MegaMix Nails. Turn Your Nail Polish Into Gel Polish!

 This is part two of my Mega Mix series. Please see my previous post on gel polish. 

So here comes the practical bit! 

I have prepared a little step by step for all y'all that are new to gel polishing and to show how to use Mega Mix, hope you enjoy!

You will need...

UV lamp

Nail polish of your choice

The three Mega Mix polishes (Amazin Base, Mega Mix and Amaze Glaze) 

A brush 

A nail buffer of 240 grit or more.  

Cotton pads. 

THIS STEP TO STEP IS GOING ON THE BASIS THAT ALL YOUR NAILS HAVE BEEN FILED INTO SHAPE AND YOUR CUTICLES HAVE BEEN PUSHED BACK. 

It is essential to remove all the cuticle off the nail plate or the gel will not adhere properly. 

1. To start you are going to want to remove the shine on your natural nail. Please do not use a regular nail file for this. Using a normal nail file will cause damage to your natural nail. I choose to use a grit of 240 or over. It is only to remove shine. so a couple sweeps of the nail file over your natural nail will do it. After you have done this then use some polish remover to clean your nail and make sure no dust remains.

As I am wearing a patch on my index finger (I had a very nasty break) I cannot put gel polish on that nail as when I remove the gel it'll soak it off. Soo i have decided to paint this nail with regular nail polish as a comparison. 

2. Time to apply the base coat. You only need a thin layer. Apply Amazin Base in the same way you would apply nail polish. Do not flood the nail with gel. I tend to do four fingers on one hand, then the next four. I choose to do the thumbs separately as its easier for me.

3. Cure the nails for 2 minutes in your UV lamp.

4. Now its time to mix your colour. You may find this easier to do BEFORE you apply base coat. If this is the case, then please move the mixed colour AWAY from the UV lamp as it can start to cure.

Start with a 50/50 ratio. It says on the website this can be increased to a ration of 80 polish to 20 gel. 

5. Apply your colour. This must be done thinly otherwise it may not cure correctly and could wrinkle. Make sure to use a brush soaked in acetone to clean up any mistakes. Once it is cured that way it cant be tidied up. Cure after layer for 2 Min's.

6. Continue step 5 until you have your desired coverage.

7. Once you are happy top it all off with Amaze Glaze. One coat. Cure again for 2 minutes. 

8. Wipe off the sticky layer with a weak alcohol solution or a gen finishing solution.

TaDa! 

Okay... 

My index finger nail shows Essie's Wheres My Chauffeur using 2 coats. The other fingers show the same polish, mixed with Mega Mix and using 4 coats. 

The coverage is so much better with the polish

The coverage was not very good with this mixed gel polish. This could be due to many things I suppose. The pigmentation of the polish and the ratios I used? You can see on my ring finger especially that it is quite patchy. I suppose when you mix a polish with a clear gel it is effectively going to "water down" the colour.

I was a bit disappointed with this but I suppose it is only my first go and maybe with a more pigmented polish it wouldn't be so streaky. I'm not sure if this is the next big thing? I really love the flexibility of wearing nail polish. I can change it in an instant. BUT I can see the appeal for those wanting longer wear time. 

Mega Mix is available to buy from Martin HERE

What do you think about this? Do you have any questions? 

Stay tuned, next time I will be trying another polish.....

This gel system was provided to me for my honest review, Please see my disclaimer for details 

An introduction to Mega Mix Gel Polish

Okay this may end up being a quite wordy post so I'm going to break it down into a couple posts. First post I am going to describe Gel polish and give you a bit of a background in case you didn't know about that and then second post I'm going to do a step by step tutorial about how to apply Mega Mix and my feedback. I then will do a post in the next coming weeks about using Mega Mix with Mica pigments and glitter so you can create your own gel polishes!  

Image taken from the Mega Mix website

Mega Mix is a product that enables you to mix your own nail polish or pigments with a clear gel to make your own gel polish. So no need to replace your nail polish with all new gel shades. BUT does it work?

Okay so gel polish has become very fashionable these last few years. Harmony Gellish and Shellac (not a gel polish, although people always think it is) have stood out as front runners in the industry. 

Gel polish boasts better wear time and the added bonus of adding strength to your natural nail as it a bit thicker than polish. The only thing is... what do you do with all your existing polish? WELL that's where I hope Mega Mix is going to bridge that gap...

*Puts nail tech hat on* I would usually never advise doing your own gel polish application and to always seek out a reputable salon. BUT nowadays many shops, Boots for instance, stock gel polish and lamps. I think as long as you follow the instructions to the letter and practise you will get a good result. 

Mega Mix is known as a soft gel. It is removed by soaking your nails with acetone using the foil method. 

The thing to remember is that gel polish doesn't apply in the same way as nail polish. You need to build the layers up very thinly and capping the nail is essential. Without this moisture will get under the gel and the gel will lift. Another big thing is you must stay away from the cuticle. Touch this and again the gel will lift. 

You will also need to purchase a UV lamp and some alcohol to wipe off the inhibition layer after you have applied the topcoat. The inhibition layer is a sticky layer that is needed to "grip" any additional layers of gel but when you have added the top coat you don't need that sticky layer anymore so the alcohol removes that. 

I know this is a wordy post with no pics *gasp* but I wanted to explain about gel etc. If you have any questions on this subject or any for that matter I am happy to help!