'Violetta Darling' - which looks nothing like the colour displayed on their website!!! It looks lovely and glossy still even though it's been on for 4 days.

I did friend's nails and they started to peel and can only put it down to the fact that I may have applied it a little thickly. I've found it's better to do 3 thin layers to build up the colour than apply 2 thicker ones.

Jo

I have Gelish, and I would agree with the thin layers, and taking your time. I often 'bake' it for a few seconds longer than the minimum. Just to make sure it is solid.

I was very careful to make the layers thin and did everything you're supposed to after having read about other people's problems with it. Oh well, it was worth a try - I took it off yesterday. My left hand was still pretty good - just a little tip wear, though it hadn't stopped one of my nails from being damaged. My right hand, as I said, held up worse than my normal nail polish. So, if it doesn't stop my nails being dinged and it wears worse than normal nail polish.... it has to go! I might give another brand a try as I still have an old UV light a friend gave me. Will look out for Sensationail next time I'm in Asda lol xx

After I give my room a proper gutting out and set up my manicure table, I want to go for training with CND in Shellac. I'm trying to give the others a miss as I don't wan't to have lots of lamps as most systems need their own? Although the last time I was in Salon Services I loved the look of some Gellish colours.

From what I've read, I think its just getting the curing time right with different lamps. You can have an older, less powerful uv lamp and it will work fine as long as you cure it for the right amount of time. Loodie loodie loodie gives a great tutorial on using Shellac to repair a split nail and she uses a very old lamp:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Also a very useful post on problems with Shellac:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]