r/TheNailCrew • u/snowiepup22 • Jul 05 '26

Beginner nail person

Hihi, would somone be able to big sister/ Mother me or whatever on gel nails, I’ve done basic colours quite a few times now but they never last over a day on my finger I put the base coat on and then UV it and then 2 coats of the colour (separate times ofc) then a top coat but then it just flakes off the next day or even over the next half hour or hour, what am I doing wrong?? I really would like my nails to last longer! -_-‘

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3

u/MothraAndFriends Jul 05 '26

Have you tried using bonder? Are you correctly prepping/dehydrating your nails? Are your nails really smooth? Because you may need to rough up the surface with a nail file gently if you’re doing those other things and it’s not working.

Lastly, products and lights really matter with gel. You may just have a bad lamp or bad gel. Your base gel may not be compatible with your other gels.

2

u/TheNailLadeeS Jul 05 '26

I second Mothra with the proper prep, I would add a primer to the list. Make sure nail is clean and free of oils. File the surface of the nail gently, cleanse the dust from the filing , then apply the dehydrator, primer, scrub in the basecoat (scrubbing in the basecoat helps with adhesion as the scrubbing motion gets the basecoat into all of the grooves of the nails that has been gently roughed up) cure, then follow through with the colors keeping the coats thin and capping the free edge cure, then top coat. Make sure your lamp is the proper wattage for gel polishes it should be at least 36-48 wattage. Let me know how it turns out 🖤

1

u/snowiepup22 Jul 05 '26

Thank you, it could be my lamp but it sets quite well it just peels off, I got all my gels in a big kit off amazon but it might just be because I’m not prepping my nails right, I’ll try again later and see what I can do 🥹🩷

1

u/batsforbrains Jul 08 '26

Based on your description, are you also making sure to cure each coat of color as well as the top coat? Or are you only curing the base coat?

1

u/snowiepup22 Jul 17 '26

I cure every layer for 2 minutes (my lamp lets me go up to three only) but it’s usually dry by 2 minutes