OPI Gelcolor

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#496
diram said:
Thanks for the tip on "warming" the polish first! I will try that next time.
I did shake the polish before using. I'm almost tempted to buy that "shaker", but at $100, I'll have to wait a bit.

Thanks again!
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The Izen Pro Shaker must have gone up in price :( I bought it and it's CHANGED my life...considering I do my own nails, my mom, sister, niece and host of other people. :) Even if it was just us two, I'd still buy it b/c it's a lifesaver with my arm and the quality of the polish.
 
#497
cilucia said:
Two newbie questions:

1. Can you use RNP over OPI GelColor base & topcoat and safely remove with non-acetone remover? I read that you cannot do this with Shellac because even non-acetone remover will start to remove it, and since I read OPI GelColor is even easier to remove than Shellac, I'm wondering if it's the same situation.

2. How difficult is it to remove the combination of OPI GelColor base and Gelish Topcoat? Is removal difficulty tied to the base coat used only or the combination of base and top?

Thanks!
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I, personally, am not a fan of using RNP as a coat. I do use it for stamping and accent lines, and then top with a top coat.

As far as GelColor base and Gelish top coat - that's the exact thing I do :) It hasn't changed removal at all for me. And I ten to use a wide variety of gel polish brands for colors. I do, although, use the Expert Lacquer remover from OPI with the foils, gloves and then use warming mitts to help add heat for easier removal.
 
#498
cilucia said:
Thank you for your thorough response! I think I will jump in with the OPI GelColor system, and play with various brands for colors and topcoats, later on :) I'm excited! Just need to find a reputable place to buy everything now!
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I'm not sure what brands you're looking to purchase, but here's a few of my favorite places for the IBD Just Gel line ($6) and OPI GelColor (only $13) & Gelish ($10): http://nailsupply247.com/ibd-just-gel-polishes Two other brands that I like and can find for $7 or under is EZFlow TruGel (watch out for dupes with IBD) and Ink by Glam & Glitz. And as an FYI, I've placed several orders with this site and have had no issues. Everything is authentic.

These tend to be the majority of my polishes, although I started off with OPI GelColor as my first main stay. :)

Personally, I stick with the OPI GelColor base and have used the top coat, but switched to Gelish b/c of issues I was having with stamping, but it's not b/c of the top coat I've come to find.
 
#499
CindyLeigh said:
I'm not sure what brands you're looking to purchase, but here's a few of my favorite places for the IBD Just Gel line ($6) and OPI GelColor (only $13) & Gelish ($10): http://nailsupply247.com/ibd-just-gel-polishes Two other brands that I like and can find for $7 or under is EZFlow TruGel (watch out for dupes with IBD) and Ink by Glam & Glitz. And as an FYI, I've placed several orders with this site and have had no issues. Everything is authentic.

These tend to be the majority of my polishes, although I started off with OPI GelColor as my first main stay. :)

Personally, I stick with the OPI GelColor base and have used the top coat, but switched to Gelish b/c of issues I was having with stamping, but it's not b/c of the top coat I've come to find.
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Thank you so much! Wow there are so many colours in the IBD line O_O I WANTS THEM ALL!
 
#500
#502
DellaDog & Cindy!
Thanks for your comments regarding the np shakers! I think I will invest in one of them!


Cilucia,
Are you the same "cilucia" from MUA nail board? If so, *waves*!

Regarding rnp over OPI Gelcolor, I did just this the other day. I had a Gelcolor mani, and after a week or so decided to use OPI rnp in AmazOn AmazOff. The removal of rnp shade AA with NON acetone remover left my Gelcolor mani pretty much intact. If anything, it was perhaps just a tiny tiny bit less shiny than before. I was told by another member here that I could refresh the Gelcolor by applying another coat of OPI Gelcolor Topcoat though. I will try that next time.
 
#503
CindyLeigh said:
Also, in the event that you're not familiar with these blogs, thought I'd pass them along as they have lots of swatches:

http://www.chickettes.com/ - she's planning to swatch the new IBD colors I just mentioned above.
http://www.manictalons.com/p/blog-page.html
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Awesome, just added about 10 nail polishes to my wishlist LOL. I am looking at the colours thinking "That looks like Essie Chinchilly, that one looks like..." since I'm probably going to try and dupe my faves from my RNP collection (that has gone through multiple purges and survived!). Thanks again for all the helpful links!!
 
#504
diram said:
DellaDog & Cindy!
Thanks for your comments regarding the np shakers! I think I will invest in one of them!


Cilucia,
Are you the same "cilucia" from MUA nail board? If so, *waves*!

Regarding rnp over OPI Gelcolor, I did just this the other day. I had a Gelcolor mani, and after a week or so decided to use OPI rnp in AmazOn AmazOff. The removal of rnp shade AA with NON acetone remover left my Gelcolor mani pretty much intact. If anything, it was perhaps just a tiny tiny bit less shiny than before. I was told by another member here that I could refresh the Gelcolor by applying another coat of OPI Gelcolor Topcoat though. I will try that next time.
Click to expand...

Hello! Yes, I am! I think I cooled off on nail polish for a while, but having recently gotten my first gel mani at a salon, I think I'm hooked again :) Although I don't think I'll ever have the time again to swatch polishes for my blog (booo work).

Thanks for sharing your experience w/ RNP over OPI GelColor. I am feeling very good about my decision to drop ~$300 this weekend, LOL. Very exciting!
 
#505
cilucia said:
Hello! Yes, I am! I think I cooled off on nail polish for a while, but having recently gotten my first gel mani at a salon, I think I'm hooked again :) Although I don't think I'll ever have the time again to swatch polishes for my blog (booo work).

Thanks for sharing your experience w/ RNP over OPI GelColor. I am feeling very good about my decision to drop ~$300 this weekend, LOL. Very exciting!
Click to expand...

Cilucia,
Oh shoot! lol
That was going to be my next question to you -- When will you be adding your usually gorgeous swatches of now GEL polishes to your blog??? lol

I know what you mean about getting hooked on the gel polishes. Same. I have well over 350 (prob over 400!) rnp and now that I've tried gels, I don't want to deal with rnp anymore (except to layer over the gels, as you mentioned earlier). It's just so great to be able to have a polish last for 2 WEEKS! I was sold. I swore I would not go on buying crazes with gels, but I'm already up to 20 in just a few weeks.

The gals here are super helpful!
I started off with a MallyBeauty gel polish system and soon upgraded to the OPI LED lamp (after reading through this forum). I LOVE the OPI lamp! I found the Gelcolor polishes to be a bit on the thick side, but a member here suggested warming the bottle of polish first (in a bit of warm water), and to also shake the bottles (I'm getting a polish shaker -- see message to me above on this thread page).

Glad to see a fellow np addict here! lol Have FUN with the gel polishes. I am in polish-wearing heaven now with the gels. No more chips, peeling, etc and I no longer have to fear water- wear. :)
 
#506
cilucia said:
Awesome, just added about 10 nail polishes to my wishlist LOL. I am looking at the colours thinking "That looks like Essie Chinchilly, that one looks like..." since I'm probably going to try and dupe my faves from my RNP collection (that has gone through multiple purges and survived!). Thanks again for all the helpful links!!
Click to expand...

Before you do all that, you might want to take a look at a couple of products that might make this easier – Gellit and Megamix. Both of these products claim to be able to make a gel polish out of a regular rnp. Megamix claims much more, that you can mix any pigment/glitter/rnp to create a gel polish, but it is currently only available in the UK (I was able to get some in my travels). I've just started to use it, and it works great. Megamix has been getting stellar reviews on SG. I have not tried Gellit.

Here's some info on them:

http://www.gellit.com

http://www.megamixnails.com

http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/...el-polish-colours-eyeshadows-nail-polish.html
 
#507
diram said:
Cilucia,
Oh shoot! lol
That was going to be my next question to you -- When will you be adding your usually gorgeous swatches of now GEL polishes to your blog??? lol

I know what you mean about getting hooked on the gel polishes. Same. I have well over 350 (prob over 400!) rnp and now that I've tried gels, I don't want to deal with rnp anymore (except to layer over the gels, as you mentioned earlier). It's just so great to be able to have a polish last for 2 WEEKS! I was sold. I swore I would not go on buying crazes with gels, but I'm already up to 20 in just a few weeks.

The gals here are super helpful!
I started off with a MallyBeauty gel polish system and soon upgraded to the OPI LED lamp (after reading through this forum). I LOVE the OPI lamp! I found the Gelcolor polishes to be a bit on the thick side, but a member here suggested warming the bottle of polish first (in a bit of warm water), and to also shake the bottles (I'm getting a polish shaker -- see message to me above on this thread page).

Glad to see a fellow np addict here! lol Have FUN with the gel polishes. I am in polish-wearing heaven now with the gels. No more chips, peeling, etc and I no longer have to fear water- wear. :)
Click to expand...

Do you mind if I asked where you purchased your OPI LED lamp from? I'm not sure where to buy from!

And yes, I am loving that my gel mani has lasted 2 weeks perfectly. I just haven't had time over the last year or so to do my nails a couple times a week anymore :/ I'm going to try and stick with a couple work-safe basic gel colours at first. If I need more fun colours, well, I'll be visiting my brother in San Jose in August, so I think a trip to US Nail Supply will be on the bucket list. LOL.
 
#508
cilucia said:
Hello! Yes, I am! I think I cooled off on nail polish for a while, but having recently gotten my first gel mani at a salon, I think I'm hooked again :) Although I don't think I'll ever have the time again to swatch polishes for my blog (booo work).

Thanks for sharing your experience w/ RNP over OPI GelColor. I am feeling very good about my decision to drop ~$300 this weekend, LOL. Very exciting!
Click to expand...

diram said:
Cilucia,
Oh shoot! lol
That was going to be my next question to you -- When will you be adding your usually gorgeous swatches of now GEL polishes to your blog??? lol

I know what you mean about getting hooked on the gel polishes. Same. I have well over 350 (prob over 400!) rnp and now that I've tried gels, I don't want to deal with rnp anymore (except to layer over the gels, as you mentioned earlier). It's just so great to be able to have a polish last for 2 WEEKS! I was sold. I swore I would not go on buying crazes with gels, but I'm already up to 20 in just a few weeks.

The gals here are super helpful!
I started off with a MallyBeauty gel polish system and soon upgraded to the OPI LED lamp (after reading through this forum). I LOVE the OPI lamp! I found the Gelcolor polishes to be a bit on the thick side, but a member here suggested warming the bottle of polish first (in a bit of warm water), and to also shake the bottles (I'm getting a polish shaker -- see message to me above on this thread page).

Glad to see a fellow np addict here! lol Have FUN with the gel polishes. I am in polish-wearing heaven now with the gels. No more chips, peeling, etc and I no longer have to fear water- wear. :)
Click to expand...
You two are absolutely cracking me up. I totally know the addiction you're falling quickly into. Haha. I'm a bit shocked when I realize I have 175 gel polishes - eek. But thankfully I didn't have that many RNP before I started :)

I will give you another thing to consider that I found on here: GLITTER! My mom loves it and I was more of a cream polish girl, so I found a great site that sells loose glitter, which is gorgeous and cheap! This can get "scrubbed" into your tacky layer of gel or you can make a glitter paste out of it with top coat - the uses are endless. http://shop.artsyfartsycrafts.com/

If that weren't enough, I'm not sure if you're into nail stamping or not, but it's also a great add to manis - and another addiction I have.
 
#509
cilucia said:
Do you mind if I asked where you purchased your OPI LED lamp from? I'm not sure where to buy from!

And yes, I am loving that my gel mani has lasted 2 weeks perfectly. I just haven't had time over the last year or so to do my nails a couple times a week anymore :/ I'm going to try and stick with a couple work-safe basic gel colours at first. If I need more fun colours, well, I'll be visiting my brother in San Jose in August, so I think a trip to US Nail Supply will be on the bucket list. LOL.
Click to expand...

I think this is a great price: http://www.amazon.com/OPI-Led-Lamp-False-Nails/dp/B006QXKIDY or this is an option as well. I'm sure there's lots of places: http://www.premiernailsource.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=9160
 
#510
NancyG said:
Before you do all that, you might want to take a look at a couple of products that might make this easier – Gellit and Megamix. Both of these products claim to be able to make a gel polish out of a regular rnp. Megamix claims much more, that you can mix any pigment/glitter/rnp to create a gel polish, but it is currently only available in the UK (I was able to get some in my travels). I've just started to use it, and it works great. Megamix has been getting stellar reviews on SG. I have not tried Gellit.

Here's some info on them:

http://www.gellit.com

http://www.megamixnails.com

http://www.salongeek.com/nail-geek/...el-polish-colours-eyeshadows-nail-polish.html
Click to expand...

Great idea Nancy! I've seen Gellit recently, but was already invested so didn't bother, but for a beginner, it's really worth checking out.
 
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