If you want something done well, do it yourself — and if you want to stop paying £35 every two weeks, buy some supplies and learn to do your own at-home gel manicure [1].
Regular manicures are very important to my overall self-care routine, but the price tag that comes along with shiny gel nails [2] often isn't feasible, even for those with a bit of disposable income. A few weeks ago, after paying £60 for a pedicure and a gel manicure, I hit a wall.
I logged on to Amazon and proceeded to spend two hours piecing together the perfect gel kit. I didn't want to completely overspend — after all, I'm trying to save money here — but I also wanted to buy nice materials that would give me the same quality as a salon manicure. Two hours and £80 later, I found the perfect combination. I bought a total of five products (which you can see ahead), but I also have an existing cabinet full of cotton balls and nail files. If you don't have the basics, you may need to invest slightly more money.
My first go-around was tense. Painting your nails [3] is low pressure when you can just wipe it off with some remover, but gel requires precision. If you mess up, the fix may require you to completely file off your polish and start from scratch. I'm not terrible with a polish brush, and I made it all the way to the topcoat layer until really screwing up. I'm a topcoat fanatic [4], so I heaped healthy dollops on my thumbs . . . then watched the viscous liquid slide down onto my skin and instantly harden under the UV lamp. I clipped off the excess and filed the shellac down, and my thumbs looked near perfect. You can see the finished product above — not bad for my first try, hunched over my bathroom sink, eh?
Here's everything I bought for my at-home gel manicure kit [5], all of which I would recommend.
— Additional reporting by Tori Crowther
Uming UV Nail Lamp
I looked at a variety of high- and low-end UV lamps, and this seemed to give customers the most bang for their buck. The Uming UV Nail Lamp [7] has a solid five-star rating, since unfortunately that lamp is unavailable in the UK, the LKE Professional UV LED Gel Nail Lamp Polish Curing Dryer [8] (£21) is similar in its properties and has a four and a half star rating. It has 10-, 30-, or 60-second intervals.
Mylee Nail Gel Polish Top & Base Coat
The Mylee Nail Gel Polish Top & Base Coat [9] (£13) was the one choice that seemed pretty clear from the start. This two-piece set comes with the Mylee top and base coat. Efficient and decent quality for the price.
Coscelia 6-Piece Gel Polish Set
I put a lot of thought into which polish to buy. Out of all the brands I've selected during in-salon manicures, I've never found a discernible difference in quality when it comes to gel polish. After scoping out a variety of sets at various price points, I settled on the Coscelia 8 Colours Gel Nail Polish Set [10] (£7), which has four and a half stars and features several options for colour combinations. This set seemed very Autumn-friendly, and I can confirm that they're all very flattering in real life, too.
Mylee Nail Gel Polish Prep Wipe + Remover Cleanser
Think of the Mylee Nail Gel Polish Prep Wipe + Remover Cleanser [11] (£10) as the bookends to your manicure. You need the remover to take off your previous polish, and the cleanser is to swipe on after your topcoat. Your nails will be sticky even after you've cured your final coat under the UV lamp, so this will make them nice and shiny.
Nail Polish Remover Clips Set
Anyone who has ever attempted to remove their own gel polish knows the struggle of wrapping cotton balls and foil on each digit. This Nail Polish Remover Clips Set [12] (£7) comes with 20 clips and 500 cotton wipes to easily soak off your polish. You may feel like Edward Scissorhands, but it's better than dripping remover all over your lap.