Hello Everyone! Today I want to tell you how I save money on my nails!
We all want our nails to look pretty, right? It's SO expensive to get them done at a professional salon though.
You'll have an initial splurge with money to get all the products you need to do this, but afterwards you would only need to get products as needed.
So, how can you accomplish pretty nails at home and only spend money once every...
3-4 months? I'll tell you how!
What you'll need:
- Walmart Gel Kit $24.88
- Kiss Clear Press On Nails $5.32 (usually comes with glue).
- Glue $2-$5 (if it doesn't come with the kit). *Kiss brand also*
- Medium Nail File .89 cents (I got mine at Sally's Beauty Supply but you can probably get one at Walmart)!
- NON-ACETONE Polish Remover $1.48
- Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat $5.30 (online).
First, I lightly file the natural nails to get rid of any smoothness.
Next, you CAN (optional) wash your nails with Dawn Dish-soap to get rid of any oils.
**MAKE SURE YOUR NAILS ARE TOTALLY DRY BEFORE APPLYING NAILS TO AVOID FUNGUS** Not to sound gross but if fungus DOES happen, it's fine. Don't freak out. Just keep the area clean and it'll grow out with your nails and leave no lasting damage. I have done this and my nails are 100% fine. IF it bothers you, you can soak off the nail, give it a few days and re-apply. The fungus is from moisture getting under the fake nail. Nothing more. Just make sure the nails have no air bubbles underneath. This can be avoided by pressing hard on the nail while it's drying.
Now, I take the press on nails and glue them on after they've been fitted. You CAN press back cuticles before this step if needed.
Once they are on, I paint them and apply a the top coat as normal.
Now, me personally, I can wear press on nails for a good long while before they pop off. I'm just careful for that first week.
When they start growing out a bit, DON'T take them off!!! Here is where my tips and tricks come into play!
All you have to do is take off the polish with NON-ACETONE polish remover. Since you're taking polish off of fake nails, you need to use non-acetone so as not to melt the fake nail off.
Once the color is removed, take your file and file the edges until they're smoothed and no longer lifted along the edges.
Once you do that, lightly file the whole (fake) nail. Getting rid of the smoothness will ensure that the gel will stay put!
Once you have lightly filed all of the lifted, bumpy edges, you can apply the gel polish. This is not difficult at ALL! Just paint like you would regular polish. The ONLY thing you have to be careful not to do is getting the gel polish on your skin. If you do that, the nail will lift up and can cause cracks and chipping of the polish.
Apply the gel to the thumbs first, then cure them (stick them under the lamp). Leave the nail under the light until it turns off on it's own. After the light goes off, there is a special solution that comes in the kit to wipe off the excess goop from the gel. Wipe it with a cotton ball WITH the solution on it.
**After the solution runs out, you can just get rubbing alcohol and use that with a cotton ball instead to get the goop off**
Apply gel to the rest of the fingers & cure. The only reason I said to do the thumbs first is because it's a small light and it's hard to squeeze all of the fingers under the light at once.
Once you have a shiny coat of gel on all the filed down press on nails, you have one of two options:
1- You can apply the gel colored polish that came with the kit, cure it and apply a gel topcoat (cure again). This WILL stay for 2+ week and will require soaking to remove.
OR
2- You can apply regular polish and use regular top coat (this WILL stay and will be SO much easier to remove). Or you can use the gel polish for a solid top coat (harder to get off).
I, personally, do regular polish with regular top coat (kind mentioned above). It's so much easier to change colors and fill when needed and there's no soaking required. I do dishes, take showers, clean and wash my hands as normal and it stays put without a problem!
When you run out of the gel topcoat, you can repurchase at Walmart (with more primer, as it comes with it), $9.97 for both.
Everything is rather inexpensive when you think about it. Especially when you can drop $40-$50 every 2-6 weeks at a salon! That's crazy! I'm all about saving the green!!
I hope you enjoyed today's post and that it was easy to follow and understand!
I normally post links to everything but I highly recommend going out to the store to purchase this so you can see what you're getting.
Screen-shot the picture above of the products I used to make it easy for you!!
If you have any questions, feel free to post below!!
XOXO,
Krys.
off here. This is the Alamar Reina Del Caribe Eye-Shadow pallet that was created by Gabby (she works for Boxycharm).
colors as well as AMAZING quality! 
one on vacation this year. 
