That at home manicure.

Working in the beauty industry I am itching to do hair and get back to my clients. These days feel like years and I know I’m not the only one. To all of you that get eyelash extensions, your nails done, and are regular 6-8 week hair appointment-ers..I understand everything you’re going though. Think of this time as a much needed rest time for your nails, lashes, and hair! If you have to do anything diy right now for the love that is all hair gods…DO NOT BUY A BOX COLOR OR ATTEMPT LASH EXTENSIONS! Nails though are fairly easy to do and super easy to fix!

I am not a big nail gal but I am in DESPERATE need for a manicure. I just need someone other than myself to give my cuticles a little love. You know? Pinterest has been wonderful for nail inspo at this time and I’ve been experimenting a little bit more than I ever have with nail products! I will be attempting a few nail designs over the next few weeks and as I figure them out I will add them to this to share!

gel nail strips

I think we all remember the Sally Hansen nail strips circa 2012. I used them and loved them! Well, now there are even more and Dashing Diva totally takes the lead with the gel strips. I know you all love these because they were a HUGE hit when I shared them in my stories. For under $10 you can get a full on glamicure (glam-manicure). Single color, multi, accent nails, jewel detail, sparkle…literally anything you could possibly imagine and they last up to two weeks just like gel!

Very easy to do with a ton of size options. My advice is to use acetone or a nail polish remover on your nails before application to dehydrate the nail and remove any unwanted oils.

gel nail manicure

That two week gel manicure is sooooo easy to achieve. Trust me when I say that if someone as nail painting challenged as me can do it…then you can too! The biggest thing you want to make sure you do when going into a gel manicure is to make sure you have time to do it and you have the patience to go slow and steady. Amazon has wonderful at home kits you can purchase with a cure light!

My biggest advice is to make sure you don’t get near the cuticle and to also cap your gel nails. Capping is making sure the polish is ran against the end of your nail for a longer lasting wear.

dip nails

Dip nails are what I’m currently wearing in the photo above! This is my fourth attempt at them and I made sure I had time to really focus on them. They turned out really good. I’m really impressed with how easy it is, but just like everything else, make sure you have the patience and time to focus on it. I can promise you that you will no be able to complete your nails on a 30 minute lunch break.

Dip nails require filing and buffing mid application. They also require many coats before the buffing and that was the part that I struggled with most. The dip kit I got has a base coat that dries so freaking quick and literally feels like nail glue. I learned the hard way and got it on my cuticles. I had to rip the whole nail off and do all the steps over again. The coats need to be thin or they’ll be noticeably uneven. Dips are not hard to do but definitely take the most patience and require the most attention. They don’t require a uv light and to get rid of any extra powder I used an old makeup brush!

Amazon is where I purchased my kit but do to everything going on right now Amazon is out of a lot of kits. I did my best to find ones for a good deal for you.

This post doesn’t contain affiliate links.

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xx-Kendra