This is a gelly sandwich that I did this week with a gorgeous polish that I received from Llarowe called Here Come the Brides. This polish has a light, creamy base and is loaded with purple, black and holographic glitters in different sizes and shapes. I love it! I sandwiched this in between my Gelish Foundation and Top It Off.
Here are the steps that I recommend to achieve a successful gelly sandwich:
- Prep your nails for a gel manicure (shape, buff, cleanse, etc).
- Apply a layer of gel polish foundation, capping the tips.
- Cure the foundation gel in your UV or LED lamp for the recommended time.
- Wipe off the tacky layer.
- Apply your regular nail polish color of choice, waiting several minutes in between each coat, until you get the desired opacity. Do NOT cap the tips.
- WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! Let the regular nail polish dry. I mean COMPLETELY dry… like for several hours (4-6 hours).
- Apply a layer of gel top coat, capping the tips.
- Cure the top coat in your UV or LED lamp for the recommended time.
- Optional: repeat steps 7 & 8 for some extra strength.
- Wipe the tacky layer with a lint-free pad and alcohol or nail cleanser.
The technique is rather simple, but it does require patience for it to be done right. And that is probably why I’ve never written about the gelly sandwich before… I lack patience! I can’t stand waiting for nail polish to dry, which is why I switched to gel in the first place. I want to be able to get up and go as soon as I’m done and not have to worry about denting a nail. If you don’t wait for the polish to dry completely, there’s a really good chance of it denting or wrinkling (even under that hard top coat). I swear every time I try this and I think the polish is dry after an hour or so, I go to wipe the tacky layer and they get messed up. So that’s why I say to let them dry for a few hours.
I also recommend not capping the tips with the RNP, but do cap with the gel. This is so the gel top coat bonds with the gel base on the tips. This should help prevent chipping.