Gel nails provide your client with the high-shine and ultra-long wear manicure that they desire. When creating the perfect gel nail manicure for your client, it is essential to discover which gel nail type will suit your client best. This article will discuss the types of gel nails, how they differ, and which gel variety is best for you.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Types Of Gel Polish.
A perfectly manicured set of nails is every client&#;s dream. A gel is available in two different forms, including hard gel and soft gel. Knowing your client and their manicure preferences will help you choose which gel nail type will be best for your client. Let&#;s take a look at the different kinds of gel nail options.
Soft gel is a soak-off gel that can be removed with 100% pure acetone. The soft gel adds minimal strength to short to mid-length natural nails but is not strong enough to support a nail extension. Soft gel is applied with a nail brush and is cured under an LED lamp or UV light.
This gel is available in many colors and can be worn alone as gel polish for two to four weeks. The soft gel will wear thin on the nail&#;s free edge over time, requiring touch-ups every few weeks. Gel polish is soft gel.
Hard gel is used to add length to the natural nail. This thick gel is laid onto the nail, then moved around the nail to form the shape. Hard gel nails can be shaped to form any nail shape and to add the nail length that the client desires. These factors make hard gel nails a prevalent nail option for many people.
Hard gel cures underneath an LED light or UV lamp until it hardens to perfection. After the curing process, the nail technician will file and shape the nail with a nail file or e-file tool. Color is then added, and the manicure is complete. Each hard gel nail set will last three to four weeks before needing a refill.
The hard gel should not be removed at home. Doing so will damage the natural nails. The nail tech should remove the gel in the salon by filing away the gel. A nail tech will help maintain the integrity of the natural nails underneath the hard gel.
Gel polish (soft gel) performs like a gel and applies like traditional nail polish. Traditional nail polish usually chips within two to three days, whereas gel polish lasts for several weeks. Gel polish is a thin UV gel that is pigmented and available in many shades of color.
The gel is slightly thicker than shellac or traditional nail polish and can be worn for several weeks. As a bonus, the gel protects the natural nails and is hardier, making it ideal for those with weak, brittle nails.
Gel polish dries by curing it under an LED or UV lamp. It can be applied alone over natural nails or on top of hard gel and lasts for two to three weeks. Gel polish is safely removed at home with 100% pure acetone, and it is the quickest gel nail service available.
It is important not to peel away gel polish from the nails. Peeling gel polish away from the nail will cause damage to the natural nails. Gel polish is ideal for all nail types, from short styles to longer nails.
Gel nails are sometimes mistaken for gelish, shellac, acrylic, or polygel nails; however, these are not necessarily gel nails. Let&#;s dive deeper into other types of nail overlays and the characteristics of each.
Polygel is considered a hybrid nail enhancement made of acrylic powder and clear gel. It is not self-leveling and is more flexible than acrylic, yet stronger than gel. The nail tech will shape the nails with a nail file or e-file, similar to shaping acrylic or hard gel nail enhancements.
Polygel is cured under an LED or UV lamp and is removed in the same way hard gel and acrylics are by filing the polygel away from the natural nail. A polygel refill is needed every two to three weeks. One of the benefits of polygel is its odorless formulation.
Shellac is a hybrid gel-like form of polish patented by the brand CND. Shellac does not require a roughened nail surface for a strong adherence, and it cures under UV light. Like gel, shellac will last for up to two weeks.
Shellac is more prone to chipping than gel because it is partially made with traditional nail polish. It can easily be removed with a special acetone-based remover.
Shellac is perfect for the client who desires a more extended wearing nail color than traditional nail polish.
Gelish is a brand name of gel polish. It is a type of gel polish that offers a high-shine finish. Gelish requires a roughened nail surface to adhere securely to the natural nail.
It cures under an LED or UV light and lasts for up to three weeks. The nails must be buffed first, then soaked in 100% pure acetone to remove the gelish. Gelish is ideal for shorter to mid-length nails. This no-fuss manicure is a popular choice for longer, everyday wear.
The main difference between gel nail enhancements and acrylic nail overlays is their durability. Acrylic nails are much more durable than gel. Acrylic involves a liquid monomer and a powder polymer that is mixed into a dough-like consistency.
A bead of acrylic is applied to the top of the nail and shaped with a nail brush. A UV light is then used to cure the acrylic overlay. Gel polish or traditional polish is applied over the acrylic to add color. Acrylic adds long length to the trendy elaborate nail designs you see today.
Acrylic nails last for about two to three weeks before they require a refill. When it is time to remove the acrylic nails altogether, the nail tech will file down the top layer of the nails, then wrap each nail in a foil and cotton acetone-soaked wrap for 15 minutes. The acrylic will soften and easily slide off of the nails with the gentle push of a cuticle stick.
Many celebrities such as Cardi B, Billie Eilish, and Khloe Kardashian are known for their long, elaborate nail designs. These designs set the trend for nails we know today.
Dip powder manicures involve colored acrylic-like gel powder and a resin. Each nail is painted with a base coat then dipped into the colored powder. Then a resin sealant is applied to each nail. The excess powder is brushed away from the nail, and the dipping process continues until the desired color and opacity are reached.
Unlike gel manicures, dip powder manicures last up to five weeks. To remove dip powder, file the top layer of each nail and soak in acetone for 10 to 15 minutes. After the nails have soaked, the dip powder is easily removable with the quick swipe of a cotton ball.
Dip powder manicures are ideal for those who desire a quick, polished look without the hassle of painted gel applications.
Gel polish and traditional nail polish are similar. Both types of polish are applied in the same way, with a small brush. Both polishes are available in a variety of shades and are finished in a glossy shine.
While traditional nail polish chips after two to three days of wear, the gel polish will last up to two weeks. The longer wear time is why gel polish is popular among many people seeking a longer-lasting polished manicure.
Gel nails are one of the most popular types of nail overlays available today. A gel is available in soft gel and hard gel. Soft gel is available in different colors and can be worn for up to two weeks.
Hard gel is used to create length and shape on short to mid-length natural nails. Hard gel is an excellent alternative to acrylic overlays because it is softer than acrylic and can be worn for three to four weeks.
V Beauty Pure offers top-quality gel polish and V-Diamond gel to create beautiful gel manicures for your client. The V-Diamond gel is a gel-like resin adhesive that cures with minimal shrinkage, offering the perfect crystal manicure service.
Design beautiful glossy gel and acrylic manicures with V Beauty Pure nail collections. VBP offers nail tools, equipment, acrylic systems, kits, and bundles. We offer everything you need to provide the perfect nail service for your next client.
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I&#;ve been talking about builder gel and semi-hard gel on instagram A LOT recently because I&#;ve been using it to grow my nails and I&#;m quickly OBSESSED. I always knew that gel was magic to grow your nails long and add strength, but using it more consistently and perfecting my removal routine has been a game-changer for me!
This blog post is going to cover what builder gel is, how I like to use it, and some info on my favorite products to use! I&#;m currently working on my next gel course, which will be like an intermediate to advanced level gel course which will cover builder gel, how to build your apex for soooo much strength, and how I like to e-file off my gel and &#;re-fill&#; my gel + e-file for cuticle prep! This is how i&#;ve been doing my nails and my client&#;s nails recently and it&#;s SO great.
PS! So many people ask about my e-file! Here is my favorite one + my favorite bits!
I recommend that you read this post to understand what will be covered in MY NEW COURSE!!
NEW COURSE all about E-file manicure prep and builder gel is now available if you want to learn EXACTLY how to do this process I'm outlining below!
Ok lets get into it&#;
The builder gel I use is a semi-hard gel. But let&#;s back up and cover the basics of the types of the products to better understand what they are and how they work on you based on their strength!
Level 1 - Nail Polish: this is the lowest level of strength. It&#;s a layer of color applied to your nails for looks but typically cannot give your nails much or any strength.
Level 2 - Soft Gel: all soft gels are not created equally! There is hybrid gel polish and pure gel.
Hybrid gel polish - this is most gel that you see at salons unless they specify that they use pure gel (like a Japanese or Korean gel). Think of like OPI, Beetles, Shellac, etc. It&#;s gel polish that&#;s typically blended with another solvent or polish that helps it soak off easily/quickly. These typically don&#;t last as long as pure gel because it&#;s mixed with polish or an agent that literally helps it come off. This type of gel will give you some strength but it&#;s not as hard as pure gel or semi-hard gel, your nail will still feel flexible.
Pure gel - this is the type of gel that I use and recommend, like Kokoist, my favorite gel brand! It&#;s literally pure gel, it&#;s not mixed with any other solvents to help it soak off. I also find that these products are more pigmented so you don&#;t need as many layers, and they&#;re easier to work with. They also last longer and give your nails more strength than hybrid gel polish but you can still soak them off.
Level 3 - Semi Hard Gel: This level gives your nails a ton of strength, and this is where these base gels that I&#;ll be talking about fall under! This is a blend between hard gel and pure gel, but it can still be soaked off! You can use it to give your nails insane strength like you get with hard gel, and you can build nails (like nail extensions, if you want!). I&#;ll be using the terms builder and base gel and builder base gel interchangeably in this blog because I only use the Kokoist x Nail thoughts gels really, and they are both a builder, a base, and also a color ALL IN ONE!
Level 4 - Hard Gel: This is the strongest level of gel, and it cannot be soaked off, it can only be filed off. I personally don&#;t use hard gel because I find semi hard gel to be hard / strong enough for me!
Level 5 - Dip/Acrylic: I haven&#;t used acrylic since nail school and I personally hate it. I found it really hard to use compared to gel and usually you get gel over the top of your acrylic anyways, so if you get the benefits of a hard product and all of the ease of gel, why not just use semi hard or pure gel?! Of course acrylics are good for people with SUPER long nails since they&#;re being built, but I&#;m only talking about doing this for natural nails and helping them grow in this post, so let&#;s just focus on that!
So which level does builder gel fall into? Builder gel can either be semi-hard or hard. It&#;s used to build an apex on your nail (more on that below) or build a nail extension if you want to! I personally love the Kokoist base gels because you can use them like builder gels to build an apex and give your nails strength. I love this clear gel because it makes my nails soooo strong with just one coat.
What is an apex? An apex is the curved stress area of your nail. Aesthetically, I think it gives you that true &#;plump&#; gel manicure look, but it&#;s also used to give your nails extra strength if they&#;re long so that they don&#;t break! In my new course, I&#;ll show you how to use these gels to build an apex on your nail. Make sure to sign up for my newsletter to be notified when the course is live! Photos below:
Ok now that we know our levels of strength, how do you know which product is right for you? Let&#;s get into a few scenarios, but first, here are some helpful links to start off with:
WEAK NAILS 101: If your nails are seriously weak and damaged and peeling (i&#;ve been there), read this post for some tips on how to get them healthy again. Gel CAN be used to help, but you need to get them a little bit under control first.
GEL POLISH & MANICURES 101: I have a lot of followers who only like using regular polish but are interested in gel. This post tells you all about how and breaks down WHY IT&#;S NOT BAD FOR YOU! I actually credit gel 100% for growing my nails and keeping them strong. With regular polish, I have zero protection from the elements and from breaking or splitting them even if they&#;re feeling strong and they&#;re long. Gel gives me all of the protection I need and allows me to keep them growing without any breaks.
Gel Manicure 1.0 Masterclass: Basic Gel Manicure Foundations, Application & Removal: I created this class for anyone who is interested in starting to do their own gel manicures at home, or anyone who already does gel, but wants to improve on their process and get a longer lasting, better looking gel mani at home! Click here to read all about the details of this class! So far, the results are incredible!
If you have really weak or bendy nails, you should definitely read the post about to get them healthy. You might need to cut them short and let them be for a few weeks, but when you&#;re ready to start your gel manicures, I recommend using the Kokoist Megastick Basecoat! This is a level 2 soft gel, pure gel, base coat that gives your nails strength, but it also lets them flex a little bit. It&#;s best to use this base coat because your nails are able to flex a little bit while they&#;re gaining strength. If your base coat was semi hard or hard, it would have no flexibility at all, but your nail underneath would have a lot of flexibility, which can cause the gel to pop off because it&#;s not able to stick to your nails that well! I would suggest using this base coat for 2-3 months until your nails are feeling so strong and not as bendy or flexible, then you can move on to semi hard gels!
If your nails are already pretty strong, still flexible, but not feeling so weak and bendy, you can work with semi-hard gel! This gel has some flexibility still, but so much strength that your nails will feel strong and won&#;t really bend or break at all with normal daily activity!!
See all of my favorite gel products and process listed in detail here: https://karanailedit.com/blogs/news/my-favorite-gel-products-polishes-processes-how-to-mix-regular-gel-polish
My new process that I&#;ve been doing lately is this:
*NOTE: I&#;ll be going over this process in detail in my new course!!! Are you signed up for my newsletter yet?! You&#;ll also get a special promo code once it launches :)
Remove existing gel with e-file leaving a thin layer of the base gel in tact
Use the e-file to remove cuticle from my nail
Nip cuticle
File & full surface of nail to even it out and make it smooth
Cleanse
Apply base gel and build an apex
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Apply color or art with gel
Top coat with gel
This process has been a GAME CHANGER in my nail routine recently. My nails have grown so much! Look how long they are!!! And they&#;re so strong. I&#;m hooked :D
PS, use my code KARA10 from 10% off all of these products + everything at Kokoist!
^strawberry lemonade!!! I LOVE IT!
Ok so I&#;ve hyped these up so much over the past few years and it&#;s for a good reason!! These base gels are:
A base gel & a color all in one (which means you can do 1 or 2 coats with just this product and then a top coat and then be done with your mani! SO FAST!) Think of these like how some nail polish has a built in base coat, like Olive & June or Essie gel couture! You can skip the base coat step and just do the color. These are the same! You can use one product that's your base coat & color in one :)
A builder gel (I&#;ve talked your ear off enough about this)
Now they come in so many new colors!!!!!
There are now 12 new colors in addition to the 6 colors that came before this collection! Be sure to check out this post for all of my favorite get products in general! And now for the new bases:
Hard Candy: This is a BRIGHT red, but it&#;s sheer/jelly and it&#;s amazing!
Strawberry Lemonade: This one is IT! It&#;s my ideal hot pink. It&#;s sheer, it&#;s jelly, it&#;s EVERYTHING!
Cotton Candy: This one is like strawberry milk&#;s hotter cousin. It&#;s milky hot pink. YUM!
Milkshake: A true baby pink!
Hazelnut Creamer: This one is like peachy base&#;s more opaque cousin! SO GOOD
Cantaloupe: This one is also similar to peachy base&#; A little more peachy than Hazelnut!
Mauve: A sheer, moody mauve!!
Iced Latte: A warm, peachy brown with a jelly consistency!!
Nutmeg: A warm, rich, brown
Mocha: A deeper almost cooler brown!
Champagne: If peachy base had gold flecks in it, this would be it!!
Rosé: A sheer, rosy pink with sparkles!
Sheer rosy pink base with chunky rainbow colored glitter!
Shop Here!
Clear base polish with glowy golden chunky glitter
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Warm peachy pink sheer base with golden shimmer
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Cool toned sheer pink base with rainbow shimmer
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Milky pink sister to Mochi Base. Sheer milky pink with rainbow shimmer
Shop Here!
Sheer neutral light brown polish
Shop Here!
Sheer peachy neutral pink base
Shop Here!
Peachy sheer polish. Like Peach Base but much more sheer!
Shop Here!
Warm rosy pink sheer. Like your nails are blushing!
Shop Here!
Glassy barely there pink sheer polish. Almost like clear base with a drop of pink added!
Shop Here!
Glassy sheer light lavender polish. With two coats, the purple would really pop!
Shop Here!
Sheer juicy baby blue polish! Would also pop with two coats.
Shop Here!
My other faves from the OG collection:
Peachy Base - My ALL TIME favorite base gel :) A sheer, peachy neutral
Strawberry Milk Base - A sheer, milky pink!
Milky Base - Sheer, milky white!
Clear Builder Base (I JUST used this on a broken nail to fix the crack so I didn&#;t need to cut of my entire nail! I have a video about it HERE!)
If you have any other questions or are confused about any thing regarding gel or the products or process or truly ANYTHING, leave a comment or put your questions here for me to clarify during my new course or future posts!
Don&#;t forgot to use my code KARA10 and shop through my link if you pick any of these up! I can&#;t wait to see your nails!!
*Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning I get a small % of your sale, at no cost to you! This helps me support this blog and my life :) Thanks so much for using my links and codes and your support!!!
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