Gel Manicures At Home

Style

May 1

I haven’t seen my naked nails for more than the hour between polish changes in I don’t know how long. My mother passed on this trait from her mother to my sister and me: we pretty much always have our nails painted.

I used to want to grow up to be the person who named polish colors. In part, it’s a fun femme expression for me when I otherwise have to keep my nails short for music. My natural nails have become brittle and striated in the past few years, so keeping it colorful helps me feel a little more put together. Colors and patterns and gems. But when it chips, it bothers me. So much.

Enter: gel polish.

It’s a little more expensive and a good bit more time-consuming than regular polish, but it’s chip-resistant and has a lacquered finish closer to acrylic nails than to standard polish.

After researching any side-effects of the UV light (it turns out the data isn’t much nor is it conclusive regarding any cancer risk increase), I went online, got myself a starter kit, and haven’t looked back. I’ve tried several brands of polish and this is by far my favorite.

I like to change up my nails about once every 10 days and of course I have gotten back into nail art with the zillion tiny brushes I have.