gel nails at home!

So gel nails at home is a little bit of an investment at first but it’s more cost effective than paying $35-$50 every two weeks at the salon.

You need...

a UV or LED lamp

Nail file/buffer

Gel Foundation (100% acetone)

Gel Cleanser(91% alcohol)

Lint Free Wipes(cotton balls)

Gel Color Polish

Gel Base& Top Coat

Probably the easiest (but not most cost effective) thing to do is buy the Sensationails Gel Starter Kit from WalMart for $50. It comes with instructions, the LED lamp, the teeniest tiniest bottles of foundation, cleanser, color, topcoat and a few other things you really don’t need.

To get the most for your money…

Buy a UV or LED lamp on amazon for $25-$50.

Gel foundation retails for about $15 but it’s just 100% acetone, you can find it at Walmart for $1 for a small bottle.

Gel cleanser retails for about $10 but it’s just 91% alcohol, you can find it at Walmart for $1.80 for a huge bottle.

Lint free wipes retails for about $12 for 100 but you can use cotton balls or cotton pads, just be careful not to leave any fuzzies on your nails or they will get stuck under the gel and you cannot get them off without removing the whole gel nail.

Gel color polish retails for $15-30 but you can find them on amazon for $7-$12. I’ve found that IBD has the cheapest color polish and OPI and Gelish are the most expensive on amazon. Also, pay attention to what size you're buying. Most bottles are .5 oz but some, like Sensationails, are 2.5oz or less.

Gel base and topcoat retails for about $30 but you can find it on amazon for $8-$15. Again, pay attention to the bottle size.

APPLICATION

Make sure you have everything you need right in front of you! There will be a tacky moisture layer on your nails from the first time you cure until you completely finish your nails and they will get ruined if you accidentally bump them. The whole process takes me 20-30 minutes. And make sure you’re in a well-ventilated area, the gel fumes are a lot stronger than regular polish.

1. Prep your nails, remove old polish, trim, file, and buff.
2. Swipe the gel cleanser over each nail using your lint free wipes.
3. Apply a thin coat of gel foundation over each nail and let air dry (this takes seconds).
4. Apply a thin coat of gel base over each nail and across the top edge of each nail, cure for 30 seconds (I cure my four fingers, pinky to pointer together and then my two thumbs together).
5. Apply a thin coat of gel color over each nail and cure for 1-2 minutes depending on the brand of gel color (it should say on the gel color bottle).
6. Repeat until you reach desired color, curing for 1-2 minutes between each coat (Usually two coats is enough but try not to do more than three because the thicker your polish the more likely it is to chip).
7. Apply a thin layer of topcoat and cure for 1 minute.
8. Wipe your nails with the gel cleanser and lint free wipes to remove the moisture layer.

Your nails are finished!! There is no drying time so you can touch them, do dishes, chase your kids…They should be super shiny and chip-free up to two weeks for nails and 6 weeks for toes!

 SOAK OFF

There are two methods in removing your gel nails. This process takes 20+ minutes.

Method 1 : Fill a small bowl with 100% acetone and let your nails soak for 15 minutes. Try to gently peel off the gel nail, if it doesn’t budge, soak it longer and try again. You can also use a cuticle pusher to gently scrape off the gel nail.

Method 2 : Use an acetone soaked cotton ball, place on gel nail andcover in foil, let site for 15 minutes. Try to gently peel off the gel nail, ifit doesn’t budge, rewrap for longer and try again. You can also use a cuticle pusher to gently scrape off the gel nail. You can buy gel soak off foil wraps but they retail between $30-50.

Here's how they look after a week! A little grown out but still pretty close to perfect!

(yes, this is the same polish as in the picture above, it just looks different because of the filter)

Have you tried them yet?? Let me know what you think! And if you've read through all this but don't want to buy all the stuff just come to my house! I do them for $10 :)

no poo challenge - update

Oh my gosh. It was horrible!
After 10 days, I quit!
So after the first wash my hair felt dirty. I read that it takes a few washes to get your pH balance back to normal so I waited a day and washed again. My hair was disgusting!! It felt like I hadn't washed it in a month. So I just rinsed it with water and scrubbed as best I could. My hair has never felt so dirty and never looked so gross.
I just couldn't handle it. Maybe I didn't give my scalp enough time to get back to it's healthy pH balance but I don't even care. Hair is dead anyway right?? What's a few more chemicals gonna hurt it?

If you're confused about what I'm talking about...see my previous post here about my No Poo Challenge.
If you tried it or still want to try it, let me know how it goes! Maybe my hair just prefers shampoo :)

"no poo" challenge

And I do mean No SHAMpoo. Don't get any weird ideas...

 

(he makes me look gooood)

So I've seen the No Poo method all over pinterest and wondered if it really works. Then my gorge mama friend over at Love Chugs posted about it and I decided it was time to give it a try.

The No Poo method uses baking soda and apple cider vinegar in place of shampoo and conditioner. It supposedly helps your hair grow longer, stronger, healthier, shinier, lengthens the time between washes plus more! Amazing right? Well, we shall see!

This is what you need...

Baking Soda
Water
Pointed Tip Bottle (like a mustard bottle or the kind that comes in box hair dye kits)
Apple Cider Vinegar (or white vinegar for oily hair)
Spray Bottle

This is how you do it...

Baking Soda Mixture (BSM)
Mix six parts water with one part baking soda in the condiment bottle. Shake. At the start of your shower, wet your hair. Apply BSM all over scalp and scrub (My hair is pretty thick and the BSM has no lather so I had to part it in fours in order to make sure I got every part of my scalp). Rinse.

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Pour ACV into your spray bottle. After you've rinsed the BSM, spray the ACV all over the length of your hair. Let the ACV sit while you finish your showering business. Rinse. (Some of you might be worried about the smell because the ACV is STRONG but honestly, once you rinse it out you can hardly smell it and once your hair is completely dry you can't smell it at all. Promise. Some people have said they put essential oils in with the ACV to help with the smell but honestly I think that's a waste).

This is what I'm testing...

Health and Strength : I'm HORRIBLE at getting my hair trimmed...I think it's the biggest hassle. That being said, I typically get my hair cut twice a year and my stylist ends up having to chop about 6 inches each time because it's so split and unhealthy.

Shine : My hair has little shine without product or heat (thank goodness for Moroccan Oil).

Length : Right now my hair is 28" from crown to tip.

Time Between Washes : I wash my hair every 3-4 days (typically using dry shampoo on the fourth).

Added bonus : less frizz and flyaways (have you seen my hair air-dry? Yikes!!), less oily, more body, new hair growth, no chemicals, less expensive, safe for color treated hair

Go here to read the hows, whys, and what-ifs of the No Poo method.

Keep an eye out for updates about my No Poo Challenge and leave a comment if you've tried this! I'd love to hear your experience!!