At Home No Chip Manicure: Step by Step guide

You can have the perfect manicure right at home! And the best part is, it lasts 2-3 weeks! Doing your own gel manicure at home also saves hundreds of dollars that would have been spent at the salon. 

You will need:

File

Buffer

Dehydrator

No-Chip Foundation (base coat)

No-Chip Top Coat

(You can also buy a whole kit HERE) 

No-Chip Polish: Here are some of my favorite colors (Pink, Blue, Color Set)

UV/LED light (The one I use)

Cheaper UV Light

Step 1: Remove Old Polish

If you need to remove old gel polish, I have a post on how to do that HERE

Step 2: Prep your nails

You can remove your cuticles, some people do and some don't...its a personal preference. If you do choose to, a cuticle remover liquid is helpful. Use the cuticle clipper to cut off the cuticles from your nail. Buff the tops of your nails with the buffer to take off a little bit of the top layer of your nail. File your nails and create the shape that you want. 

Step 3: Rinse

Once done, wash your hands to remove any nail filings. They can cause bubbles under the gel polish if not removed. 

Step 4: Dehydrator

 Apply the PH Bond to help dry out of your nails.

Step 5: Base Coat

Apply a thin layer of the base coat gel polish onto your nails. Then cure it under your light ( the amount of time will depend on the type of light you have) The instructions on the base coat will tell you how long you need to leave it for. Since I have an LED light, I only have to let it cure for 5 seconds.  

Step 6: Color

Apply a thin coat of your gel polish color on all nails and place under your light.  If you get the polish on your skin use toothpicks to wipe it away. They key is not get any polish on your cuticles or they will start to peel a lot faster. Depends on the color, but usually I put two coats of color on. For some darker colors I apply three coats. 

Step 7: Top Coat

Apply one layer of top coat and place under lamp. 

Step 8: Remove Top  Sticky Residue

Soak a cotton pad in rubbing alcohol and rub each nail. This will remove the sticky residue that is left on top of the nail

And you are done!

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Remove Gel No Chip Nails at Home - Step by Step Guide

No chip manicures are great for making your nail polish last weeks upon weeks. But when it comes time to take them off, that can be a little tricky. No matter what, do NOT peel your gel nails off! This will damage your nail bed and make your nails brittle and weaker. 

You will need: 

- Nail file

- Cotton balls

- Acetone Nail Polish Remover

- Aluminum foil

- Nail stick/cuticle pusher

- Paper towel

Step 1: 

Cut the aluminum foil into 10 strips that are big enough to wrap around each of your fingers. You will want to have all of your cotton balls separated before you start wrapping the foil around your nails. Once the foil is wrapped around one hand, it will be hard to separate the cotton balls.

Step 2: 

Buff the top layer of your nail polish with the nail file. You will want to do this over a paper towel because it can get messy very fast. Removing the top layer of gel polish will allow the acetone to penetrate the other layers of gel. 

Step 3:

Dip your cotton ball in acetone and place it on top of your nail (make sure it covers the entire nail). Then take the foil and wrap it around your nail/finger. Do this for every nail.

Step 4: 

After about 10-15 min check to see if the polish is coming off.  If a lot of the polish has started to come off, then remove the foil from your nails. Use your nail stick/cuticle pusher to scrape off the remaining gel polish. If the polish is not coming off easily, then place your nails back in the foil wraps for another 5 minutes. 

Wash your nails after tall the polish is off. 

Full video on How to Remove Gel Polish at Home:

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