OPI Gelcolor
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Actually, you can use any gel polishes but if that polish is UV cure only, then you must use the UV light, not your LED. For example, you can use your Gelshine base and a LeChat color, but you'd have to cure it in a UV not LED. Gelshine will cure in either a UV or an LED lamp.
Yup, what Nancy said is correct. I was just thinking you had the light that came with the "system", which is an LED.
If you have a lamp with compact fluorescent UV bulbs you need to cure for 2 minutes is all.
Question,
Anyone here get their OPI from eBay? I see plenty of sellers, but keep seeing warnings that if you buy from China and such it could be a fake.
Also, I see people say that Gelish base/top is much harder to soak off than OPI. I know many will say don't mix brands, but I'm wondering has anyone used OPI's base/top and then the actual color be Gelish or another brand?
I'm leaning towards OPI because that is who 99% of my RNP's are- I love love love their colors. I get tons of compliments when I wear OPI. I tried CND, but it does not hold up well for me. Plus, even though soak off was relatively quick, it just seemed to not really come off. I had to use a scraper.
I'm thinking of purchasing the kit from Sephora, and using gelcolor colors with it since there are more of them and I think they are probably close to the same formula anyway. I can't easily get many of the colors in my area without a liscense (unless I want to pay $30 a bottle) so it will probably be eBay and Amazon for me.....
Anyone here get their OPI from eBay? I see plenty of sellers, but keep seeing warnings that if you buy from China and such it could be a fake.
Also, I see people say that Gelish base/top is much harder to soak off than OPI. I know many will say don't mix brands, but I'm wondering has anyone used OPI's base/top and then the actual color be Gelish or another brand?
I'm leaning towards OPI because that is who 99% of my RNP's are- I love love love their colors. I get tons of compliments when I wear OPI. I tried CND, but it does not hold up well for me. Plus, even though soak off was relatively quick, it just seemed to not really come off. I had to use a scraper.
I'm thinking of purchasing the kit from Sephora, and using gelcolor colors with it since there are more of them and I think they are probably close to the same formula anyway. I can't easily get many of the colors in my area without a liscense (unless I want to pay $30 a bottle) so it will probably be eBay and Amazon for me.....
I haven't used OPI base/tc but use Gelish base/tc with tons of different brand colors without issues. I think there is someone in another SOG thread who talks about switching to OPI base/tc and using other colors without issue. And generally speaking, it seems no one has issues mixing brands but there are always some exceptions. I am curious to hear about everyone's experience with the OPI system. I love the wear I get from my Gelish but do have a hard time with the soak off although getting better with some tricks I have learned here. I also had problems with CND so it has made me worried that an easy soak off means chip city like CND did on me! I still haven't decided what system I will buy when my Gelish is out. I really want to venture to try something else but am afraid I won't get the long wear and I will have wasted money 
You do need to be careful buying any gel polish online, but particularly Shellac and OPI as they are the most often counterfeited. I would not buy any OPI or Shellac product from overseas, definitely not from China or even Hong Kong.
Many of us intermix brands with great success. OPI's base coat seems very easy to remove so I always use it regardless of whether I am using OPI, Gelish, LeChat or any other brand of color (except Shellac because I only do LED cure). You should not need to scrape with any gel polish, especially Shellac. You can do a lot of damage scraping. http://www.schoonscientific.com/eblast/eblast_2012-05-12_Dont-Let-This-Happen.htm
Take a look at the SOG for Beginners sticky thread for tips on making removals easier
Nancy- Do you use the OPI top coat as well? I have a major issue of balancing removal difficult vs. my sog tip wear. I use Gelish. The only other system I have tried was Shellac which held up horribly on me. Lately I have been trying rnp base coat and bonder on my tips. It seems to be helping but I have been contemplating trying another base/top coat to see if it might help. I am just REALLY hard on my hands so the wear is a big factor for me.
I'm new to the whole shellac/gel stuff. I had my nails done with Brisa gel professionally one time, paid over $85 for it and decided to try it myself. I bought a very nice, but used CND UV lamp off eBay and CND shellac base, color, and top coat. It was very nice and held up but I still had the Brisa gel under it. Had the Rock Royalty (VERY dark purple) on for over 2 weeks. This last time I still used the CND base and top coat but I used OPI Gelcolor in Princesses Rule (light pink). My Brisa gel came off when I soaked off the Rock Royalty so today is 10 days with my own pitiful, thin, weak nails and still no chips. 
I'm very happy with both of the brands of color but the CND is the only base and top coat I've used. I bought all of it off of sellers on eBay but I just checked out their feedback.
I'm very happy with both of the brands of color but the CND is the only base and top coat I've used. I bought all of it off of sellers on eBay but I just checked out their feedback.
The easy answer is yes BUT sometimes things don't work and we have no reason as to why. I use the regular OPI base and top with my other brand colors and Gelish structure. Usually it works--not bad day it didn't. I think it was an application problem but who really knows.
I think if you are just starting out and have limited money, Shellac base and top or Gelish base and top are pretty universal and able to be used successfully with other gel polish brands. OPI base is a bit more unique in that it is not very sticky when cured.
It depends. Sometimes I use the OPI top coat and sometimes I use Gelish Top it Off which seems more durable. Durability and ease of removal seem to work against each other. The more durable the finish the harder it is to soak off.
Usually people use rnp base coat to make removal easier. It seems to be working at cross purposes to use rnp base coat and then apply bonder.
Ha yes, my no fail, lasts for two weeks, soaks off in 5 minutes recipe is:
cleanse with 99% alcohol
Young Nails protein bond on the tips only (I buy it on ebay under the brand name Organic Nails. It is the Spanish label version of Young Nails)
1 coat of CND Stickey
Shellac base
Any brand color coat, 2 or 3.
Shellac top
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I use foil method to soak off with Red Carpet Manicure (exact same as Gelish) REmover. Wrap it up and stick under a heating pad. Twist and pull after 5 minutes and it all comes off.
I've been looking at some color charts & swatches of OPI Gelcolor that I've found on the net, and I don't see anything resembling silver, or even in a gray. Has anyone here run across a silver or gray color in this line, and I just accidentally overlooked it? Or, any ideas how to create one by layering other colors?
I was thinking maybe Kyoto Pearl over Black Onyx? However, I'm not an artist and I don't have any special skills in this department, so that could be way off. Also, I dunno about the opacity of either of those colors, and how that might change the layering equation.
BTW, I'm asking after Gelcolor in specific (as opposed to also the Gelshine available @ Sephora, or any other brands/flavors of SOG), since I'm wanting this for a manicure I plan to get at a particular salon... For SOGs this place only offers OPI Gelcolor and CND Shellac, and I don't want to try out Shellac right now.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I'll try to comment back if I reach any useful conclusions on my own.
I was thinking maybe Kyoto Pearl over Black Onyx? However, I'm not an artist and I don't have any special skills in this department, so that could be way off. Also, I dunno about the opacity of either of those colors, and how that might change the layering equation.
BTW, I'm asking after Gelcolor in specific (as opposed to also the Gelshine available @ Sephora, or any other brands/flavors of SOG), since I'm wanting this for a manicure I plan to get at a particular salon... For SOGs this place only offers OPI Gelcolor and CND Shellac, and I don't want to try out Shellac right now.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I'll try to comment back if I reach any useful conclusions on my own.
You're right. I can't recall seeing much in the way of gray in Gelcolor - the closest I've seen is the deep gray Nein, Nein OK Fine or the gray-putty of Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh.