Today I have a brand of UV gel polish to share with you plus a quick review. I'm not sure how popular this brand, Bio Seaweed Gel is, but I know they do have stand alone salon/spas and I have seen the polishes themselves for sale at my local beauty supply.
Here are some reasons why I have always wanted to try DIY gel nails:
- they keep your natural nails stronger
- long wear of polish
- prevents staining
- helps short nails grow out
I had already done a gel mani on my toes and it wore pretty well. The true test is on the finger nails since they are put through more daily than toes. I applied one coat of base, cured for one minute with my Kiss LED UV lamp, then applied my top coat and cured for another minute. The result was strong wet shine nails!
After everything was cured I preceeded to apply my regular polish on top (Layla, Mercury Twilight). These photos are actually after a week of wear. I basically used the gel as a base for my regular manicures, that way I don't have to use a base coat. This was after removal of the first manicure, Mercury Twilight, with non acetone polish remover. Looks like I just applied them, right? There is a tiny bit of growth visable at the cuticle.
So on to the second week, I applied another polish on top and half way through the week I started picking at it, I thought I was picking at the regular polish on top, but I was picking at the gel too, not so good. I though I could cover it up with a third mani...
I was wrong lol, oh well!.
Removal wasn't too bad, what worked best for me was the foil method with pure acetone. Once I removed the foil the polish didn't just wipe away (maybe I needed to leave it longer? It kind of crumbled and I used an orange wood stick and nail file to pick and file the rest away. Is this normal? Maybe it is just this brand but I have never heard if this before.
I am looking forward to trying this out again very soon, I am taking a trip to Punta Cana next month and want my polish to last since I will not be bringing any with me. Another review on wear to come when I get back.
Yes it's normal to use an orange stick to gently push the gel off, be careful not to scrape and damage your nails. It also helps to lightly file the shiny surface before soaking. I haven't tried this brand but I believe it's Canadian. Just a word of caution though since you have an LED lamp - make sure any soak off polishes you buy are LED curable. Some brands like Shellac are not.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips :) Do you know any other brands of gel polish that are not LED curable?
DeleteYes ditto the fact that you want to make sure it is LED curable. Also want to ensure that you cure well enough between the layers. You also want to make sure that you dehydrate the nail with alcohol (usually there is a dehydrating bottle, but...I don't use it). Those two things seem to be the biggest issues when your SOG starts peeling sooner than two weeks.
ReplyDeleteAlso, did the Bioseaweed say it needs to be sured for a minute? The chipping could have been due to over curing. Which I personally do cause undercuring is rather harmful for us. But Just wanted to know~
Otherwise I do love the SOG manicure. I have been doing what you are doing as well. Using it as a base coat idea, rather than a full mani. That way my nails don't break as easily~ DEfinitely a life saver in that area :)
The gel lasted for two full manicures, the last photo I showed was under Too Yacht to Handle, my third manicure! So I am pretty happy with the results. I was just lazy ad hoping that the chipped gel I picked at would not show under another mani, unfortunately it did lol
DeleteI used the Bio Seaweed polish but got some drops and smears on my fingers. How to I remove those???
ReplyDelete