Plain Gel Nails

I've posted on my techniques for acrylic nail building but haven't done much show and tell with the gels. I thought I'd share how I do my basic gel application using tips.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

This is what I start with. Clean, trimmed nails that have been slightly scuffed. 

It's not pretty folks.

Here is my bruised thumb. I got it stuck in the automatic doors at work last month. There hasn't been any damage or de-formalities on the nail. Just the underneath bruise.

I fit all the tips to my nails and lay them out on a clean surface in order of appearance.

I base coated my nails with some bonder and stuck them in the UV light to set for about two minutes. I used Beauty Secrets quick dry nail glue to glue these guys on.

I used a large nail trimmer (disinfected) to trim away any nail length I wasn't going to use.

I filed the surface of the tip and blended it to my natural nail. I used a medium grit file and was very careful not to file into my natural nail. 

I applied a very thin coat of clear builder gel to each nail and cured it in the UV light for two minutes.

I blobbed some translucent pink gel onto my nail beds extending them a bit to add length. 

I cured this in the UV light for two minutes.

I evened everything out by adding clear builder gel to the tips of my nails and up and over the pink nail bed area. I built up the middle of the nail to give them strength. Everything went in the UV light for 4 minutes to cure for the last time.

With the medium file I sanded the nails into shape and made the surface smooth. I went over all the nails again with a sponge buffer to smooth them out even more.

I got rid of the dust with a nail brush and gave each nail a coat of clear polish. I added some glitter and another two coats of top coat.

Here is the hurt thumb. Almost can't even tell it was hurt. I'll keep a close eye on this guy though. I don't like to cover damaged nail beds. It's asking for trouble. I made sure the nail was in good condition before I covered it. I kept the coating transparent so I could watch what was going on under there. Opaque coatings on a hurt nail would make ideal breading ground for bacteria and fungus. Yuck........

I'll have to sit still long enough for Maggs to decorate these.

Wonder what she'll do to me?