Reddit reviews MelodySusie 12W Violetili LED Light Lamp Gel Nail Dryer for Curing LED Gel & Gelish Nail Polish Black + MelodySusie Nail Nipper

I just bought everything I need to do OPI gel manicures at home! That consists of this starter kit and this LED lamp. It was a bit of an investment, but I'm sick of driving 45 minutes each way to go to my favorite spot in my parents' town because I can't find a salon I like in my own town and paying $40 plus a $5 bridge toll.

It helped with mine. I couldn't look at my nails without them breaking. They're still thin, but I usually keep them polished. It's my 'me time' when I do my nails. I put on trashy tv, drink some wine and unwind while painting them.

I use this light

I use this structure gel and apply a very thin coat. You'll need a brush to apply it since it's a little thick. But it makes my nails feel as hard as acrylics.

And here is an Imgur album linking to some of my favorite polishes on Amazon. I absolutely am in love with the Elite99 chameleon pots. The colors in the picture is what you get. The green one is one of my favorites. And oh my god the holo powders

Thank you! I got an 18 piece Modelones starter kit from Amazon that included 16 mini colors, base coat and top coat. For curing, I also got a MelodySusie LED lamp. All in all it was about $50 in total.

Gel polish starter kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QL5GN34/?coliid=IAGTYPFLUB6E3&colid=181AZGV3HS4EW&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

LED lamp: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AXSQCGK/?coliid=I2S98XHUIRHVZI&colid=181AZGV3HS4EW&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I followed the exact instructions they had on the Amazon listing for the starter kit, and they were actually quite in depth and useful, with pictures! I've always been very meticulous with regular polish, so I didn't find there to be a learning curve at all! This was my first try ever, and I've only gotten gel done at a salon once before, and I would say it took me about an hour overall including prep. I definitely encourage you to try it, it was very fun!

Gelish is a brand of gel polish that wears 14-21 day. This is the first time I'm trying it and I love it. Super easy to apply, I am on my 3rd week and no chipping yet (though I did get tired of the original color so applied the regular polish over Gelish).

I've got this lamp based on recommendations from some other Reddit Laquerista. I also got this set which I think of using as a foundation to protect my nails.

It's kind of trial and error but I have had good luck with these!

• LED lamp
  
  
• Base coat and top coat
  
  
• Structure gel (if you have weak nails, it is like a strengthening clear coat you put in between base coat and color coats)
  
  
• Color polish: you can use any brand. I like Ukiyo, Gellen and Sexy Mix but these are all pretty much the same in terms of quality. You can also go to stores like Sally Beauty or Ulta and buy gel nail polishes in person but they're much more expensive, around $10-15 for a single bottle.
  
  The other accessories you will want are lint free pads and rubbing alcohol, and typical nail stuff (clippers, cuticle pushers, acetone, etc).
  
  There are also tons of accessories that are fun with gel nail polish like nail powders, striping tape, glitter, gemstones, etc. I'd highly recommend picking up a black polish and a white polish too for nail art and stuff.

Oh perfect, I have a couple of questions that I wanted to ask anyways!

I have no prior knowledge or experience with gel polishes and how they work (the only thing that I know is to apply thin layers and to keep them absolutely away from natural light hence the opaque bottles), but I would like to get into them especially because I want to try and apply some nail powders. So my questions are:

• What is the difference between the UV and LED stuff?
  
• How do I know which lamp to buy? And since each gel polish will carry a recommended curing time with them, does the wattage of the lamp affect it and if so by how much? Based on simplynailogical's video, she uses this lamp and this no wipe top coat
  
• If there is no stated curing time, how does one estimate whether or not a nail is fully cured?
  
• When it comes to buffing nail powders into the cured nail, does it matter if the top coat that was used had a sticky layer or is a no wipe? (again referring to simply's video she used a no wipe). If the answer is that there is no difference, then I would like to buy a no wipe version
  
• Is it okay to use gel top coat over regular, non-gel nail polish? Will it cause the underlying nail polish to have streaks or some funky lines as a result of the two different mixtures?
  
  ​
  
  Oh and, one more that popped into my mind just now. Ever since I bought UNT's peel off base coat, I use it every single time. However it does ruin gradients as repetitive dabs to the nail surface will cause the base coat to thin out (I even waited ~20 mins for the base coat to dry before trying a gradient). So to anyone who uses a peel off base coat and does gradients on top of it, does it ever work? Or am I being a complete moron as the peel off will just cause lifts?
  
  ​
  
  I will be very grateful to receive answers, thank you!

I do! I have medium to long length nails and even though some people say gel weakens them, I actually find that they make my nails stronger. I have pretty healthy nails to begin with, though. I use my hands heavily for work (constantly brushing up against metal, cutting things and operating machinery) and gel is a godsend.

I am also super frugal though so I do them myself. It's very easy and it doesn't take that long after you get the hang of it. I usually put on a tv show or movie while I do it, it's very relaxing.

I've tried out a few different lamps but so far my favorite has been this one (I prefer LED):

https://www.amazon.com/MelodySusie-12W-LED-Nail-Dryer/dp/B00AXSQCGK/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1497569940&sr=8-1&keywords=melodysusie+gel+lamp

I have had great luck with this brand of polish (they make a glitter red that is ammmmaaazing – I had a trainer at the gym stop me when I was lifting to tell me my nails were the best he'd ever seen haha):

https://www.amazon.com/AIMEILI-Soak-Off-Nail-Polish/dp/B00PF9Q5EG/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1497569972&sr=1-4&keywords=gel+nail+polish

And I use these clippy things to remove the polish when I'm ready to change it. No tin foil for me!

https://www.amazon.com/HIGHROCK-Acrylic-Remover-Cleaner-Superior/dp/B00OWZ0TVE/ref=sr_1_28_s_it?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1497569972&sr=1-28&keywords=gel+nail+polish

(I just happened to be reordering some polish today so I had some of these links open already :p )

Best of wishes to you! I hope you have as positive an experience as I've had. I have this lamp from amazon. Absolutely no complaints or problems with it.

I just bought this one and am pretty happy with it so far. I've only used it a couple times, but it's not that expensive, which is nice.

These Presto gels are considered art gels, so they're thicker and easier to work with for nail art compared to regular gel polish :) I highly recommend them if you're planning to use them for nail art. They also cured perfectly without shrinking over my gel overlay using Gelish, I mention this because I could not get the OPI gel polishes to cure over the Gelish stuff. I bought black, white, nude and the Britney Tokyo x Nail Swag set which are mostly primary colors, you can use them to mix your own colors.


This is the LED lamp I bought from Amazon, it's small but works fine.