IBD Soak Off Gel Nails - The Right Way

Okay so after about a week of first putting on my IBD soak off gels I had a few incidents (listed in my other posts) about tips coming off and nails cracking etc. etc.

After doing much research and having to re-glue my tips and then having the gel crack and lift I realized I was putting it on waaayyyy too thin.

Gel nails are absolutely not supposed to be thin. They don't need to be anywhere near as thick as Acrylics usually are but they do need some thickness.

I hated how thick Acrylics were, I found it hard to use my fingers the way I needed to with super thick nails. 

I found a perfect thickness for the gels and they turned out absolutely beautiful.

This is Day 2 of these thicker nails: 

As you can see they are not super thick but thick enough that they have some stability.

If you make them too thin, they will crack.  

Here's the steps I took to get these nails:

1. Make sure your nails are clean and free of any oils.

2. After finding the right size of tips for each finger buff out your natural nail with a buffer block. This removes any shine or oil.

3. Clean off nail with nail cleanser or rubbing alcohol and using good nail glue (I use Bliss Pro from Sally's) apply the nail tips, cut, and file.

4. After filing clean the nail one more time to remove any dust or debris. Then use a dehydrate on your nail, let dry for 3 or 4 secs, and apply bonder/primer (thin coat). And cure under an LED for 30 seconds.

5. Apply the first thin coat of gel (IBD clear gel is what I was using although I would like to start using the builder gel for a thicker consistency). Start at the top middle of your nail because the gel will run. So stay a little ways away from the edges to avoid gel getting on the skin and wait to see how far it runs before extending to the side. Keep this gel coat thin. Cure for 30 secs.

6. Apply a second, thick coat of gel. Again start at the top middle of your nail. Do not pad the gel. You are litterally just 'floating' the gel on the nail. It's not like Acrylics where you pad it flat. You are just guiding the gel onto your nail and it will run a little and level out. Anytime you add more gel add it to the middle of your nail and go from there. Do not let any part of the gel be too thin...especially on the sides - that will cause lifting. Once you have a nice thick coat on your nail place you hands upside down which will allow the gel to float to the middle and give you nail a nice rounded shape. Do this until you are happy with the shape and cure for 30 seconds - If you do not plan to add anymore gel then cure for 1-2 mins.

7. Check your nails and add gel to the spots that might not be quite leveled out. However many coats you put on just remember to cure for 1-2 mins on the last coat.

8. Do Not Wipe Your Nails Clean. I use Sensationail Transparent Gel Top & Basecoat because I've had problems with the IBD Intense Seal cracking but it might have been because the gel was way too thin. But the Sensationail Gel looks just as shiny and good so after your last coat of gel is cured apply gel top coat and cure for 1 min.

Wipe your nails with rubbing alcohol to remove the wet layer and Voila!! Beautiful salon nails at home. 

I will keep everyone updated on how long these last but I've been very hard on them today. I was washing dishes and doing laundry and other house chores and I haven't had any tips pop off or any lifting or anything. They still look brand new.

The hardest part about this process is learning to work with the gel so it doesn't seep onto the sides of your nail or be to thin or thick in some parts. The IBD gel is very easy to work with, it self-levels but I do find it a bit runny. I did read somewhere if you place it in a cooler area then it's easier to work with but the builder gel is suppose to have a bit thicker consistency so I ordered that and I'm anxious to see how much different it is than the clear gel.

Will keep everyone updated!!

~Gwen S~

IBD Gel Nails Day 4 & 5

Yesterday on of my tips came off, as mentioned in an earlier post. So today I quickly re-did the nail before work since it's such a quick process :)

The nails on my right hand are not looking too good right now. My right hand is getting a significant amount of lifting and cracking....so that's no good.

My left hand looks pretty good though...so I'm trying to figure out what I did wrong. One of the nails on the right hand that has the worst lifting and cracking is because the nail tip lifted when I was using weak drugstore brand glue and instead of redoing it all over I just glued the tip back on so I believe that's why that one is so messed up.

I think I also might've done a messier job on my right hand (because I'm right handed) and maybe I got a lot of the product on my skin which will cause lifting.

I will try and get some pics in tomorrow of my nails in their current state. With the new nail I put on today I cured it in less time. I'm using my LED instead of a UV and LED's cure much faster. I was thinking maybe I over-cured the bonder if that's at all possible so the gel wasn't sticking to it properly.

Anyway we'll see if it makes a difference. Once I get my UV lamp in I'll also test the LED vs UV and see if that makes a difference.

~Gwen S~

HTML 5 Canvas Slideshow Problems

Okay now into the design part of this site...I'm a Web Designer and I do Video/Audio Post-production as well....

If you have a chance please checkout my website www.gsmithdesigns.com to see the game I made with HTML 5 Canvas and Javascript and my video I put together in AE.

I also have an HTML 5 Canvas slideshow in my header of each page and I've always noticed that when one picture fades...you can still see it when the next one comes up.

Just yesterday I was trying to implement this slideshow for a client's website and the images were png's with text and no background and this problem was really, really obvious. Actually I couldn't even read what the text was because all of the previous texts were still there and it all mashed together.

I have an idea of why this happens...the canvas is a drawing board and you can't 'erase' the picture...only draw over it. But I'm not entirely sure how to solve it or if it can be solved.

If I find a solution then I will post it up but if someone else has a solution please comment and let me know...I'm very curious.

~Gwen S~

www.gsmithdesigns.com

IBD Nails Day 1, 2, & 3

Day 3 IBD Gel Nails Pic

My nails looked great after I finished them I was very pleased. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of my nails first done but I do have pics for Day 3.

The process was EXTREMELY simple. I'm actually quite surprised how simple it was to do my nails with the right tools.

First thing was buffing the tops of my nails with a buffer block (which gets rid of shine and dehydrates the nail) and then cleaning my nails with rubbing alcohol.

I made the mistake of first using drugstore nail glue (KISS) for my nail tips. Before you do any of this make sure you have good glue! I lost a tip the second day and that made the gel crack and created air spaces.

Anyways, after applying all of the nail tips to my nails I cut them using a nail cutter specifically for tips. Then you file down the corners a little bit until your nails are shaped the way you want them to be.

Then wipe I wiped my nails off again with rubbing alcohol to clean away the dust and get rid of any oil that might have gotten on my nails in the process.

I applied a thin coat of IBD bonder/primer all over each nail and cured in an LED lamp for 1 min.

I should mention, although it says to use a UV lamp in the instructions I was curious to try out my Sensationail LED Lamp because my UV lamp had not arrived yet. As far as I can tell it works perfectly.

I will try using the LED and the UV (one on each hand) next time and see if it makes a difference with how long the gel lasts.

From what I've read, LED lights are stronger and therefore faster at curing. I did a lot of research on UV vs LED and I really couldn't find a lot on the topic so I will experiment with both and maybe save some of you the hassle of having two lights for different products.

Anyway after curing the bonder/primer, I applied a thin layer of clear gel and cured that for 1 min. I then applied another coat of gel and cured that for 3 mins.

The last part of this was applying the Intense Seal to add shine and smooth out the top. I cured that for 2 mins.

That whole process is surprisingly quick I was very impressed. Especially since I'm use to having to take 4 hrs out of my day to get the perfect salon nails at home from lightless UV kits from the drugstore (that look good for about 3 days)...never again!!

Day 2

Lost 2 tips because the glue didn't hold well....so I went to Sally's and bought better glue.

Day 3

Tips were fine, noticed some lifting in the corners which I think is due to my own fault of getting a bit of the gel on my skin. Very minor though. Also noticed some cracks in either the top coat or gel itself...other people wouldn't notice it because they are hair pin cracks but I could see them and it bugs me....

See the lifting in the corner??

Day 4

Lost a tip that had the old glue on it... I did put the new glue underneath all of my other nails but that can only do so much....so now I need to redo that nail with the new glue.

That's as far as my journey has gone so far....

I really want to try the 'builder' gel which I've already ordered. The soak-off clear gel has a thinner consistency than the builder gel from what I've seen on tutorials.

If you have naturally uneven nail surfaces, such as I do, with little dips and whatnot, I would recommend trying the builder gel. It's suppose to be self-leveling and be a little thicker.

Once I get that in I will post the results.

Hope this was helpful and if you have any questions just post them up!

~Gwen S~

IBD Nail Products For Doing Your Nails at Home

Here are the IBD nail products I purchased off Ebay. I meant to order the 'Soak-Off Clear Builder Gel' but the shipper sent me the 'Soak-Off Clear Gel'. They are different in consistency so I ordered the builder gel as well and I'm still waiting for it to come in.

The products I purchased is the IBD bonder/primer, IBD soak-off remover, IBD Intense seal, IBD soak-off clear gel, and also an IBD #6 flat brush that is not in this picture. You will also need a curing lamp.

Currently I'm on Day 4 of my IBD nails and I've lost a tip because I was using KISS glue, which is just not as strong as other glues. Unlike Acrylic, gel will NOT keep your nail tip from coming off so it is definitely worth it to go to a beauty store and purchase 'salon grade' glue.

Some other things that will come in handy in the future would be a metal cuticle pusher, electric nail file, a block buffer, a nail tip cutter, and a 100/180 grit nail file which is good for filing down artificial nails.

~Gwen S~

Salon Acrylic Nails with Gel Overlay

I finally decided to go get my nails done at a Salon with one of my gf's for her birthday. We went to a place called 'Studio Nails'. The people were friendly and it took maybe a total of a half hour or a little less to get our nails done.

While I've decided I don't really like Acrylic Nails, I value the experience there because just watching them was a learning experience on how I might do this at home.

Here is how my nails turned out. I was pretty happy with them.

This wasn't a cheap trip. The total cost was about $70. The nail tech started by filing the tops of my nails down then gluing on the tips. I can't remember if she used a bonder/primer before applying the acrylic or not but anyways she applied a few layers of acrylic, cured in the lamp, then filed that down to even them out using an electric nail drill/file, then applied the gems and white nail polish and finished with a top coat of gel overlay also cured in a lamp.

A couple of my gems fell out after 4 or 5 days but other than that the nails were very sturdy and lasted a total of 4 weeks before I decided to remove the acrylic completely.

Now they say you go to get a fill-in every 3-4 weeks ($35), but that's not true. Both me and my gf needed a fills after 2 weeks. You can imagine how expensive that is then for the upkeep of salon nails....and I also like to change up my nails, I get bored of the same thing after a week or two so if you're like me and like to change your nails then acrylics are not the nails for you.

I removed them using the process I explained in my previous post. My nails underneath were thin and a bit stained. I've also heard horror stories about unsanitized nail tools at salons that promote nail fungus and other infections...so that scared me off a bit from the salon as well.

Anyway that's when I started doing research on gel and whats available and I ran into IBD soak-off nail products which I will explain in my next posts. I'm still in the process of testing out my IBD nails so keep following along!!

~Gwen S~

IBD Gel Soak-Off Nails...Follow Along

Through the next week or weeks I will post everyday on how my IBD nails are doing. After watching a tutorial on Youtube that used IBD soak-off gel I decided to give this a go. I discovered you can purchase salon brand nail products from Sally's Beauty Supply or other beauty supply stores or one of my favorite places to purchase things - Ebay.

After doing some research on the IBD nail products, I went on Ebay and bought IBD soak-off clear gel, IBD gel remover, IBD bonder/primer, IBD intense seal, and and IBD nail brush. This all costed me around $40...so not too bad. And all of this will last awhile so in the end its actually very cheap.

I will talk more about this tomorrow, along with LED vs UV light which is another experiment I'm throwing into the mix.

I'll start posting pictures so you can see my process as well. Currently I'm on Day 2 of IBD nails and so far so good... :)

Talk to you all tomorrow!

~Gwen S~