Yeah, I'm such a dork, I went armed with all my swatches and literally opened every bottle and compared and compared...LOL!
Red Carpet Manicure
- Thread starter BrookeJ
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Yeah, I'm such a dork, I went armed with all my swatches and literally opened every bottle and compared and compared...LOL!
Are you getting any shrinking back from the tips of the nails, or just the sides?
The short answer is that some of the ladies recommend flash curing (putting each nail under the light for about 5 secs as soon as you apply the product to that individual nail) while others find dry brushing the tacky layer off of the cured base coat to be helpful.
What I am wondering, though, is if you might be trying to get too close to the sides. There should be a thin margin of exposed nail between the sog polish and your skin. There have been several links and posts on this thread about the accumulation of toxicity leading to an allergic reaction to the product and the warnings which are related to the dangers of undercuring and product touching the skin. Also, if you let there be a thin margin all the way around the polish, you have the benefit of better adhesion. Lifting can be caused by the product getting attached to the skin at the sides of the nails which, as the manicure goes several days, then the product detaches from the skin - creating a small edge of polish that is lifted up and allows water and oils to get under the rest of the polish.
If you look at the fresh manicure pics of some of the more experienced ladies' nails, you will see that thin margin which is left between the polish and the skin. If that is not what you are referring to, the answer to your question may be to try the two techniques I mentioned in my "short answer" at the beginning of this reply.
I too blame Ferret's talent & magnificent pictures for turning me into a very blingy magpie, but a more confident person too!
Ha ha. Yes, we love her for it too. On one hand she's a very Bad Influence. On the other hand her huge trench coat full of colors makes it possible to do lots of comparisons, and at least for me, has led to no further mistakes in purchases. Sometime the pictures simply make me happy because I go "oh yeah, see I didn't need that color too". I feel like she's helping me choose things I will really wear.
thanks for your fast response. this happens on the sides of my nails. i think i am going too close to my skin. I will try to go really thin.
Well, I'm a dork too. I always take my swatches NP shopping because otherwise I am guaranteed to buy something either exactly like or way too close to something I already have. I get home and say no wonder I thought that was a nice color - because clearly I've thought it was a nice color before!
I'm no better. I have my regular nail polish inventory in a spreadsheet as well, just like my SOG ones. For some reason i can remember which SOG ones I have, but not which regular polishes I have. I can pull the spreadsheet up on my phone to make sure i'm not buying the same color twice LOL
At the closest Ulta today, their RCM were very low!! They did not have Black Stretch Limo, which was my #1 need, and they were missing many others!! I was so disappointed. Not disappointed not to get anything, mind you. I got Glitteratzi, and 2 other colors I cannot remember the names of...a light blue, and a charcoal grey/chromey color.
I also got a Zoya on clearance, a CG on clearance, and 2 Ulta brand glitter top coats for .49. And OPI My Private Jet, which I started a thread about...the last one, and I noticed the bottle was cracked after we were on our way home! There were sooooo many others I wanted!!!
I also got a Zoya on clearance, a CG on clearance, and 2 Ulta brand glitter top coats for .49. And OPI My Private Jet, which I started a thread about...the last one, and I noticed the bottle was cracked after we were on our way home! There were sooooo many others I wanted!!!
Hey everyone, did my first RCM mani yesterday with Love those Baby Blues, and I had BAD shrinkage on my right hand. Not only from tip, but from cuticule margin. It looks awful!! This is a light color, too!!
Anyone else had this? Also, I did try to dry swipe after foundation (Gelish) with a lint free wipe, and it turned into a horrible mess!! Should I use a dry brush instead? I only did a few and gave up, so maybe that is why I had shrinkage.
Anyone else had this? Also, I did try to dry swipe after foundation (Gelish) with a lint free wipe, and it turned into a horrible mess!! Should I use a dry brush instead? I only did a few and gave up, so maybe that is why I had shrinkage.
Read back on this thread and the Gelish thread a few pages (or do a search for shrinkage). We've been talking about shrinkage ALOT lately. All of sudden it seems like the most popular problem so you are not alone!
That's odd - you did cure the foundation before you wiped it right? I use a dry brush personally. And don't press down really hard; you're just lightly trying to wipe off the tacky layer which should be very thin.
Thanks! I have been reading up on it on all the threads. I was just surprised because this is such a light color. When I dry swiped, I did press down hard, so I will try it lightly next time, and a brush.
At work today I noticed that my 2 problem nails, the ones that are always thinner and bendy and chipping, were very bendy even with the SOG, and starting to chip.
So after work I buffed them and redid them with the same color right on top of the old. So now I have 8 coats on, including 2 foundations and 2 top it offs, but I can certainly use the thickness, especially on my 2 problem children. It looks A LOT better now, and feels better! No shrinkage, and a lot more opaque also.
Thanks for your advice!
Yeah, that's another thing - problem bendy nails will keep causing problems for awhile. The good news is for most of us the strength of our nails has gotten better over time with using SOGs but you just kind of have to wait and have patience for them to grow out. Your manicures will start lasting longer as your nails get healthier or stronger.
You might have read by now, Gelish makes a product called Structure that gives extra support. (Not to be confused with RCM Structure base coat - for the life of me I don't know why they confuse the names the way they do.) But anyway, if you keep having problems with bendiness you might want to consider purchasing some Gelish Structure.
Thanks, I will try that! I thought it was just another name for Foundation when everyone discussed it! Sounds like that is exactly what I need.
You can read up on it on the Gelish thread. It's thicker, comes in a pot, so you need to buy a brush to put in on with. But it's easy and it's good stuff for bendy girls.
What kind of horrible mess? biggest problem is actually getting any type of lint free wipe that really is lint free, so if that's what you're talking about, then yes. IBD makes sponges, I have spa necessities nail wipes that are not too bad for this purpose a plain paper towel might work, I have not tried that. I also just bought a pack of makeup sponge applicators to try out next time!
8 coats is a lot, wow. that might take you longer to soak off, so be patient and if it needs more time, rewrap and wait longer, don't force it off. That will only cause damage to already weak nails