Affordable At-Home Gel Manicure Kit Review

I was really excited to order and try out the top-rated gel manicure kit from Amazon. After seeing my friend’s manicure where she used the kit, I felt confident enough to do my own gel mani’s at home! Best of all, this kit was super affordable at <$40 and it came with the UV light, a bunch of tools, 6 colors, base + top coats, and cuticle oil.

Beetles Gel Nail Polish Kit

It really helped to watch Youtube tutorials on how to do a gel manicure first. This was my process:

1. Push back cuticles
2. Buff nails
3. Apply nail dehydrator and primer
4. Base coat
5. Cure under UV light for 60 sec
6. Color coat
7. Cure under UV light for 60 sec
8. Repeat steps 6-7 two more times for a total of three sheer coats
9. Top coat
10. Cure under UV light for 60 - 120 sec
11. Apply cuticle oil

And then BOOM! Gel nails that look like salon-quality done!

This was my second application. I learned a couple of tips/things to watch out for from the first time:

• Do not let any of the gel nail polish - including base and top coats - to flood onto the skin. Once it’s cured under the light, it has hardened and is extremely difficult to remove. This means if you haven’t cured it under the light yet, the polish is not dry! Be very careful to not touch the wet polish!
• Wear sunscreen on hands before putting them under the light! I couldn’t believe that not a single beauty guru mentioned this on Youtube. I was worried about the time and intensity that my hands were stuck under the harmful UV rays. So I always apply this fantastic sunscreen on my hands (avoid the nails) before applying polish.
• Using a nail primer can increase the life of the manicure. I had my first manicure on for only a week before I got tired of it and removed it. But during that time the polish did not chip AT ALL, even without the ends capped.

I was so happy and excited with these results that I immediately ordered more colors. I felt that I would get the most use out of this nude color set.

Beetles Gel Polish Set on Amazon

If you’re unsure about using a UV light, you can also try traditional nail polish that looks like gel. For the longest time, I used these Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail polishes that also give nails a beautiful gel-like effect. The downside is they won’t last as long as a UV gel manicure.

Have you attempted at-home gel manicures? What tips or tricks would you recommend?

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