Set for gel polish

A modern girl should look stunning to the tips of her nails. That is why it has now become a necessity to be able to independently apply makeup and do manicures at a professional level. In cosmetics stores, tools and materials that were previously considered exclusively professional began to appear everywhere. Therefore, you need to carefully understand how to choose the perfect gel polish kit without missing anything and without spending extra money.

The question of what is still needed for applying gel polish is a rather controversial topic. For beginners, there is one very valuable piece of advice: do not rush to buy everything at once. First you need to purchase a minimum set of necessary tools and materials, and then buy the rest of the little things that make the process easier.

The simplest starter kit for gel polish, as a rule, consists of the following components:

1. LED or UV lamp;
2. Degreaser, which, most often, is also a disinfectant;
3. Base coat (base for gel polish);
4. Top - top coat;
5. Liquid for removal of a sticky layer;
6. Coating remover;
7. One or more colored varnishes.

Such a set can be found both with a lamp and without it. However, this is not all that can be useful for successful work. In addition to the basic set, you also need to have several nail files of different hardness, good manicure scissors or cuticle nippers, a buff to remove the greasy layer from the nail, orange sticks or a cuticle pusher, lint-free wipes, as well as orange or any other moisturizing oil. cuticles after exposure to ultraviolet rays.

There are ready-made kits for beginners on sale, their composition is described in the video review below.

Decor, stickers and rhinestones, ribbons, foil, gel polish remover clips and much more that can be found in stores, it is better to buy gradually as needed. All these little things will greatly facilitate the work, however, they also require a fairly serious financial investment to purchase them.

A master who loves his work is a person with an addiction, because he always lacks tools, varnishes and other trifles. The list of must-haves for working with gel polish can be endless, so we will describe only the most important materials and tools that are needed to create a quality manicure.

As the name implies, the main task of the degreaser is to remove the greasy layer and all possible contamination from the surface of the nail plate. This procedure is necessary in order to ensure the best adhesion of the varnish to the nail.Almost every degreaser is made on the basis of alcohol, but a quality product also contains vitamins that will help heal and improve the condition of nails. In addition, alcohol is also an excellent antiseptic that will prevent the occurrence of fungi or infections.

Some people confuse a degreaser with a dehydrator, but this is fundamentally not true. The dehydrator is needed so that the nails dry as much as possible before applying the base, it is applied after the degreaser. This component is essential in a salon environment where time spent per client is limited. At home, its presence is not necessary. The degreaser itself evaporates fairly quickly, it will take a little longer than with a dehydrator, but the difference will not be too significant.

Most of the modern gel polishes that exist today on the free market are three-phase varnishes. This means that three layers are required for their application: the base, the varnish itself and the fixer (top). Any master will say with confidence that by excluding at least one item from this list, we will get a poor-quality manicure, so it is important to do everything step by step.

A good base is the most important ingredient in the gel polish application process. The visual result and the period of wearing gel polish depend on it.There are several special types of bases, for example, a thicker one that will help hide blemishes on the nails or fortified with vitamins and minerals that will help nourish the nails. It is worth paying attention to bases with a high content of hydrolyzed keratin. This substance significantly increases the shelf life of the manicure unchanged.

Choosing the perfect gel polish is not an easy task, and it is far from choosing a color. A really high-quality gel polish should not only be suitable in many respects, but the master should also like it.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the way the varnish is applied. According to this criterion, the following types of varnishes can be found on the modern market: three-phase, two-phase and single-phase. The fewer stages of applying varnish, the higher its cost.

• Single phase varnish perfect for a beginner or self-application at home, because it will save a lot of time and effort. The composition of this varnish includes substances from both the base and the top. However, you should not count on an effect equal to the effect of a three-phase varnish. This lacquer will last much less on the nails.

In the catalogs of many well-known brands, you can find the so-called single-phase varnishes that do not need to be hardened under a lamp. These varnishes are thicker and brighter than ordinary ones, but they cannot be called gel polish, since they do not contain polymers.

• The composition of the two-phase varnish includes the components of the top, but it needs a preliminary application of the foundation.Such a manicure will last much longer, but it is incomparable with a manicure with a three-phase varnish.

• Three-phase coverage is considered to be the most professional, because it looks much better than others, protects nails from external factors and is worn for quite a long time.

Otherwise, the choice of gel polish is similar to the choice of ordinary nail polish: you need to pay attention to such points:

1. High quality gel polish should be quite thick, but not viscous;
2. The structure must be homogeneous, when applied, there should be no irregularities in color, stripes or lumps;
3. It is worth paying attention to the expiration date and integrity of the packaging;
4. When applied with a brush bristles should not come out;

The top coat for gel polish has a dual function. Its main task is to fix the color coating and prolong the wear of the manicure, modern tops also play an equally important decorative role.

From a functional point of view, all finish coatings can be divided into two types: top with a sticky layer and without it. The only difference is that the top with a sticky layer after the completion of the polymerization process needs additional treatment with a special liquid.

Some modern tops have decorative properties. So, for example, tops with the effect of a matte or super-gloss (wet) coating have become very widespread. In addition, magnetic tops are gaining popularity recently. "Cat's eye", with which you can decorate absolutely any gel polish with an exquisite overflow. You can also find tops with sequins or velvet effect.

This material is usually composed of alcohol, water and perfume. Most often, masters use a universal liquid to remove the sticky layer, which is suitable both for this purpose and as a degreaser.

Removing gel polish by cutting it off is a dangerous, lengthy and often unpleasant process. Therefore, almost every initial set of a manicure master includes gel polish remover. Thanks to it, you can remove the coating in a fairly simple and safe way. It is enough just to moisten a cotton pad in this liquid, close the nail with it, wrap it all with foil on top and wait about 15 minutes.

After a mechanical impact on the cuticle, as well as its long stay under the influence of ultraviolet rays, it becomes dry and lifeless. This can cause discomfort and spoil the impression of a fresh manicure. To avoid such an unpleasant situation, you need a tool to moisturize and nourish the cuticle. For this purpose, any vegetable oil is ideal.

There is a huge selection of pastes, gels, gel polishes and paints created specifically for painting nails. Most of them are almost identical in composition with gel polish. They differ in consistency and color saturation. With their help, you can create a unique pattern on the nails. Some paint varnishes have unique properties, such as spreading on the nail in such a way as to create a marbled effect. There are special varnishes for drawing colors, as well as thermal varnishes that change shade depending on the ambient temperature.

Today there is simply a huge selection of decorative elements for manicure: ribbons, rhinestones, sequins, stickers, printers and much more. All these gadgets will help you create a unique design, turn an ordinary manicure into a unique work of art. Most of the listed products are designed in such a way as to facilitate the work of the master as much as possible, so it will not be difficult to work with them independently.

Compiling a complete list of existing manicure tools is not an easy task, because there are several hundred of their types and varieties. We will describe the most necessary, which are included in the standard set of a beginner mater.

The most expensive and most necessary tool for working with gel polish is a lamp for drying it. It is necessary in order for the polymers, which are the basis of all gel polishes, to harden. These substances are not capable of self-evaporation of moisture, so they cannot be dried without thermal exposure, which is provided by the ultraviolet light of the lamp.

For the polymerization of varnishes, three types of lamps are suitable - CCFL, Led or UF. All of them produce ultraviolet light, under the influence of which the polymers change at the molecular level and harden. They differ only in the way they produce ultraviolet radiation, the power and the time required for polymerization.

The drying time depends on the radiation power, the more powerful it is, the faster the polymers will thicken. The fastest drying is provided by Led lamp - she copes with this task in 30-60 seconds, while others will need 2-3 minutes. The total duration of the hand in the lamp should not exceed 10 minutes.

It is difficult to imagine a quality manicure without using scissors and tweezers. A good master has several types of this tool in his arsenal: for nails and for cuticles.

When buying scissors, it is important to pay attention to their shape: they should fit comfortably in the hand, the tips of the blades should be slightly curved - this will help guide them along the cuticle without interrupting the process.

Pusher - This is a tool that looks like a small flat spatula, necessary for preparing the cuticle for cutting.For a long time, metal, double-sided pushers were very popular. On the one hand, they were designed in the form of a spatula, and on the other, they looked more like a miniature scalpel. Today, this quite convenient invention has been superseded orange stickssharpened in a special way. Such sticks have several important advantages:

1. They are disposable and do not need to be sterilized.
2. They have a thinner end, which greatly facilitates the work and makes it less traumatic and painful.
3. Such sticks have a fairly low price, do not need sharpening.
4. They don't rust.
5. Essential oils found in orange wood have antiseptic properties.

In the arsenal of a good master there are not many nail files. For a beginner, it is better to opt for the types familiar to him. When choosing the ideal nail file for working with gel polish, it is worth clearly distinguishing between functional significance.

The buff is necessary for polishing nails, as well as for making a manicure dull by filing it. This tool, as a rule, has a very fine and soft abrasive and a rather voluminous shape. When buying a buff, you should pay attention to the rigidity of the abrasive material.

If a novice mater has “hands growing from where they need to”, if he has the talent, skill and desire to decorate his nails with painting, he will undoubtedly need high-quality brushes.The first thing you should pay attention to when buying brushes is the material from which they are made. Brushes made of artificial material, as a rule, are made from the finest nylon or acrylic fibers. This material is in no way inferior to natural, it is soft and comfortable to use. Moreover, acrylic brushes will have a virtually infinite lifespan with normal care. Natural brushes are made from sable or squirrel wool. Such a brush needs more careful care, its service life is long, but less than that of a synthetic one, and the cost is much higher.

More recently, plastic clips for removing gel polish have appeared on the market of cosmetic gadgets. This wonderfully shaped invention can slightly facilitate the process of removing the gel coating from the nails. If earlier it was necessary to wrap the nail with a cotton pad dipped in a special liquid, wrap it with foil on top, now everything has become much easier. It is enough to put a finger with a moistened disc into the clip and wait.

If everything is more or less clear with cotton pads, then the question of the need to purchase lint-free wipes remains relevant. In the process of working with gel polishes, especially during training, it may be necessary to erase the design from a still tacky coating. At this point, lint-free wipes will be needed, because after their application there will be no pieces of cotton wool left on the unfinished coating.