If I could go back in time to 2020, I would tell myself all about dip flu and allergic reactions to gel and other chemicals in the products we use in order to have pretty nails. I wish I had been more careful about what I was inhaling early on and I wish I’d used higher quality gel products as well. I wish I would’ve started off high quality with less colors rather than so many cheap gel polishes and cheap dip, acrylic monomers, etc.
This is not fun news but even “high quality” products contain all of the acrylate monomer allergens. The amount that they contain is still very high in most cases. I have talked to countless people who have developed an allergy after using high quality Korean or Japanese gel products. Quality is a loaded and incredibly unregulated term in the nail industry.
Some people can pull off matte nails, quite beautifully. I however, *cannot.*
That the majority of nail lacquer can be restored with nail polish thinner (NOT nail polish remover). There are certain formulations to use that are better than others (e.g., Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate to avoid degrading glitter). I threw out so much nail polish just because it got thick.
Do not settle for lumps or sloppiness. Take 2 seconds to buff out some more and clean up around your cuticles, make sure everything is as good as u can possibly make it look. I walked around with so many sloppy sets