Strange Beautiful

A beautiful set of nails will help increase your charm. According to Asian philosophy , a woman who owns a beautiful set of nails is always wealthy and lucky. Nowadays, there are many ways to beautify your nails and the most common way is to use overlay. What is a nail overlay? Scroll down to find some interesting information.

What Is A Nail Overlay?

A nail overlay is a beauty process of the nails with no extension of length.  To improve strength and durability, the manicurists will directly add a mixture to the nail.

Nail overlay

Some Basic Types Of Nail Overlay

Overlay not only beautifies your nails but  also makes your nails harder. Currently, there are three basic types of nail overlay for everyone as Acrylic, Gel and Shellac. Depending on your preference, you can choose the right overlay.

Acrylic

Acrylic nail ingredients include powder and liquid polymer so they can be incorporated with nail polish or other nail accessories.

Due to exposure to air, acrylic nails will gradually harden when manicurists paint on the nail. 

Acrylic nail has long durability. It lasts from 2 weeks to 1 year if you maintain your nails at the salon. Do you want acrylic nails? Let’s take a look at its pros and cons to have a thorough understanding

Pros

• Acrylic nail is cheaper than other types.
• You can fix Acrylic nail by yourself if it is broken.
• Acrylic nails durability is longer than others.
• You can remove acrylic nails at home without manicurists.

Cons

• Acrylic nail does not look real as other nails.
• Ingredients in acrylic nails can be harmful if you inhale.
• You have to go to the salon to maintain nails regularly.

Gel

Gel nail is made of some layers of gel and you can choose each color layer. To dry the gel, a manicurist will use UV light or LED nail lamps for 2-3 minutes.

Gel nail

Gel nail durability is not as long as Acrylic nail. It can last for 2 weeks.

Scroll down, you can know some pros and cons of Gel nail.

Pros

• Ingredients in the Gel nail method are very safe.
• Gel nail looks more real than Acrylic nail.
• The scent of gel nails is very pleasant.
• Gel nails do not require maintenance at the salon.

Cons

• The durability of Gel nail is short.
• You will have to go to the salon to fix and remove Gel nails.

Shellac

Shellac is a product of Creative Nail Design company. It is a mixture of gel and nail polish.  So Shellac owns the pros of Acrylic nail and Gel nail.

This product can be used in the same way as regular nail polishes for your nails. To dry Shellac, you need to use UV light.

Your nails will look natural and shiny with shellac. Like Gel nail, Shellac only lasts for two weeks. You will have to go to the salon if you want to keep them longer. Plus, if you want to use shellac for your nails, you should read the information below.

Pros

• Shellac looks more beautiful and realistic than others.
•  Shellac creates natural beauty with high gloss.

Cons

• You can’t use Shellac to increase the length of your nails.
• Shellac cannot be used for weak nails
• The cost of using shellac is higher than the others. 

Shella

Tips To Use Overlay 

To protect and take care of the overlay you should:

–  Never use harsh detergents directly with your hands.

– Always keep nails clean.

– Use a moisturizer for both hands and nails.

– Come to the salon regularly to take care of your manicure.

Conclusion

Owning beautiful and healthy nails will increase your attractiveness. And nail overlay will help your nails look beautiful and charming. I think you can get the answer to the question “what is a nail overlay?” after reading this article, right? I hope you will have an interesting manicure experience. And now, it is time for you to head to the nail salon to give your nail a new and stunning look!

A full gel nail extension manicure has always been part of women’s burning desire. Charming nails slightly reflect your real charisma, but not everyone is lucky enough to possess strong, beautiful nails america.

And so, I’ll give you this step by step instruction as well as some cautions on how to do gel nail extensions at home

First, you will need careful preparation to get gel nail extensions at home. Remember that all products are just worthwhile investment cause they will enormously benefit you several times. The supplies that you purchase will either make or break your success, so make sure you will choose the right ones.

Resource Gathering

1.   Nail lamp

2.   Acetone to erase the polish

3.   Cotton pads

4.   Nail polish soak off clips 

5.   Cuticle remover liquid

6.   Nail file

7.  Steel cuticle remover and cutter

8.   Nail clippers

9.   Cuticle clippers

10.  Nail buffer block

11.  Rubbing alcohol

12.  PH bond

13.  Gel nail polish 

How To Do Gel Nail Extensions At Home – A Complete Guide

Step 1:

Having gel polish on already, you need to divide the pads into 4 different pieces, and drench each of them well with acetone. Polish the top of each nail with a soft cloth, then use the cotton pads to protect your nails. After that, you can use the clips to hold it in the right position. Just keep it there for about 15 or 20 minutes. It’s time to enjoy your favorite TV shows and “let your hair down” a little bit.

Buff the top of each nail

Step 2:

After 15 or 20 minutes, scrap the clips and begin removing the gel polish by using the steel cuticle remover and scraper. The polish should be raised to a higher position and it should be easy to remove at this point. Use another cotton pad absorbed with acetone when removing polish.

Step 3: 

You need to apply cuticle remover liquid on your finger tip and spread this liquid over cuticles while gently pressing them. 

Step 4: 

Use best nail scissors that are usually curved to cut your nail fingers, rub smoothly on top of your nails to remove the top layer of your nail. This step plays an essential role in making the gel to attach firmly to your nails.

Step 5:

Washing your hands carefully with water (no soap), you will also pay attention to all of the dead skin and if necessary, just exfoliate it. The nails are required to be extremely clean. You can apply some drops of  the PH Bond to make your nails dry much better.

Step 6:

Spread the layer of the base coat gel polish very sparingly onto your nails then treat them with preferable heat (not that too boiling hot or  heat can destroy the whole process). I remember that I wasn’t able to control the heat well and it turned out to brmatic downfall. I have learned my lessons and hope you guys can fine-tune the temperature wisely.

The PH Bond

Step 7:

Apply another coat of gel polish (as thin as you possibly can!). After getting the polish on your skin,you will need a cloth with acetone to remove completely gel polish. If you happen to get gel polish, don’t worry, just use some toothpicks to erase the small amount of cuticles. The bottom line is to make sure that your cuticles are devoid of gel polish or they will start to peel much, much faster. Treat the polish with heat for 120 seconds to preserve it well. There is one thing I must remind you that Some lighter polish requires another 3rd layer, and if so, re-do this for about 90 seconds.

Step 8

You need some cotton pad rubbing alcohol to spread the liquid over your nail while pressing them gently. You’re done! There is no need to long for the it to dry completely and you can handle your daily chores without the fear that they will destroy your beautiful manicure

Your desired nail set

Some quick notes to doing gel nail extensions at home

•  Trust me, no one is successful at doing manicures right in the first time! Practice makes perfect. Be patient and read the whole process carefully, you will start to gain valuable experience over the period of time.
• Peeling process can always happen a few times because you have misunderstood some steps, again pay meticulous attention to the whole process. Remember, I just thought I wasn’t cut for doing manicures and give up them for 3 years. I promise with you will be a truly at-home gel nail expert shortly with above-mentioned steps.
• It is very inadvisable to keep nail extensions for a long time. Let your nails unwind completely after application.
• If you used acetone to erase a previous gel polish,  your cuticles are probably dried out. In this case, cuticle oil can solve this problem. But, remember to wait at least 1 minute after wiping off the sticky layer before spreading the cuticle oil. At first, I didn’t know that tip so I just applied the cuticle oil right after rubbing the tacky layer, and the top coat turns out to be a big mess
• It is inevitable that damages will sometimes occur, if so, use a drop of glue to protect your nails. I highly recommend using fresh polish to bring your nails back to their finest state
• Keep away from severe soap or toxic chemicals and moisturize your lovely nails with hand cream often. Hand cream protects your nails and prevents them from peeling off. 
• DO NOT crack or peel the gel nails off.

Conclusion

A detailed guide on how to do gel nail extensions at home has been covered in this article. After all, just pay attention to what product you are using and these comprehensive steps, you can do gel nail extensions right at your home spa. Good luck!

You always desire for both beautiful and healthy manicures, but usually, you win some, you lose some. After reading this article, you will be surprised to know that Overlay nails or Shellac nails can meet all your needs.

What is Overlay Nail & Shellac Nail?

Overlay nail is kind of directly applied to the natural nails with acrylic or hard gel but skipping the extension step. It is usually shaped by hand or the forms, suit for people who fancy the natural manicures. 

Shellac is also a type of overlay nails but it is a brand name created by Creative Nail Design (CND). The combination of both acrylics and gels is in Shellac. It is similarly applied to the natural nails without filing or sculpting. 

Overlay Nails vs Shellac: What is the difference?

How do they look?

Overlay nails give your nail a natural look more than 90%. The overlay makes your manicures so strong, shiny and durable. 

On the other hand, Shellac nails are appreciated as absolutely 100% natural nails. Shellac applied on your nails will be thinner, more glossy than overlay nails.

Which will last longer?

Overlay nails, thanks to durability, last up to 3 weeks. They create a decent base, so women prefer to overlay it before applying the following layers. In contrast, Shellac nails are thinner than overlay so it will start to slough out after 2 weeks. 

Can you apply them by yourself at home?

Sadly, if you want Shellac manicures, you have to go out because the office CND Shellac just only provides service in salons. Instead,  you can buy products like Gelish for a close effect.

For overlay nails, you can find it easy to make at home. Just purchase the best quality nail polish, clean your nails, apply a base coat then one more glossy topcoat. 

How to remove them? Which one is easier?

Removing overlay nails is a little bit hard that you may make your nails painful. Firstly, you have to file your nails to 60-65% overlays with a hand file or electric file. Soak your nails in pure acetone with cotton pads and wrap them in aluminum foil for 20-30 minutes. Then, taking off the aluminum foils, scrape off the layer and file them again until all the paint is peeling off. 

Unlike overlay nails, removing Shellac nails is much kinder to your nails. Skipping all the filing process, soaking in pure acetone and wrapping it in aluminum foil in just 10 minutes and scraping off gently. Finally, clean them up again with cotton pads.

To sum up – Which is better?

Both overlay nails and Shellac have pros and cons, it depends on what you’re looking for. If you want natural, glossy, easy-to-remove-at-home nails, you can choose Shellac. If you are often exposed to housework, you should choose best overlay nails because of durability. All in all, this Overlay Nails Vs Shellac: Which Is Better? provide you enough information along with the difference between overlay nails and Shellac. Now, let’s choose the right one for you.