How To Do Salon-Style Gel Nails At Home (Step-By-Step)

I do my own nails at home to save money, and I’ve been exclusively wearing press-ons for almost ten years. I wanted to step up my press on nail game, so this year I learned how to do gel nails at home. To do this, I use BTArtBox X-Coat Nails (soft gel nails), and I get all my nail supplies on Amazon. This has been a game-changer for me. I’ve done so many cute sets that I share on my social media and blog.

To answer some frequently asked questions, I recently uploaded a step-by-step nail tutorial on YouTube. Check it out now to see how I do my nails at home.

Pink French Tip Gel Nails at Home Black Girl — Check out my tutorial on this pink french tip nail set here

What I Do Differently From Traditional Gel Manicures

For traditional gel manicures in similar styles, you would place your hands under a nail lamp to cure the nails. This is to cure/adhere the false nails onto your nails using gel glue, and to cure the gel polishes, etc.

My trick is that I use the nails to make press on nails (using builder gel and gel polish). Then, I glue them on using regular nail glue. My favorite nail glue is the Beauty Secrets Drip and Clog Proof Nail Glue from Sally Beauty.

I don’t feel comfortable about placing my hands under a UV nail lamp all the time, so this allows me to get the same gel-manicure look in a way that I feel safer about long-term.

If that’s not something that concerns you, then you could start by using gel glue to apply the nails. This would make curing the gel glue under the nail lamp your first step.

What I Use to Do My Nails at Home

Nail Stands

After I size my nails, I put them on nail stands so I can work on them. This allows me to easily add designs or nail charms, and apply the builder gel and top coat to the nails. The nail stands are important since I won’t be putting the nails on my hands until they’re all done.

Lint-Free Wipes

I use lint-free wipes to wipe down the nails with rubbing alcohol before I apply anything to them.

BTArtBox X-Coat Tip Nails

BTArtBox has a lot of different X-Coat Tip nails available both on their website and on Amazon. I always get mine from Amazon. The nails come in various shapes, lengths, colors, and designs. My favorite are their french tip nails, which come in white, black, skin tone, and various other colors too.

Builder Gel And Top Coat

I always use the BTArtBox Builder Gel and Top Coat for my nail sets. If you’re doing a design or adding nail charms, you would do that first. If not, you can apply a coat of builder gel followed by a coat of top coat. I cure each coat for 60 seconds under my nail lamp.

UV and LED Nail Lamp

When I decided to start doing gel nails at home, I went looking for an affordable nail lamp on Amazon. SUNUV has a few great options, and I got their SUN UV8 model. They now have a S UN9C model available as well.

How I Do My Nails At Home

Check out my YouTube video below for an in-depth tutorial on how I do my nails at home. In this tutorial, I’m doing a basic set without nail charms etc.