Materials for Gelish French Manicure:

• Cuticle pusher
• Bond/primer (helps polish adhere and last longer)
• Gelish kit (pH bond, foundation, top coat)
• Eye shadow brush
• Gelish Polish – Simple Sheer
• LED Curing Light
• 91% isopropyl alcohol – make sure you don’t get 70%!
• Glass nail file (great for filing natural nails rather than using nail clippers)
• Nail filing block, emery boards, nail clippers, etc.
• Sally Hansen’s Salon Effects French Mani Real Nail Polish Strips OR Incoco French Manicure: Cloud Nine (you can get these at Walmart)

Disclaimer:  All products I recommend are items I have purchased myself and have now come to love.  You’ll see links to sites like Amazon, which are called affiliate links.  This means that I will receive a small commission on purchases at no cost to my readers.

Here is my YouTube video with all steps for your DIY Gelish French Manicure.  Scroll down for step by step instructions.

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Here are a few of my most popular posts: HOW TO DO YOUR OWN GELISH MANICURE AND MAKE GELISH NAILS LAST LONGER.  Twist on Trader Joe’s Gnocchi, have dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes!  One of my most popular recipes is this Copycat Olive Garden Braised Beef and Tortelloni.   Also, here’s a helpful Acne Product Review for Proactiv vs. Curology and which one works best for my older daughter.

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Prep your nails:

• Remove previous polish
• Wash hands thoroughly with soap especially if you recently used hand lotion
• Rough up nail surface with foam block nail filer. I’ve skipped this step before with good results if you’d rather not buff your nails.
• Shape your nails.  I like using a glass nail file for my natural square nails
• Push cuticles back with cuticle pusher

Paint your nails:

• Brush Gelish pH bond onto nails.  Air dry.
• SECRET TIP TO MAKE GELISH LAST LONGER – Brush Mia Xtrabond (brown bottle) onto nails.  Air dry. Note: this whole process works without the pH bond and Xtrabond, but I feel they create a better bond for polish to not lift up at the edges
• Apply a thin layer of Gelish Foundation.
• LED light – 30 seconds (if you purchase the same lamp as I have, when the power button is pressed in the up position, it will automatically cure for 30 seconds. It will turn on when it senses your hands entering the curing area.)
• SECRET TIP TO MAKE GELISH LAST LONGER – Use a clean eye shadow brush, dabbing down at 90 degree angle to disrupt base coat surface, making sure to thin out edges/sides of each nail’s base coat. I dab about 4 to 6 times per nail, fewer times on pinkies (this is easier to understand if you watch the video)
• Apply a layer of Simple Sheer Gelish polish in a relatively thin layer. If your nails are longer, “cap” over the edges of the length of the nails by painting over the length edge.
• LED light – 30 seconds
• Repeat 2nd layer of Simple Sheer, same as previous.
• LED light – 30 seconds
• Apply one layer of Gelish Top Coat.
• LED light – 30 seconds
• Saturate a small section of paper towel with 91% Isopropyl alcohol and wipe sticky layer off top of nails.
• Apply nail strips to each nail.  Use a nail file to file away the excess. See YouTube video.
• Use a cuticle pusher to remove the sides of the nail strips.
• Apply Gelish Top Coat clear layer.
• LED light – 30 seconds
• Apply a second Top Coat clear layer.
• LED light – 60 seconds (2 rounds of 30 seconds)
• Saturate a small section of paper towel with 91% Isopropyl alcohol and wipe sticky layer off top of nails.
• If it feels sticky at all afterwards, I run my hands under very cold water to help the polish set.