The Gelish Geek FAQ

Why are you so obsessed with Gelish?

Here's the long story:

In April 2012 I was the Maid of Honor at my best friend's wedding and the bridal shower wanted to go get mani/pedis. I had a few problems with this:

1. • I hated nail files. With a passion. Going to a place to have a stranger file my nails? Why don't they gouge my eyeballs out with forks while they're at it? No, no thank you.
2. • I don't like the idea of being pampered, having people touch my hands and feet. Yuck.
3. • I've been with my lovely girlfriend for 10 years, but I knew the "have a husband/boyfriend" question, innocent as it is, would be an unavoidable source of awkwardness. I came here to get my nails done, not grapple with whether to come out to random strangers. Sigh.
4. • I'd rather be at home reading Robin comics or watching Star Trek, thank you very much.

But it wasn't about me, and they convinced me to try this gel polish that would stay on for a long time. So, for you my best friend, I suffered through numbers 1-4 above. I watched the gel polish application carefully and thought, "Well, crap, that looks like polish. I could do that at home."

Thus began an obsession.

Two months after my first and only salon visit, my gels were STILL on my fingers, unchipped (albeit the growth was horrendous). I researched, lurked on forums, watched videos, read all I could and decided I really COULD do it myself. For my birthday I got all my friends to pitch in and buy me a UV light, Gelish Mini Basix kit, and a couple colors and accessories, and I was off!

Do you use anything besides Gelish?

I have 1 non-Gelish color, and that's my canary yellow "Lily" by the brand Gella. It works fine, but I'm a collector, and I like having a complete set. They're like pokémon - I gotta catch them all.

Do you get paid for this or something?

Get paid to talk about how much I suck at putting on nail polish? I WISH. No, I might put in some Amazon affiliate links when I link to any polishes or gear, but I'm not in contact with ANY nail companies and any of my likes or dislikes are uninfluenced. I just really needed a place to talk about Gelish, nerdy as it is.

What's the point of this blog? You're not that good.

The point of this blog is: I'm not that good. I'm not a professional, never been to beauty school or taken classes, I'm just a gal who likes long-lasting nail polish and loves DIY culture. I learn and improve with each manicure and I wanna showcase my failures AND successes specifically FOR the DIY audience. I had so many questions starting out, but so much of the info out there was by professionals, for professionals. Basically, this is a place where stupid questions are always allowed. ;) I'm not here to swatch all kinds of polishes, or to talk about different brands. I'm just here for the DIY Gelish experience.

Gelish should only be applied by professionals! Support your local business and manicurists - they do this for a living!!

Please see the first question above. I don't do salons. They give me anxiety. If Gelish wasn't available to the average person like me, guess what? I wouldn't have gel nails. Nobody's losing any money from me, because I wouldn't have gone, anyway. Additionally, I love DIY, I love the control and creativity I have with my nails -- which is why I spend hours doing them. I love spending a couple weeks admiring something I created -- I just can't get that from a salon.

What's with all the weird, nerdy references in your posts?

I'm a HUGE nerd. From Batman to Harry Potter to Anime to Lord of the Rings… I nerd over a TON of stuff, and that just leaks into my life. And I think there's a perception that nerd-obsessed gals and beauty-obsessed gals are like oil and water. I kinda want to be niche voice that's like, "I'm gonna read Game of Thrones AND enjoy my new mani while I do so!" I'm not "girly" by any means… just nail obsessed!

So, what about the rest of your life?

I work on a computer all day, quite techie, and I get crazy excited when I get to build HTML tables and work with Excel (not even being sarcastic). I live in Southern California with my girlfriend/partner/wife of 10 years and our 2 cats. I enjoy spin class and jogging - but I'm a new fitness recruit. I'm a lifelong member of the couch potato club, but I realized that my love of pizza and sushi and my angst about my weight were incompatible, so something had to change! We enjoy life and have a good time.

The header image was created by me. Photoshop paint splatter brushes are by Roorah.