Redcarpet Manicure - any new tips and observations?

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I am so tempted to give this a go again especially if you can use nail envy underneath. The kit and extra polishes have been sat in my roo box since jan/February i think. My nails have now fully recovered but it's taken such a long time. The nail envy tip is making me think of trying again. I suppose I could just try one nail...
 
I dont know whether any of you have seen the article in the Mail on Monday. They were talking about the damage you can do by having gel applied to your nails, hardened by a UV light. Might be scaremongering but its worth considering. Apparently the UV light could raise the risk of skin cancer and recommend that the treatment be limited to twice a year. They quote someone who had it done every two weeks who said that after six months her real nails looked dreadful so she stopped having them done. It has taken her months to get them back to something close to normal. She did go to a nail bar to have the gels put on but I would think that home treatment might be the same. Food for thought.
 
I had to have a break as my nails started peeling. Though I have never had good nails. I was having problems removing the gel and I was doing some scraping as I'm not very patient.
I tried nail envy underneath but it seemed to just cause the gel to lift. I've started applying it again and I'm on day 3 and apart from one chip on my dominant hand it looks good.
@sharonk - you could try one nail with just a base coat and a top coat. If that works you could try all of the rest. If you just use a base and top coat you can apply normal nail varnish over the top.
 
You do have to be careful in how you remove them, or you will cause awful damage. As for the UV etc, I checked this out pretty thoroughly before purchasing and, although there are a lot of scare stories out there, there are also a lot of scientific data that points out that the amount of time/strength of the light from the LED lights (used in RCM) is so minimal (equivalent to a few minutes of strong sunlight), that any increased risk is negligible (if present at all) and that since people don't even see an increase in light-related things like freckles etc, it's a sign that things are not so bad. There is a little more concern about the older non-LED lamps, but even then not that much. That being said, because I have very fair skin, and I'm a belt-and-braces type of person, I always apply my usual sunscreen (Ultrasun SPF 50) before applying the RCM, which should provide ample protection.
 
Nicky-j said:
You do have to be careful in how you remove them, or you will cause awful damage.
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completely agree. itsthe removal that can damage your nails. as long as you soak them off and don't pick at them then they'll be fine.
I've been doing my own gel nails for a couple or so years (started with Shellac and moved onto RCM ) I use cheapo acetone in place of purify & erase, and my nails have never been longer or stronger (even on the odd day between removing and re-applying).

Not really sure why you'd want / need to use nail envy ..... the gel gives your nails armour protection so no other nail hardener is needed.
 
puffin48 said:
I dont know whether any of you have seen the article in the Mail on Monday. They were talking about the damage you can do by having gel applied to your nails, hardened by a UV light. Might be scaremongering but its worth considering. Apparently the UV light could raise the risk of skin cancer and recommend that the treatment be limited to twice a year. They quote someone who had it done every two weeks who said that after six months her real nails looked dreadful so she stopped having them done. It has taken her months to get them back to something close to normal. She did go to a nail bar to have the gels put on but I would think that home treatment might be the same. Food for thought.
Click to expand...

I did see that, some of the pictures were horrific, they do like to do that in the daily mail though
I think some sites sell protective fingerless gloves for use with uv lights if anyone is worried
 
Found this tip on amazon for getting fingers and thumb in together as it is usually only possible to do 4 fingers unless you make your hand into a claw shape:

Just lay the thumb of your opposite hand on top of the other hand curing. I'll be trying that next week.
 
I have never had anything done to my nails, ever! I like the appeal of this for the longevity, as I tend to end up chipped after a day or too! I can see that various stores and companies have their own gel polish now, even some cheap ones in the supermarket. Can these be used with the system? I picked a bottle up somewhere recently and it said nothing about curing?
 
MinxyKitten said:
I have never had anything done to my nails, ever! I like the appeal of this for the longevity, as I tend to end up chipped after a day or too! I can see that various stores and companies have their own gel polish now, even some cheap ones in the supermarket. Can these be used with the system? I picked a bottle up somewhere recently and it said nothing about curing?
Click to expand...
No you cannot use them with the lamp to get longlasting results. It is very confusing and you were right to read the bottle. The price is usually the giveaway.

apparently you can dry ordinary polishes under the lamp for faster drying but it won't give the gel results.
 
Sorry to revive this old post, but I am now on my second lot of RCM and have a question!

When I tried to take the first lot off it was so much faff! For a start, the foils didn't stay on, and how she can make and hold a cup of tea I don't know! My nails were left very dry and I was gutted. Is there not an easier way to remove it? Can the nails be soaked in a bowl of something?! Putting my second lot on I was already dreading the removal! :-(
 
Hi minxykitten, I'm not a RCM user but it was just on air and the guest is on twitter so you could always tweet her @lindabignell if you have no luck :)
 
I have used RCM since the beginning, and I've never used the foils. What I do is take two cleansing pads (circular) and cut them into 4 pieces each pad (8 in total, but using only 5). I then soak this in the removal liquid and then place on the nail. Start from the little finger first (makes it easier) and wrap the finger in ordinary kitchen aluminium foil. Do one hand first and "cuddle" those fingers in the other hand for about 20 mins. I think the warmth helps it.

After 20 mins or so slide off the aluminium tubes on your fingers and clean the peeling varnish off. Then reusing the aluminium tubes slide them onto the fingers of the second hand. Cuddle for 20 mins and then pull of the tubes and discard them.

Obvious really, but save the remaining 3 quarters of the cotton pad for the next time.
 
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Brilliant, thanks both. I will look her up on Twitter for future reference!

Normal foil sounds like it would stay on better actually. I did consider this, but I didn't think about doing one hand at a time as I was trying to do it in a rush!

That sounds really much easier though, I will definitely follow this next time. Thank you :)

I used a LD nail polish today and it's not the same. It smudged when I knocked a finger on the lamp after curing :-(
 
holmca said:
I have used RCM since the beginning, and I've never used the foils. What I do is take two cleansing pads (circular) and cut them into 4 pieces each pad (8 in total, but using only 5). I then soak this in the removal liquid and then place on the nail. Start from the little finger first (makes it easier) and wrap the finger in ordinary kitchen aluminium foil. Do one hand first and "cuddle" those fingers in the other hand for about 20 mins. I think the warmth helps it.

After 20 mins or so slide off the aluminium tubes on your fingers and clean the peeling varnish off. Then reusing the aluminium tubes slide them onto the fingers of the second hand. Cuddle for 20 mins and then pull of the tubes and discard them.

Obvious really, but save the remaining 3 quarters of the cotton pad for the next time.
Click to expand...

My method is similar to yours holmca. I use cheap polish remover and put my nails under a hot water bottle. It makes for speedy removal :)
 
Here is another thing that I do not do. I don't "rough up" the surface of the nail. If the tip of my nail is rough or a bit flaky, then I will smooth it off, but that is all. As long as the varnish doesn't touch the cuticles or the skin around the nail then the manicure won't need redoing for at least two weeks.

I never felt happy about taking off the surface of my nails which were already weak. I did it the first time but have never done it since. So unless you pick off the varnish which I don't recommend, then your nails will not deteriorate.

I also don't rub the oil (supplied in the kit) into the cuticle each day, as I have never done this with normal varnish. What I do is take off the nail polish and leave my nails naked for a day and keep rubbing oil or hand cream into them throughout the day, before reapplying RCM the following day.
 

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