Everyone that uses gel polish needs to know about the “acrygel” technique. Acrygel is a combination of the words acrylic and gel. It’s a method for adding strength to your nails using acrylic powder and gel foundation, so you get the strength of acrylic with the soak-off ability of gel. I first learned about this technique on YouTube from Anna’s Nail Art. I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel and make a video on this since she already has some amazing ones, which I’ll embed at the bottom of this post. Also, Kim from Ten Little Canvases just recently created a video on how to repair a broken nail with acrygel.
I really just wanted to let you all know that this exists and share my experience with it. I use the acrygel technique on my mom every time I do her nails because it helps with the splitting that she gets in one of her nails and it makes her gel polish last longer – normally it peels off on her within a week (because she picks at it!). But she gets much better wear with one or two coats of acrygel underneath her polish. I also apply it to my nails frequently for added strength. Below is a photo of what my natural nails look like with two coats of acrygel over them. I use my Gelish Foundation gel and crystal clear ibd Flex Powder. As many of you know, I go rock climbing and this really helps protect my nails from breaking when I climb.
It’s not noticeable, but the nail on my middle finger is actually broken near the tip. It snagged and ripped the other day when my nails were bare, so I patched it up with acrygel and now it’s being held together nicely and it looks and feels like a normal nail.
The acrygel layer(s) under your polish will soak right off like gel polish. Read my article about how to remove gel polish if you are unsure how this is done. It usually takes a little longer with acrygel since there are more layers and the bottom layer will be a little gummy after soaking. I always file down my nails with a coarse file before soaking to make the process go faster. You can also file your nails down and do a fill instead of completely soaking off all of the layers (see the second video below).
This is an explanation of my technique. You can also watch the videos below to see how Anna and Kim do it.
1. Prep nails by lightly buffing them, wiping them off with alcohol and applying Gelish pH Bond.
2. Apply a coat of Gelish Foundation gel on each nail.
3. BEFORE curing, sprinkle ibd Flex Powder over each nail and tap off the excess powder.
4. Cure in an LED lamp for 20-30 seconds.
5. Wipe off any excess powder with a lint-free alcohol wipe.
6. Repeat steps 1-5! (optional)
7. Buff the nails to smooth them out and eliminate any thick edges.
8. Apply gel color polish & top coat as normal or simply top coat for a natural look.
Video: Anna’s Acrygel Technique
Video: How to do a re-fill of acrygel instead of soaking off
Video: How to repair a broken nail with acrygel