Having your nails done can really boost your mood and confidence. It’s one of the smallest ways to consistently look and feel put together! That being said, going to the nail salon every other week adds up quickly. It started to get too expensive for me to keep up, plus I honestly didn’t love the experience. It was painful half the time, I didn’t want to pay extra to get a design, and I never found a nail tech that I was dying to work with again. I’ve been trying out Kiara Sky nails for a couple months now and it’s been an extra hobby that I really enjoy! It’s another form of self care where I’ll put aside one night to do my nails 🙂
A little disclaimer: I am not a nail tech. I taught myself how to do this so I’m not an expert, but it shows that anyone can have salon nails and do it yourself at home! It is definitely a process and not something you can do in 30 minutes. It also takes some time and multiple trial runs to get it right, but once you do, it is so worth it! Your nails are healthier, you can change the design whenever you want, and you save money while doing it. I really like the freedom that comes with doing your own nails and being able to take the time to make them exactly the way you want!
I’m using Kiara Sky Coffin Short gelly tips, but there are cheaper options that also have good reviews. I’ve linked both options as well as everything else pictured at the bottom of this post!
To start, this is everything that comes in the Kiara Sky kit: a flash cure light, the application set (prep, primer, builder, and top coat), and the nail kit with multiple sized nails for each one of your fingers.
To make the process quicker and easier, you also need a few more supplies: nail clippers, nail file, a bigger UV lamp, and gel polish. A few optional tools are a nail drill and cuticle oil. You can use a nail file instead of a nail drill wherever I mention/use the nail drill in this post, but I’ve found that the drill works better for me. I wasn’t able to get my nails to stay on more than a few days with only using the nail file. I also noticed it was very time consuming, and once I got the nail drill, it was so much easier. It is a little intimidating to use it at first, but it didn’t take long at all to get comfortable with it.
How To Apply Gel Nails
- Size your nails. I like to lay out the gelly tips in order of size to help keep track of each one and which finger it will go on.
2. File your nail to get rid of any shine. If you use the nail drill, keep light pressure against your natural nail. If you feel any heat, you’re pressing too hard and need to do it lighter. Make sure to get all the edges of your nails, but be careful as to not remove your cuticles. File your whole nail so that there is no shine.
3. File the inside of the gel tips. File the entire surface area of the tips that will touch your natural nail. Make sure there is no shine that will touch your natural nail. You also want to file the edges of the gelly tip so they’re thinner and mold more naturally to your natural nail. The photos below show how the gelly tip should look: no shine and thinner edges along the base of the nail.
4. Apply the Prep onto your natural nails. Let it dry completely.
5. Apply the Primer to your natural nails. Let it dry completely.
6. Apply the Builder to all five fingers on one hand.
7. Cure for 30 seconds using larger UV light.
8. Apply the builder to the inside of the gelly nails where you filed. This should be a thin layer, yet enough to cover the entire surface area that will touch your natural nail. If you use too much, the builder will spill out during the next step. If you use too little, the gelly tips won’t stay on your nail.
9. Apply the gelly tips to your natural nails, and cure them under the Kiara Sky cure light for 5-10 seconds. Start the application with the base of the nail and continue to add pressure to the tips until the whole gelly tip is in contact with the natural nail. Holding the pressure and ensuring there are no air bubbles in between the gelly tip and natural nail, place both under the light until cured. Move the finger with the now adhered gelly tip from side to side under the light to make sure both sides of the gelly tip are cured.
10. Once a full hand has the gelly tips, cure under the UV lamp for 30 seconds.
11. Trim and file nails to desired length.
12. File the entire surface of the gelly tips and get rid of any shine.
13. Time to paint! Use whatever gel color you want and cure it based on its instructions. I usually cure each layer for 1 minute before applying another. I ended up finding a design on Pinterest and tried to recreate it, and I think it came out pretty good! This was my first time trying out a design (I usually just go for a plain white nail) and it was way easier than I anticipated. I’m excited to try something different for next time 🙂
14. Apply the Top Coat and cure for 1 minute! Although I like to do 2 minutes just in case. I also apply the gelly tips and paint one hand completely before I do my other hand.
And that’s it! I hope that was helpful if you decide to try them out! It does take a few tries to get the hang of it so if you try it and don’t love how they come out the first time, try again! I really look forward to doing my own nails now and making a night of it.
I mentioned on Friday’s post that I wanted to do my normal posting schedule this week, but I completely forgot about Thanksgiving. I’ll be taking off the rest of this week to spend time with family coming in town, but I will be back next week with the regular posting schedule! I hope you have a happy happy Thanksgiving!!
xo Carolynn
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