Nail Polish

Make Your Own Gel Nail Cleanser

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Who doesn’t like saving money? Paring back on the products you buy saves you money and reduces the things you need to store. So stop paying for products like CND Scrubfresh or Gelish Nail Surface cleanser and make your own gel nail cleanser.

It’s Easy to Make Your Own Gel Nail Cleanser

If you do your own gel polish or gel nails, you probably already have the two key ingredients of gel nail cleanser on hand.

I’ve written about this before: all you need are acetone and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) at either 70% or 91%. Mix them 1:1 in a well-ventilated area. If you’re making more than you need for that manicure, store it in a tightly-sealed container, LABEL IT, and stash it in a safe place.

I give mine a shake before using it, then apply to a lint-free cotton wipe to:

  • Prep nails before application
  • Remove the dispersion layer (the tacky/sticky layer) after your final cure

Pricing it Out

When you consider that the average going rate for gel nail cleansers available to consumers is $2.00-2.50 per ounce, it’s easy to see why you might want to make your own gel nail cleanser.

A quick search of the latest prices shows that I can get16oz of acetone for $3 and 16oz of isopropyl alcohol for $3 locally from Wal-Mart. That works out to just $0.38 per ounce if you DIY it. At the high end, that’s an 84% savings!

Even if you need to spend more getting it from Amazon at about $6 for alcohol and $8 for acetone, it works out to $0.88 per ounce, or a 65% savings.

The Bottom Line

Why buy (comparatively) expensive, inexplicably dyed products when you can make your own gel nail cleanser? Whether you want to save more money in general or have more of your nail/hobby budget to go to polishes, there’s little reason not to.

Manicure Monday: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

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Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

It has come to my attention that I have erred egregiously. Somehow, in spite of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat being my main top coat squeeze for a decade, I have never written about it specifically.

Here’s the skinny.

Simply put, Seche Vite is my holy grail top coat. It has been forever, even back in my nail art and paint my nails every-other-day years. I don’t often paint my nails with classic polish formulas (preferring gel for manicures instead), but I use this for pedicures and the rare regular polish manicure.

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Manicure Monday – 3/25/19 – Craving Some Color Haul

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Craving Some Color HaulCraving Some Color Haul

For a while I’ve been in neutral. My manicures, anyway. And I love them. They are chic, effortless, professional, and pretty. They’re still what I reach for the most because they just feel right to me. They’re low-effort but high-polish. My toes were unwaveringly in shades of red since June. I love red, period.

It was winter. It was dreary. On a lark, I did a pedicure at the beginning of January with Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue. For fun. For a shred of liveliness in January. I didn’t intend a matching manicure, but as I executed the pedi I was so thrilled with how it came out that I had to do my nails that way too (using Sensationail Polish to Gel because I can’t be bothered with RnP on my fingers these days). I used to wear a ton of color, used to have a gigantic polish collection that I gradually started to pare back when I started using gel polish.

Inspiration

The two weeks I wore that magnificent blue pearl made me realize I missed having some color in my life. Or at least on my toes and very occasionally (I still try to pretend to be quasi-professional most of the time) my nails. I spent more time than I care to admit (cough, hours and hours) looking at and fawning over swatches. I ultimately purchased five bottles of (regular formula, gasp) polish; I’m calling it my Craving Some Color Haul:

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Manicure Monday – 2/18/19 – China Glaze Gelaze Shocking Pink

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China Glaze Gelaze Shocking Pink
China Glaze Gelaze Shocking Pink

This short-but-sweet Manicure Monday post features China Glaze Gelaze Shocking Pink. This week’s manicure actually went on the day before Valentine’s Day. I didn’t quite get two weeks out of my previous manicure, to my chagrin.

This bright, neon pink is more than I’d typically don on my fingers these days – but what the hell? It looks super neat under the lamp as it cures. It is bright and lively, and we could all use a little more of that.

So far, nearly a week in, it looks great and I have no expectations of premature lift. It’s no original formula Flip Flop Fantasy, but China Glaze Gelaze Shocking Pink is damn fun nonetheless.

You can get China Glaze Gelaze Shocking Pink here, or it regular polish version here.

Pedicure Details

As for my toes, I took a break from the brights and donned ol’ faithful, Red Hot Rio today. So… basically I have an inverse Valentine’s-appropriate mani-pedi combo, also unintentional. WTF.

Manicure Monday – 1/21/19 – Gelaze Exceptionally Gifted

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China Glaze Glaze Exceptionally GiftedChina Glaze Glaze Exceptionally Gifted

After two weeks of blue, I’m back in the realm of neutral-ish on my fingers. This soft pink with metallic pearl is feminine and flattering on me. While it isn’t remotely a dupe for my loved-and-lost Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds polish of yore, it is probably the closest I’ve come in a gel formula.

Gel versions of colors that already exist in lines tend to differ slightly, but this time, the difference is nice. Swatches of the classic formula, though, would deter me from purchase. Gelaze Exceptionally Gifted, however, is quite nice! Reviews indicate that the classic formula is very chip-prone, but I’ve never had an issue with the wear of the Gelaze polishes.

Frankly, my application was shoddy – I did it late in the evening while watching TV (usually I’m fully absorbed in manicure-land), so I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get two weeks out of it. Knowing I did a lousy job, I’ll be happy with one.

Bonus Pedicure

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