OPI Gelcolor

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Last week I did two of my nails with OPI gel products (base, color & top) and three of my nails with gelish. the opi nails lasted 6 days, the gelish is still hanging in there. the nails I did with OPI were the ring and pinkie. I happened to look down and see that they were peeling off at the tip. The good thing is I didn't really have to peel them off.. they kinda lifted off cleanly.. no layer of nail with it. Nail plate was shiney and healthy.
My hands take a lot of abuse with water, hair treatments, etc (since I don't like wearing gloves all the time).. my gelish usually lasts 8-10 days. I have very oily nail plates..and I tend to use a lot of hand lotions during the day.


My hands are in water almost all day too. I haven't tried OPI Gelcolor yet but am getting amazing results with the OPI Gelshine that is sold at Sephora! 3 1/2 weeks so far. changing only because of growth and I want a different color. I did use the Gelish base and top coat as they seem to be a little more adhering to my nail.
Seeing as you already have the Gelish product try using that base and top with the Gelcolor in between. I would love to hear how you make out
 
Just wondering if anyone else has had problems with drying the polish. I got this kit a few days ago and tried a mani tonight. No matter how many times I try to dry the coats with the LED, my nails are still sticky. And yes, I used very thing coats with application. Could there be something wrong with my light? :?:
 
Hi everyone I am a mobile beauty therapist wanting to try out opi gel colour and was wondering if you have to buy the opi lamp at £300 or you can use normal led lamp?? has anyone tried this before

Thanks :smile1::smile1:
 
nicola le gem said:
Hi everyone I am a mobile beauty therapist wanting to try out opi gel colour and was wondering if you have to buy the opi lamp at £300 or you can use normal led lamp?? has anyone tried this before

Thanks :smile1::smile1:

What do you mean by a normal led lamp? Like a table lamp? No that wouldn't work. Nail lamps are made to emit the right wavelength of light. They have uv led bulbs in them, not just any old led light bulb
 
Bogota Blackberry. The first pic is with flash to show the shimmer. The second pic is more color accurate. I'm not a huge fan of reds and pinks, but I'm really liking this color.

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Observation- I have 5 OPI gel colors (with two on the way) and while I love OPI's colors I find that even after vigorous shaking they have inconsistent formulas. Some are thicker and some are runny and give me shrink back. My Private Jet is fantastic, while Lincoln Park After Dark is runny. Has anyone else observed this?
 
Observation- I have 5 OPI gel colors (with two on the way) and while I love OPI's colors I find that even after vigorous shaking they have inconsistent formulas. Some are thicker and some are runny and give me shrink back. My Private Jet is fantastic, while Lincoln Park After Dark is runny. Has anyone else observed this?
Yes, but it's usually the polishes that have been used for a while.. even after shaking, they go on very streaky/runny with blobs. It's like it's not mixing correctly no matter how long or vigorous you shake the bottle. One manicure took me six coats ( I can't remember the name, but it was a dark purple) before it looked halfway decent. I usually tell customers that the first coat will look streaky, but after 3 coats it still looked terrible and my customer was getting somewhat anxious. I thought, should I add another coat, should I switch colors.. I certainly don't have time to remove what I've cured so far... so I ended up applying more coats and tossing the bottle out afterwards.
 
My hands are in water almost all day too. I haven't tried OPI Gelcolor yet but am getting amazing results with the OPI Gelshine that is sold at Sephora! 3 1/2 weeks so far. changing only because of growth and I want a different color. I did use the Gelish base and top coat as they seem to be a little more adhering to my nail.
Seeing as you already have the Gelish product try using that base and top with the Gelcolor in between. I would love to hear how you make out
I didn't really notice any difference in wear time by using the Gelish base & top with the OPI Gel color. The problem with having your hands in water so much.. is that the water tends to be absorbed by the fingers and nails.. the gel product doesn't have any give (neither do regular nail polishes).. so until your nail has 'dried out'.. the gel polish is prone to lifting or peeling. Once you've been out of water for a while, your water swelled nails shrink back to normal. When your hands are constantly being washed, your nails are always in that more delicate stage. One thing I do try to do, and how or why this helps, I'm not sure, but I use a cold water rinse after washing.. it could be that the cold water helps to 'shrink' back the swelling some. Before the event of quick drying top coats, we would run our polished fingers under cold water to help the polish set faster.
 
I found a used OPI gelcolor LED lamp on eBay for a reasonable price. Just did my first mani with it. Love it!! cures gelcolor and gelish great!! I think the gelcolor comes out better with this than with the CND UV light.

I didn't have the shrink back on the tips that I have had with gelcolor that I have had in the past.
 
I am hoping for some input on shrinkage on Gelcolor. I have read through this thread a few times and still can't seem to master the application without shrinkage. I have been very diligent about the application of every layer and capping the free edge. I have also tried the flash curing method. It's better but not perfect by any means. I have not added the Bond Aid step but I am thinking I have to. Any other suggestions? I will admit that I have only really applied Pompeii Purple - many, many times!....Maybe it's the color?

Oh, also I seem to have noticed that the nails with more shrinkage lift and peel. Anyone else weigh in?
 
I am hoping for some input on shrinkage on Gelcolor. I have read through this thread a few times and still can't seem to master the application without shrinkage. I have been very diligent about the application of every layer and capping the free edge. I have also tried the flash curing method. It's better but not perfect by any means. I have not added the Bond Aid step but I am thinking I have to. Any other suggestions? I will admit that I have only really applied Pompeii Purple - many, many times!....Maybe it's the color?

Oh, also I seem to have noticed that the nails with more shrinkage lift and peel. Anyone else weigh in?

I love OPI Gelcolor, although in some colours application is a pain.

I've worn or used:

Lincoln Park After Dark - great coverage minimal shrinkage.
Oktoberfest - great coverage lots of shrinkage from nail tip despite flash curing each nail. Fab colour and long wear!!
I Have a Herring Problem - great colour, great coverage, great wear, no shrinkage.
Skyfall - Hard to work with shrinkage from all sides of the nail!! Nice colour but too difficult, may be easier on my nails rather than my mums.

I've swatched:

You Dont Know Jacques - Wrimkled alot on the swatch sticky so needs super thin coats I think.
Kyoto Pearl - No problems with this. Great colour to mix witn the dark OPI Gelcolors

I have a feeling that OPI Gelcolor shrinkage could be the colour or temperature of the bottle. I put mine between my thighs for a few mins to warm up before shaking as it seems to make the gel thin a bit.

I've not been using ot long (3 months) and used it with the Sensationail lamp, curing for 1min 30 seconds. Another great thing, the OPI comes of super super easy.
 
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