Gel nails - Pro's and Con's

If some of you read a post of mine a while ago then you would know i was debating on whether or not to buy a gel nail kit. So a month or so ago i bought the Bluesky UV lamp and gel nails starter kit. 

Now, before buying this kit for myself i had never done gel nails before or had them done professionally before. I also didn't do much research on them at all so i taught myself a lot of what i know about gel nails now. But originally, all i knew was that they latest much longer than normal nail polish so they seemed convenient to me.

Pro's

1. They can last up to 2 weeks
2. They are much shinier
3. Its easier for your nails to grow as it provides a hard shell on your nails so they are more protected and less likely to snap or chip
4. You can achieve the same results that a salon can charge around £20 or more for a gel manicure
5. They look as shiny and professional on day 9/10/11/...(etc) as they did on day 1

Con's

1. If you manage to chip one nail and have the urge to peel it off, its not easy to 'just repaint' one nail
2. Applying a fresh set of gel nails can take me up to an hour or more. (time consuming)
3. You need to replenish a lot of the equipment you need fairly regularly. Including; base coat, top coat, alcohol wipes and possibly the bulbs in your UV nail lamp after a while
4. (One that won't apply to everyone but..) the short lead on my UV lamp limits the places i can do my nails

If i think of anymore to add i will be updating the post.

Gel nails at home

Ive wanted to buy my own gel nail kit for a while now but I've been unsure which kit to get. After researching different brands and types of kits I'm still at square one!... I wasn't wondering if anyone recommended a gel nail starter kit or a specific brand that they love for gel nails. Im re-doing my nail polish nearly every day so it would make sense for me to buy a gel nail kit and hope that they last for a week or two at a time! X

3rd time lucky acrylics

After getting acrylic nails twice previously and not being 100% sure whether or not i liked them, i wanted to get a different style. The first two times i got more of a pointed tip so i was unsure what to get the third time. 

After loving Kylie Jenner's acrylic nails i wanted to give them a go but still wasn't sure, so i put my own twist on the style of nails that she had been wearing recently. Kylie Jenner had very long nails that went in at the sides to almost create a pointed edge, but they then had a blunt finish. I liked this style a lot because its in-between a pointed edge and a blunt edge. 

I didn't want the classic square finish nail so this style seemed to suit me. I knew i didn't want them as long as Kylie's because i would defiantly poke an eye out, so i showed a picture of Kylie's nails to the lady doing mine, but i asked for a shorter version.

And here is my result!..

3rd time really was lucky in this case because from now on i will be getting my acrylics done in this style. 

X

Red sparkly Christmas nails

Two very festive things are the colour red, and lots of sparkles. Combining these together I have created a nail look that looks so Christmassy. Its so easy to do and is nothing out of the ordinary but still looks amazing. Only two nail polishes are needed to create this look - a red and a sparkle or glitter nail polish.

1.  Simply paint your nails red, 
2. Wait for them to dry,
3.  And use the sparkle polish as a top coat.

The pictures do not pick up how lovely the nails look when the light hits the top coat. I used two shade from Barry M. The red shade is called 'blood orange' and is from their 'Gelly' range. And the glittery top coat is called 'Jingle Bells' and is limited edition. (Jingle Bells is available in Superdrug right now and you can get it for free when you spend £6 or more on Barry M products)

I will be wearing these nails up until Christmas and probably until the New Year as well!

x

Acrylic nails

I had my nails done around a week ago now at Timberhill Nail's in Norwich. I didn't plan on getting them done until a few hours before so it was a spontaneous decision! This was the second time i go my nails done with acrylic nails and i wasn't sure whether to actually have them done as i previously really didn't like them. I didn't like them the first time as they were far too long and they really damaged my nails after i removed them after just 2 days (which was really difficult and took a long time!) and i got those ones done at USA nails also in Norwich. 

I showed pictures of the type of nails i wanted done both times - and both times they didn't really do as i asked, but i didn't mind so much the second time as i actually really liked them! 

When having my nails done the second time i only realised once i was half way through that i didn't have long before i had to leave to get the last bus home, so i left without having them painted! This meant i painted them myself once i was home but it wasn't as well done as they would have done it! 

I still have the acrylic nails on now and i hope when i eventually take them off that they haven't left my real nails in a bad condition. This worries me as the people doing the nails do like to 'sand' down your nails quite a lot!

I kind of got the same or similar style of acrylic nails done both times because its just preference as to what i like, but in the future i may try a simple square tip finish. 

I would like to add that it did hurt quite a lot when i had my nails done the second time and the man doing them wasn't very gentle at all!

I have changed my nail colour twice since having them done this time and i plan on changing it more as i like to switch it up quite frequently!

Here are 2 pictures of my current nails from the top, and the last picture is of my acrylic nails the first time i had them done. X

Blue and purple ombre nails

Ombre nail design

I first saw this ombre nail design as a tutorial on YouTube. I instantly loved it and was desperate to try it out myself. I was a little apprehensive as I've watched many nail art tutorials before and wanted to try them out my self but realised i did not have half the tools it required! How ever this ombre style nail design is so simple and easy and worked the very first time i tried it.

I already had completed step one of this design by painting all of my nails with a base coat colour (which is recommended to not be too dark). My base coat as you can see is a turquoise blue colour by Barry M (im not sure of the exact name of the colour as it was a friends nail polish). I then took a small piece of sponge and painted on a strip of a different colour wide enough to fit my whole nail. I then placed it around a third to a half of the way up my nail from the bottom, i then wiggled it around and dabbed a few times to ensure there was not an obvious straight line which separated the two colours. I later followed the same steps to add a third colour to the tip of the nail which in my case was a purple shade. I used a different piece of sponge for the different colour. I then finished this design with a clear top coat to protect the nails from chipping to make it last a longer.

All of the nail polished i used were by Barry M, these nail polishes are very affordable at £2.99 for the standard polish and £3.99 for the gelly polish range. The quality of these nail polishes is amazing and i would highly recommend them. However i have not yet tried this nail design with the gelly polish range from Barry M so i cannot review how it went.

Equpiment:

• 2 or more nail polishes of choice
• Clear top coat
• A small section of sponge
• Nail polish remover (to clear any excess nail polish around the nail)

Here is the same technique done with different colours:

Without a top coat

Maybelline: Speeding light and Barry M- Tangerine

With a top coat

Thank you for reading my very first blog post! More to come :-)