Gel manicure update

Here is a quick follow up from a post I did alittle over a week ago on my at home gel manicure using gelous nail polish. I have been so pleased with how long this manicure has lasted. Today is one full week and my nails have just started to chip today. Normally, this is how my nails look in less than 24 hours. Only my left hand is chipping and I assume that’s because I’m left handed and tend to use this hand more.
Here is a picture today of how my manicure is holding up:

The hand on top is my left and the bottom pic is my right hand.
I originally painted my nails last Wednesday. Thursday evening I applied another coat of top coat and then Sunday night I did the same. All in all, I am loving the gelous nail polish and can’t wait to see if I get the same results next time I paint my nails.

For the original post and complete directions for my at home gel manicure click the link below:
http://glitterandgrills.com/2014/01/23/at-home-gel-manicure/

On a side note, these pics really make me realize I need some moisturizer.

Hope everyone is having a great week!
XOXO -Brittany

At home gel manicure

Instructions for this “at home gel manicure” are ALL over pinterest. I love the look of gel nails but hate spending the time to go get my nails done and really hate spending the money. I also get so frustrated when I paint my nails and they chip or smudge in less that 24 hours… So I figured I would give this a try. I watched several you tube videos and got the supplies I needed.
Here is what you will need to try this at home:
1. nail buff
2. alcohol wipe
3. gelous (this is the key to the manicure) You can buy yours at Sally Beauty Supply for around $6, I ordered mine from amazon.com

4. nail color of your choice- I used Essie “smokin hot”

5. top coat of your choice- I used inm out the door

It took me 2 tries to get this right. The first time I followed the instructions that literally everyone posted on how to do this. Ill give you the abbreviated version of this…

First thing I did was buff my nails and then wiped them with an alcohol wipe to make sure they were nice and clean.

2 coats of gelous (wait 2 minutes after each)

1 coat nail polish (wait 4 minutes)

1 coat gelous (wait 2 minutes)

another coat of nail polish (wait 4 minutes)

top coat of your choice

I followed these directions EXACTLY. I even set a timer after each coat (I did lunges and squats while waiting between coats; a girl has got to multitask) And 2 hours later my nails STILL WEREN’T DRY!!!!!!!!!! And I can’t say that I am surprised, I mean its 6 coats of polish.

So I took all 6 layers off (poured a glass of wine) and started over again. This time I decided to change up things alittle bit. Here is what I did the second time and what seems to have worked so far.

2 THIN coats of gelous (waited 2 minutes after each)

1 coat of dark nail polish (if it were a lighter color I would have to have used 2 coats) waited 10 minutes

1 coat gelous (waited 2 minutes)

1 coat of inm top coat

Now this is still 5 coats of polish but it seemed to work better since it actually dried this time. I also was super careful to use THIN coats of polish. Here is the end result.:

 I love how it looks and promise to let you guy know just how long it lasts. The main things I changed from the first to the second attempt were that I only did one coat of the nail polish color and I made sure to apply all layers super super thin.

Has anyone else tried this at home? Any tips for me?

Hope everyone is having a good week. Its almost Friday!!

XOXO -Brittany