These are my nails after 10 days with 2 layers of Gelish Dip acrylic on them. As you can see, they’re intact and still a little shiny, even though I put Gelish over the acrylic. They’re a tiny bit yellowed but held up exceptionally well considering all I put them through – between my workouts and painting at our house, they’ve been thoroughly tested for durability.
The acrylic did not chip at all, but it did lift a little near the cuticle. This could be partially due to user error, however, as I am a little rusty with my dipping technique and applied the Base Coat too close to the cuticle. (See my previous post on how to avoid this issue.) I’ll simply file down the lifted acrylic before performing a fill on my nails.
The Gelish polish (Potts of Tea, from the Beauty and the Beast Collection, over Arctic Freeze) only remains on one nail because I peeled it off all the others. It started to peel after only a couple days without me picking at it. But when it started to peel, I did peel it off and it came off quickly and easily in one or two pieces. I made the mistake of applying the Gelish polish on the smooth, shiny surface the Gelish Dip Top Coat provides. Next time I’ll buff the surface with a 180-grit buffer to give the Gelish polish a better hold.
As surprising as it was, the Gelish polish soaked off the one nail easily and did not ruin the acrylic underneath. I soaked it for about 10 minutes with a cotton ball on top (not in a bowl of acetone) and the polish came off easily. The acrylic was noticeably softer underneath but it did not come off; I filed and buffed it as usual after a couple minutes.
My final verdict is that this product is a WIN. I’m so glad Gelish took the time to create this product for us! I will definitely continue to use it on my own nails and can now confidently begin offering it to my clients.
Have you tried the Gelish Dip system? What did you think of it?
(Note that I purchased the Gelish Dip system with my own money. I am not compensated in any way to provide a review of the Gelish Dip products. The opinions expressed in this review are my own, based on my personal experience with the product.)
Smoke & Mirrors nail art blog 
I recently purchased their starter kit at a nail tech event I went to. I was very reluctant to buy because the educator told me that I would have to drill off 90% and soak off the rest. I only hand file and was worried but my clients have been asking if I did the powder dips because the “discount salons” are offering them so I went ahead and bought. I tried it on myself 2x and it has lasted right at 2 weeks. I used no way rosa and second time June bride. Each soaked right off after a quick buff of the top coat and about 15-20 min with gelish artificial remover. I love their gel polish and have only ever used gel for enhancements so this is very new to me but I think I’m going to like it. Thanks for your write up on it.
Holly, thanks for sharing your experience with the Dip colors! I haven’t used any of the colors yet, so I’m glad to hear that they soaked off as easily as the clear.
I actually have a question, I’ve been using this system for the past 4 months and I’ve loved it. However, I purchased a new top coat and after applying it once, some parts get dried with a bit of shine, and others not shiny at all (of the same nail). Some nails show this, others are shiny. At first I didn’t think much of it so I applied the second coat. This did the same, no shine on some parts (almost like if I put on activator) and others really shiny. I recently seen this exact same thing also happen with the base coat (it happens right after I’ve already applied 2 coats of powder, put on the activator and waited the 20 seconds to dry). I am not sure what I could be doing wrong, I have gone through each step. The only thing I could think of is I do remember forgetting to clean my nails prior to applying the preparation (I only filed it down to take away the shine) but I don’t think this could be the reason. Any suggestions on what it could be?
Hi Kelly, I’m glad to hear you like the Gelish dip so far. I wonder if you need to dust or even wash your nails after filing to remove the shine? This would prevent the product dust from mixing in with the top coat and causing it to appear uneven. However, it seems like a second layer of top coat would correct the issue and smooth the surface of the nail. Or, perhaps you got a bad batch? You also might try emailing Gelish customer service to ask them it that is a possibility. Please let us know how it works out!
Thanks so much for replying so promptly! I did email them directly, they gave me the step by step instructions which I thought I already did, but realized that I was not wiping off any excess activator. I tried it again and made sure to do so and it looks like it may have done the trick. There are 2 nails with that “dull” area but it’s very minimal, I’m thinking maybe I needed to wipe off more of the activator. I feel like that’s the issue in my case. Thanks again!
I’m glad they got back to you so quickly and that it’s working. That’s good info!