Gel nails at home come in two kinds, and the first choice is between them. Gel polish is cured: each coat hardens under an LED or UV lamp, and it comes off by soaking. Gel-effect polish needs no lamp at all: it dries in the air like ordinary nail polish, with a glossier, fuller finish, and it comes off with an ordinary remover. Either way the routine has the same shape. Prepare the nail, lay down a base coat, apply colour in thin coats, seal with a top coat, and remove gently, with a rest for your nails in between. Below is each step, and what we would choose for it.
Gel Polish or Gel-Effect Polish?
True gel polish is a different material from nail polish. It stays soft in the bottle and on the nail until the light of a lamp sets it, so nothing smudges while you work, and the finished manicure is hard and glossy from the moment the last coat is cured. It is also why it has to be softened, not wiped, to come off.
Gel-effect polish borrows the look rather than the chemistry. Most ranges are a two-step system, a colour followed by a matching top coat, and the top coat is what gives the high shine and the cushioned finish. It is the simpler place to begin: no lamp, no curing times, and removal with a cotton pad.
Working With a Lamp: Prepare, Build, Cure
A lamp-cured manicure depends on preparation. Most systems begin with a cleanser wiped over the nail, so the gel holds to a nail free of oil. Then come the coats, each one thin, each cured under the lamp for the time the pack gives. Curing times differ between kits, so follow your own, and keep gel off the skin around the nail before it goes under the light.
Beter's GeliQ Pre-Cleanser is Step 1 of the house's GeliQ UV/LED system. For a nail that needs more shape or structure, Sesiom World's Builder Bifase Gel Constructor is a builder gel in a jar, made for building structure and compatible with both LED and UV lamps. When the time comes to take gel off, Sesiom World's Acetone Nail Polish Remover is a professional-strength remover made for polish, acrylic and gel residue, with glycerin and vitamin E; use it in a well-ventilated room.
Gel-Effect Polish: No Lamp Needed
If you would rather not work with a lamp, a gel-effect colour gives you much of the look with none of the equipment. Apply it to clean, dry nails in thin, even coats, let each coat dry before the next, and finish with the range's own top coat.
Sally Hansen's gel nail polish is the colour step of a two-step system, colour then top coat, with no UV lamp required. Essie's Gel Couture Nail Polish is the colour in the house's Gel Couture routine, applied over the matching base coat and finished with its top coat. Rimmel London's Super Gel 090 Porcelain is a French manicure white, Step 1 of the house's two-step Super Gel system, also without a lamp.
Base Coat and Top Coat
The base coat is the layer between your nail and the colour. It gives the colour an even surface to hold. The top coat is the last layer, and it is the one that seals the colour and decides the finish. With gel-effect polish, the top coat is where most of the gel look comes from. Sweep a little across the free edge of the nail as well as the surface, to seal the tip.
Opi's Infinite Shine Gel-Like Base Coat creates an even first layer for colour, with a gel-like look and no lamp. Catrice's Power Gel 2 In 1 Base & Top Coat does both jobs in one clear formula: one coat before colour, a thin layer once the colour is dry. Max Factor's Nailfinity Gel Top Coat is a clear finishing coat that gives a gel-like effect. Chanel's Le Gel Coat Nail Polish is a clear coat made to sit over colour with a smooth, glossy, gel-like finish.
- Infinite Shine Gel-Like Base Coat
- Power Gel 2 In 1 Base & Top Coat Nail Polish
- Nailfinity Gel Top Coat
- Le Gel Coat Nail Polish
How to Remove Gel Polish Gently
Patience is the whole technique. Never peel or prise gel away: it can take the surface of the nail with it. Gel polish is removed by soaking. Follow the method your kit gives; most begin by gently buffing away the shine of the top coat, then hold a cotton pad soaked in an acetone remover against each nail, wrapped in foil or held with a clip, for the time the pack states. Once the gel has softened, ease it away with a wooden stick, working from the base of the nail towards the tip. If it does not lift easily, soak again rather than scraping.
Gel-effect polish is simpler. Most ranges remove with ordinary nail polish remover: press a soaked cotton pad onto the nail for a few seconds so the remover can work, then wipe from the base to the tip.
Essie's Good As Gone Clarifying Nail Polish Remover is acetone-based, to be pressed onto the nail with a saturated cotton pad and wiped gently away. For a gentler removal of gel-effect and everyday polish, Mavala's Odourless Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover is made in Switzerland, without acetone or scent. Cutex's Care Since 1911 Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover includes coconut oil and is made for natural and artificial nails. Dior's Douceur Nail Polish Remover is acetone-free.
- Good As Gone Clarifying Nail Polish Remover
- Odourless Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover
- Care Since 1911 Acetone-Free Nail Polish Remover
- Douceur Nail Polish Remover
Why Rest Periods Matter
Repeated gel manicures, and the soaking that removes them, can leave nails feeling dry and the cuticles looking ragged. A few days, or a week or two, with bare nails between manicures lets you care for them. Keep them short and filed smooth, and massage a cuticle oil into the nail and the skin around it every day.
Mavala's Mavapen is a nutritive oil for cuticles in a slim pen, easy to keep in a bag. MIA Cosmetics Paris's Calendula Cuticle Oil pairs calendula with an oil base and is meant for daily use, or after hand washing and manicures. Sally Hansen's Vitamin E Nail & Cuticle Oil is centred on vitamin E, with a fresh peppermint scent. Unglax's Nutritive Nail Care Oil is formulated with six oils and vitamin E, for very dry, rough nails and cuticles.
- Mavapen Cuticle Care Nutritive Oil for Cuticles
- Calendula Cuticle Oil
- Vitamin E Nail & Cuticle Oil Peppermint Scented
- Nutritive Nail Care Oil
The Routine at a Glance
- Push back cuticles gently, file, and clean the nail so it is free of oil.
- Apply a thin base coat.
- Apply colour in two thin coats: cured under the lamp for the time the pack gives, or left to dry if it is gel-effect.
- Seal with a top coat, across the free edge as well.
- Remove by soaking for gel polish, or with a cotton pad and remover for gel-effect polish. Never peel.
- Give your nails a rest between manicures, with cuticle oil every day.
A Word on Safety
Follow the kit's instructions; if skin around the nail becomes red or sore, stop and ask a pharmacist.
If you are new to gel, begin with a gel-effect colour and its matching top coat. You will learn thin coats and a sealed edge, and know whether the finish suits you, before you buy a lamp.
