How to: The perfect at home gel mani

Ever since spring 2020, I’ve been doing gel manicures at home. what started out as adjusting to covid (and then when salons opened back up again, saving money) turned into one of my favorite self care things to do. Over the last 3 years of trial and error, I’ve finally figured out how to get the cleanest gel manicure at home! In this blog post, we'll go over what I learned.

Materials Needed

To do a gel manicure at home, you'll need the following materials:
  • Gel polish in your desired color
  • Base coat
  • Top coat
  • UV or LED lamp
  • Nail file
  • Cuticle pusher
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Cotton balls or pads


    • Steps

    1. Start by preparing your nails. Remove any old polish and file your nails to your desired shape. Use a cuticle pusher to gently push back your cuticles. The prep is the most important step. If you have oily nails, use an alcohol wipe to cleanse the surface and remove excess debris.
    2. Apply a thin layer of base coat to your nails. Be sure to cap the edges of your nails with the base coat to prevent chipping.
    3. Cure the base coat under your UV or LED lamp according to the instructions for your specific lamp. I typically cure it for 180 seconds but every polish is different!
    4. Apply a thin layer of your desired gel polish color to your nails. Again, cap the edges of your nails to prevent chipping.
    5. Cure the gel polish under your UV or LED lamp according to the instructions for your specific lamp.
    6. Apply a second coat of gel polish if desired, and cure again under your UV or LED lamp.
    7. Apply a thin layer of top coat to your nails, capping the edges as before.
    8. Cure the top coat under your UV or LED lamp.
    9. Use a cotton ball or pad soaked in rubbing alcohol to remove any sticky residue left on your nails.
    10. Apply cuticle oil and moisturizer! I tend to repeat this step daily. I find that keeping my cuticles healthy makes my polish last longer.