Beautiful nails with or without a design are of great importance for women and indicate a well-groomed appearance. They contribute to the general appearance and strengthen self-confidence. Many ladies choose gel nails because they always look shiny and are a more permanent manicure choice. If you are looking for a more cost-effective alternative to going to the nail salon, then you have come to the right place. In the article we present ideas with instructions on how you can do gel nails yourself, what important steps you need to take into account and other helpful tips for elegant nail designs.
Interesting facts about gel nails
Gel nails are fingernails reinforced and beautified using technology, the top layer of which always looks shiny. A UV gel is applied to the nails, which hardens under UV light and significantly strengthens the fingernails after two or three repetitions. If you would like to do your gel nails yourself, then you should pay attention to a few important points so as not to damage your natural nails. You should shape your fingernails carefully and file them with a suitable file so that they do not become brittle. Hygiene must also be paid attention to and the nails should be treated with appropriate nail care.
Do it yourself or have it done at a nail salon?
If you have naturally discolored or brittle fingernails, you can deal with the problem by opting for gel nails. Now the question comes as to whether you should do your own gel nails at home or visit a nail salon instead. Actually, both options have their advantages - doing it yourself is the cheaper alternative, although visiting a specialist saves some time if the studio is not far away. You can also just sit back and let yourself be pampered.
If you still decide to do the DIY option, you can continue reading because we have summarized some tips and design ideas that can help you below. Find out what tools and steps you can take to achieve, with a little practice, the perfect nail design that everyone will be jealous of.
What do you need?
To make durable gel nails on your natural nails, you need the right equipment. There are different sets on the market that are suitable for either beginners or professionals. If you are a beginner with gel nails, then you need a starter set that only contains the most necessary equipment: a UV lamp, primer, cleaner, UV gel or gel polish in the form of a base coat, as well as a top coat and colored polish. The usual tools such as files, buffers and cuticle pushers are also necessary to do the manicure. Video instructions for artificial gel nails with French manicure and othersDIY designscan be found further down in the article.
French nails – elegant manicure for every occasion
The French fingernails combine beautifully with all kinds of clothing and can be worn both in everyday life and for festive occasions. The classic French manicure without decorations looks natural and you can easily do it yourself at home without having any special artistic skills, such as those required for some motifs and patterns. Maybe you've even done a French manicure with regular nail polish? Then you know that it really isn't difficult. In principle, the procedure for gel polish doesn't differ much from normal. Only roughening the nail surface and using the lamp make the difference.
Instructions
When doing gel nails yourself, the first thing you should always do is shape your fingernails with a file. You can choose either a square nail shape or a rounded one. This is purely a matter of taste. You should also remove or push back the cuticles and roughen the surface of the nails precisely with the buffer until it no longer shines. This rough surface ensures that the paint can adhere well. This is basically like sanding wood and then painting it. Then the fingernails are cleaned (there should be no greasy residues, as these prevent the gel from adhering well), painted with the base coat and held in the UV lamp so that it can dry and set. You have already completed the first steps. Curing in the lamp doesn't take nearly as long as with normal nail polish, which is of course another advantage over it.
A light UV color varnish is also applied and cured over the base coat. Next, the tips are painted white using the stencils and cured again. Then the stencils are removed, the top coat is applied and the nails are held under the LED light. Due to the heat that exists in the light, a so-called sweating layer appears on the surface of the nail, which should not scare you. This is completely normal. Finally, this layer of sweat is removed, for example with a nail polish remover, and the nails are treated with a cuticle oil to give them the care they need.
Video instructions: Make artificial gel nails yourself with tips
Do-it-yourself nail design with nail art brushes
If you want to decorate one or more nails, this should be done with the top coat before the final curing. Color gels and decorations such as glitter, rhinestones, stickers and the like can then be applied to the nails to create a beautiful nail design. You then fix all of this with the top coat, which not only secures colors for patterns and motifs, but also decorations underneath.
Who doesn't like red fingernails? They look elegant and are suitable for every season, but only if the nail polish looks fresh and is not already peeling off, which happens quickly with ordinary polish. Designs with strong colors in particular quickly lose their beauty and have to be renewed very often. Gel polish is best suited for perfect, long-lasting red nails. If you want to make red gel nails yourself, start again with the usual preparation of your fingernails. This guarantees that the gel will last longer on the nails.
Apply base coat, color coat and top coat
As a further step, the fingernails are painted with the base coat or the so-called base coat, which protects the natural nails from the following steps and influences and from the colored polish discoloring your nails, i.e. it represents a protective layer, so to speak. Only then is the colored varnish applied and finally covered with the top coat, which seals the color underneath. All of this has to be cured individually under the UV lamp and your perfect red nail design is ready! You can also use these steps for any other color.
The UV lamp is used between applications before each coat. Depending on the model and power of the lamp, the fingernails need between 60 and 120 seconds to harden. The UV light seals the UV gel or gel polish and ensures beautiful nails for up to two weeks. This is especially beneficial for women because they do a lot of household chores that ruin regular nail polish. For example, washing the dishes regularly is part of this. With gel polish, however, you will enjoy your manicure for a longer time.
To give your red gel nails the finishing touch, you should wipe away the sweat layer and treat the cuticles with oil. Don't worry if the first few attempts aren't perfect - if you always want beautiful gel nails, regular practice is very important. You will surely get the hang of it quickly and will soon have a lot of fun creating the manicure yourself.
Do your own gel nails without a UV lamp
Do you want to get the great gel look on your nails without a UV lamp? You can achieve the desired shiny effect with a nail polish or top coat with a gel look, but in this case the nail polish does not last as long as with UV light. So it really depends on what you ultimately want from your finished design.
Regardless of whether you use a UV lamp or not, you can create simple nail designs yourself without spending a lot of time. If you have artistic talent, you can create more elaborate and creative designs. Just give it a try and experiment. Maybe you even have a talent for it without ever knowing it! The idea above doesn't require much talent. On a light gel layer, a black accent is added in the form of a thin line in the area of the half moon.
Make your own gel nails with nail stickers
Would you like to do and decorate your gel nails yourself, but can't paint on your nails yourself with a brush? In this case, we recommend using nail stickers, which are simply stuck onto the fingernails and ultimately create a beautiful nail design. There are a variety of decorative elements that make your work easier and guarantee even beginners a beautiful design that is also much cheaper than in a nail salon.
For gel nails with nail stickers, you need the UV lamp and the appropriate varnish and tools to prepare the nails. At the beginning you start with the usual procedure: prepare your fingernails, paint them with the base coat and cure them. Make sure you have the stickers ready before you start painting so that you don't miss anything afterwards.
The next step is to apply the colored varnish and hold your fingers in the UV lamp. Only then are the nail stickers glued on, as they should be under the top coat so as not to be damaged by UV light. The sticker is cut out, held in water for a minute and then stuck to one or more nails of your choice. Then apply the top coat and let it harden again. So you can do a simple nail design for gel nails yourself in no time.
Beautiful nail ideas with glitter
If you like glitter fingernails, you can make sparkling gel nails yourself. The only difference from usual gel nails is that colored varnish was used. However, you can get the effect with glitter powder and make eye-catching designs like ombre with glitter yourself. It is also said again that “the best thing to try is to study”. Instructions can of course be of great help to you when experimenting and practicing. However, nothing stops you from trying something of your own.
