Gel top coating acrylic before regular polish

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JojoBuller

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Hi all. I have always used gel polish over top of my acrylics, and that has been perfect. Now I would like to enter the world of indie polishes..... I also really love holographic polishes that you really cant get in a gel version.

I have tried regular polish over acrylic and it is not at all pleasant. Should I seal the acrylic with Glaze N go or similar before polishing? or will this react with the polish. I plan to use a regular polish top coat, not glaze and go over the regular polish.

Thanks.
 
I use normal polish over L&P all the time and have done for years, what do you find 'unpleasant'?
 
I can never buff my L&P smooth enough to apply my polish without bumps in the acrylic. I use a 240 grit hand file, because I cant get any finer than 180 for my Efile. I like the glassy smoothness and I cant seem to achieve this. Do you have any tips?

I dont use a base coat on L&P before the polish, so maybe that is my problem.
 
I can never buff my L&P smooth enough to apply my polish without bumps in the acrylic. I use a 240 grit hand file, because I cant get any finer than 180 for my Efile. I like the glassy smoothness and I cant seem to achieve this. Do you have any tips?

I dont use a base coat on L&P before the polish, so maybe that is my problem.

So the polish is not the issue its your final finish buffing that needs practice. You'r going the wrong way with grit numbers. 180 is coarser than 240. You need to start buffing with a coarse abrasive to smooth out the bumps and lumps, only moving to 240 grit to remove the surface stratches once you have the correct shape. I dont use an efile, I buff by hand with a used 180 to remove bumps, free edge shape and refine the side walls, then swap to a 240 grit to smooth over. I don't use base coat on acrylics either, therevis no need.
 
It shouldn’t be necessary to use any grit beyond a 180. Nail polish is applied thickly. It floats over the nail and covers any minor imperfections. I would be interested to see the “unpleasant” result as it should not be an issue at all and maybe the problem is something else altogether?

With regards to holos etc you get these effects with gel by using pigments and glitters. Nail polish, particularly indie, often takes a lifetime of drying.
 
Thanks for your replies, My nail stuff is packed away due to a remodel. I will post the results of the unpleasantness as soon as I am able.

I think my problem was as you described, not buffing the final nail enough before applying the polish. I do really love some of the indie polishes, but yes they do take forever to dry. I am not a fan of Seche Vite, but I am thinking of trying INM's OTD top coat.

Once again, thank you all.
 

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