Nail Enhancement Gel 2 Pack

**Photos are of gel polish painted over the Gaoy nude polygel nail base. Therefore they do not show the color of the polygel, but they do show how well gel polish shows up on top of it. On the free edge of my thumb nails, you can see how the polygel shows up unpainted next to the polish.** I've tried a few different polygel brands and this is my favorite. It's easy to use and long-lasting. It's subject to the same failures as any brand if not used properly -- I've applied too thin and had breaks, and not prepped my nail well and had lifting. But if applied properly, it lasts forever. I know you're "supposed" to remove entirely and reapply after a certain number of fills, but I don't usually. I will file and fill over and over and over and this gel stays on until it grows off. I've literally gone 6+ months without a full removal, just doing fills. I also highly recommend this nude color as a base for gel painted manicures. It makes the polish show up very opaque and pigmented. Gel polishes can often be very transparent, which looks bad on natural nails or clear gel, but on this nude color, they look great and it requires fewer coats to achieve the desired look. Fewer coats obviously saves money on products, but also the fewer coats I do, the less opportunity to make mistakes, and thick nails can look really bad. You can get a similar benefit from white or black polygel, but they are less forgiving of mistakes -- if I don't get allll the way to the edge (easy to miss when painting with non-dominant hand), the exposed nude nail is a lot less noticeable than black or white. It sort of blends with the finger and you don't notice it. My favorite way to apply this is similar to how acrylic is done -- I put a blob on my prepped nail and shape it with a brush dipped in alcohol. I've tried slip solution but I think alcohol works better, and it's much cheaper. If I'm working from my natural nail, I use stick-on forms to shape the tips. But most of the time I am just filling so I don't need to create a tip. I've done acrylic before and never managed to get good at it -- it takes a lot of (expensive) practice and I couldn't do it. Polygel is wayyy more forgiving -- it stays soft until you cure it (unlike acrylic) and you don't have to mix up your own beads, trying to get the ratio of liquid and powder exactly right. I've also tried dual forms several times, and haven't been able to get good results. It may be the forms I used (only tried one brand), but since the free-shaping with a brush method works for me, I haven't felt the need to try other dual forms. Anyway, love this stuff -- it's my go-to now.