5 Reasons to Try Gel Color

The Unstoppable Mani

Typing all day at the office, washing your hands, showering, cleaning, and the most dreaded housechore – dishwashing – all of these things are out to kill your manicure. It’s ridiculous how many things you have to avoid to not chip your nail polish. Maybe you, like me, got used to this and considered two or three days of a fresh looking mani a triumph. It’s not. I know the color, the shine, and the luxurious sparkle had you in a trance. But guess what? Once you switch to gel color your lacquer is going to be practically obsolete. Don’t get rid of the old stuff or anything, I would never ask you to do that, I’m just saying it’s good for a special occasion, probably one night, the other days, rather the other weeks, you and gel polish will be B.F.F.s. All that stuff you couldn’t do before, not a problem!

Reinforce & Grow your Natural Nails

I’ve seen quite a few bad things written about getting your nails done, usually connected to a bad experience or two. If you or a nail tech filed your nails thin, yes that’s not good for the health of your natural nails. And yes if you cut off your cuticles which are there for a reason you are choosing beauty over function (totally not necessary btw, it’s more of a preference for a precise look). It doesn’t have to be that way. I used to wonder why I couldn’t grow my nails, they were usually short and not cute short, more like stubby and broken, even bitten when I was little and didn’t know how to stop bad habits. Well, I tried those protective clear polishes that promote growth and didn’t get great results. With the help of the world wide web you’ll find many people don’t get the results they hoped for. But I do have to say, painting them with clear strengthener or color polish in general makes you take better care of them. Here’s were gel really excels. You see, gel color acts like a little shield. It’s nothing short of awesome. For the first time in forever I can keep my nails long and it’s not like I’m trying to beat a Guinness World Record. They don’t break for a really long time because they’re protected. You can feel this instantly. Gel polish is sturdy. You won’t feel like your fingernails are vulnerable and exposed to the environment, whatever that may be for you.

No More Slooooow Drying

15+ minutes. That’s how long you’re supposed to wait for your nail polish to dry. And that’s with a fan! To quote a once semi-famous ghetto lady (if I were her I would have looked into trademarking) AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT. 30 to 60 seconds is how long gel polish takes to cure (really no more drying) using an LED lamp. This is where ladies at home may put their foot down. A lamp? Yes a lamp. It’ the most significant investment you will need to switch over to the dark side – no, not the dark side, it’s really sunshine, lollipops and rainbows over here – pssst, you’re on the dark side! This significant investment was for me… drumroll please… $25. I have one. It’s tiny. It’s cute. It sits aside on my bookself when I’m not using it, and I haven’t had the need to replace it or even want to try another one; it’s exactly what I needed and it just works. It’s good for at home use. The one I have is the SensatioNail LED Lamp*.

My SensatioNail LED Lamp in action. The light doesn’t photograph well and I think you’re not supposed to look straight into it because a unicorn may lose it’s horn. BUT doesn’t it look super futuristic???

Easy to Perfect, No Smudges!

Gel has a different consistency from regular polish. It’s thicker and it has a nice property of leveling itself out. What this means for you is that you’ll be much more like to get an even, smooth looking finish. It has a different look from laquer. It’s glossy, it’s mirror-like/glassy, at first you might think it looks a bit plastic. A little too perfect. That impression will probably go away and you’ll decide it’s way better! It looks more expensive. Like watching impossibly perfect nails on a tv commercial or in a magazine ad.

Same Price or Dare I Say Lower

Just like regular polish, there are $14 bottles and there are way cheaper bottles for half the price. So far I’ve found even the way cheaper gels are very close in quality to higher priced ones, unlike runny $1 nail polish you can find in the beauty section of your average pharmacy. Aww, I feel bad, I used to love those lol. But it was hard to make them last and they needed a billion coats! All in all you can save money will gel polish because you won’t need to apply it as often. The supplies you need and the expense are also not as bad as some might lead you to believe if you try it at home.

In my next few posts I’m going to go over what supplies you need and what you don’t need to switch to gel color. I’m also going to go into detail about how to do it right! Believe it or not there is a right way to do your nails, whether it’s regular polish or gel! If you’ve had trouble making your polish last, you’re not crazy, you probably just skipped an important step or two. You can improve your mani I promise…