I decided to do some experimenting - my first time with my SH kit (that I received as a gift - yay!) and I'm already making a big and sort-of thorough science project, and mess out of it!
This is what I've done so far:
I'll number my fingers 1- thumb to 5-pinky. SH is my abbreviation for Sally Hansen, in the context of their products in the gel nails kit. It came with #1 which is the gel base coat, and #3 which is the gel top coat. There was also a #2 gel polish in the kit (Red My Lips - a warm
tomato-brownish red), which I'll record as SH polish here, as opposed to 'regular polish' which in this case so far is Bondi Lady Liberty, which I applied in an impatient two somewhat thick coats. CN is my abbreviation for Cult Nails; I'll use their base and top coats for this experiment. I painted my nails with various options for layering regular polish with gel. I've read reviews and seen youtube videos with people recommending every single one of these approaches, but have no idea which works best.
Left Hand
1 SH #1, SH #3 << this is a clear look at this point; my nail's not doing well, so I wanted to reinforce the developing rip.
/emoticons/
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2 CN Get It On base coat, regular polish, CN Wicked Fast top coat, SH #3
3 CN Get It On base coat, regular polish, CN Wicked Fast top coat
4 CN Get It On base coat, regular polish
5 nothing yet
Right Hand
1 SH #1, SH polish x2, SH #3 << I wanted to see the red that came in the kit; I don't love it; maybe it'll be better on my toes
2 SH #1, SH #3, CN Get It On base coat, regular polish, CN Wicked Fast top coat, SH #3
3 SH #1, SH #3, CN Get It On base coat, regular polish, SH #3
4 SH #1, SH #3, regular polish
5 SH 31, SH #3, nothing else yet
I'm open to suggestions for the remaining nails. I suppose for Left 4 I could top it with SH #3, though that is similar to Right 3 minus the base. Thoughts?
Also, I am planning on doing some nail art experiments on top of this all, and I might also paint over the red thumb for sake of uniformity. It won't be a perfect experiment, as I will not have the patience for that. I'll try posting photos too.
My first observations: No disasters with -any- of the combinations. That surprised me, based on comments I've previously read. I did let the regular polish dry for a bit, but no more than three or four minutes for any nail. Right 2 did work better than Right 3 as R3 had some minor ripples initially. For whatever reason they became much less apparent over time. My minor conclusion from the ripples: let your regular polish dry more! or help it with a quick dry top coat. We all already knew that it was important to let the regular polish dry from others, but patience, well... The good thing is that a quick dry top coat seems to actually help.
/emoticons/
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If you have thoughts for my other nails, or any other suggestions, let me know!