Can topcoat be applied over regular polish? Manicure tips

A durable manicure made from new types of coating lasts a long time, but is it possible to apply a top coat over regular polish to achieve the same result?
After all, it is the top – the finishing layer – that protects shellac from water and washing powder, making it so strong and durable. This coating protects artificial nails from losing their bright colors. Women's hands often find themselves in an aggressive environment. The top serves as a real shield from any damage that spoils a woman’s manicure. The base provides a strong connection between the gel and the girl’s nail plate. The finishing layer, connecting at the tip of the nail with the base coat, encloses the manicure in a reliable shell to preserve beauty for a long time.

First way

One of the successful ways of combining different coatings was carried out as follows:

the natural nail plate is degreased with a primer;
paint your nails with regular polish;
dry it thoroughly in the air;
cover with top gel;
Dry the top under an ultraviolet lamp.

This combination of coatings lasts on the nails for quite a long time, up to thirty days. No chips or cracks.

When can an exception be made?

You can use regular polish over gel polish in certain situations. Reviews say that the service life of the coating will not decrease if you apply the product only as a decorative element. When creating designs, the main manicure will require minimal stress, which means chipping will be avoided.

Combination of red and white

If you coat the gel polish with regular varnish in the following cases, you can get a good result:

apply products to your nails using a gradient technique;
cover the finished manicure with dots or other small decorative elements;
get a French manicure;
when the life of the coating is nearing completion and you need to paint over the overgrown part of the nail.

Lumene Gel Effect Nail Polish

Second way

The first layer is applied the base gel. It is dried until completely hardened under a lamp. After this, colored regular varnish is applied. We wait in the open air. It dries in just 10-15 minutes. If you decide to make several layers of color coating, apply them one at a time, waiting for each individual layer to dry completely.

Only after all multi-colored coatings of regular varnish have completely dried should the top gel be applied. When applying the topcoat, be sure to make a few strokes along the edge of the nail plate. This way you will pack layers of plain varnish into shellac, creating a durable shell.

The top must be exposed to ultraviolet radiation for a certain time. It is a polymer and will not harden when exposed to air. By changing the molecular structure of the gel, UV drying ensures the strength of the composition for a long time.

Some manicurists do not recommend combining layers of simple varnish and shellac. But such combinations begin to come together like an accordion or quickly chip, only if the coating technology is violated. For example, having applied too thick a layer of simple varnish and not waiting for it to dry completely, the girls covered their nails with shellac and ruined all the beauty.

Preparation

Whatever decoration method is chosen, it is important to get your hands in order. Beautiful and well-groomed, they will tell everything about their owner. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate all defects, always maintaining an ideal condition. Hygienic manicure goes through the following stages:

push back the cuticle with a spatula, do this to the maximum distance, because the coating is quite durable and the base will last about 3 weeks, cut in a single line so as not to leave hangnails, you can also use a special grinding machine;
file down the top keratin layer with a buff; if there are delaminations or a very thin sensitive plate, it is better to first strengthen it with salt baths and oils, and only then proceed with color design;
Use a brush to remove sawed-off dust particles; additionally, you can wipe with lint-free wipes;
treat with primer, covering with a thin layer, and wait about a minute; it is important not to touch the plates during this period in order to further ensure the strongest possible fixation;
then it’s the base’s turn, spread in a thin, even layer, paying special attention to the free edge, and cure in a UV lamp, usually the manufacturer specifies 1-2 minutes;
use lint-free wipes to remove the sticky layer; there are no other analogues, but cotton pads can seriously ruin your manicure;
then cover with colored gel and dry in a lamp for 1-3 minutes; if the shade seems too faded, apply another layer; an important rule is to polymerize each separately;
and at the end the plates are covered with topcoat, dried, and the sticky layer is removed with napkins.

That's it, the helium manicure is ready to be decorated with regular varnish. It is not recommended to apply a layer of colored gel without a finishing coat; the appearance will not be very good, and the practical properties will also be disappointing. Any manicure does not like the first day after active actions with water, so all housewives and lovers of relaxation near bodies of water should wait. When decorated with regular varnish, the design will last about a week, but a durable color coating, of course, will delight everyone.

Familiar varnishes

Many beauties today can afford to buy a variety of colors of simple varnishes from Jean Ashley, Golden Rose and many others.

Incredibly beautiful shades of deep dark cherry, with a wine tint or blue with silver splashes of small sparkles. Black, white, green, blue. With the help of a whole rainbow of colors and the finest brushes, patient craftswomen create magnificent miniature pictures that adorn well-groomed hands. On the nails you can see small polka dots, stripes, elegant openwork patterns, curls, flowers, hieroglyphs, tints and shimmers.

French

Not only the classic pink and white palette, you can use any contrasting combinations, in one palette, and even in one color, using matte and glossy finishes. A very simple technique that always looks stylish and impressive. This is done as follows:

you need to cut strips of adhesive tape, it is better to use painter’s tape than stationery tape, giving the shape of a smile with curved nail scissors, you will need 10 pieces in total, according to the number of nails;
then secure it in such a way that the free edge with the gel remains sealed, and the free area, right up to the cuticle itself, is covered with regular varnish;
wait until it dries, this may take about 20 minutes;
then cover with topcoat and cure in a lamp, remove the sticky layer.

Using adhesive tape, you can create stripes and also use it as a stencil for drawing stars, symbols, figures and other ideas.

About Shellac

Of course, a manicure made using polymers looks amazing: super-shine, beautiful designs, a dense coating that lasts flawlessly from three to ten weeks. Basically, until the manicurist cuts it off. This pleasure is quite expensive. But today Chinese gels have appeared, cheaper. The shellac application procedure is completed by a master within several hours. To maintain the integrity of the coating, you must not work with water for 12 hours.

Can every woman afford such luxury? In fact, dedicate the whole day just to manicure? And is it worth throwing away a lot of simple varnishes in wonderful colors? Many girls who are fond of shellac complain about the negative effects of polymers on the nail plate.

Main characteristics

Women who often paint their nails pay close attention to the composition of the coloring liquids. The girls understand perfectly well that product safety should come first. Only then are indicators of the durability of the coating, ease of application and aesthetic appearance taken into account. The new product, which became a kind of hybrid of gel and varnish, gained trust in the shortest possible time. A high-quality coating that does not cause damage to the nails thanks to its natural resin base, strengthens the nails. Applying shellac requires quick and simultaneous distribution of the coating over the entire surface of the nail plate. Taking into account this feature, shellac is produced not in jars, like gel, but in bottles with flat brushes. After application, just expose your nails to the rays of an ultraviolet lamp to completely dry the shellac. The perfectly smooth coating is also endowed with noticeable lightness, which distinguishes the new product from the already familiar modeling.

The hybrid owes its high characteristics to the absence of formaldehyde in the composition, even in the form of resins, as well as toluene and monomers hazardous to the health of the nail plate. That is why shellac can be used even by those who have noticed allergic reactions to ordinary varnishes. Under this coating, hard nails acquire healthy flexibility, while weak and soft nails acquire hardness.

The absence of the need to remove shellac for about 14 days, combined with its resistance to damage or chipping, eliminates the possibility of injury to the nails. Using shellac allows you to reduce visits to a manicurist to two per month, and at the same time your nails will be in perfect condition. Manufacturers took into account women's need for a rich palette of shades. Representatives of the fair sex can choose a color to suit their mood or wardrobe.

Compliance with shellac application technology guarantees an even coating that will last for at least two weeks. First, you should avoid contact with any oils or creams. Just one drop is enough, and the shellac will not last even one week: it will crack, crack, and “wrinkle.” The composition can only be applied to dry nails. Preliminary contact with water softens the nail plate; if it dries completely, taking its usual shape, already under shellac, then instead of a smooth and even surface, the owner of such a manicure will receive a “broken glass” pattern.

Is it possible to apply a design under the gel with a simple varnish?

Manicurists who work with gel do not advise doing this. It is argued that the layers may not adhere to each other. Allegedly because polymers are sticky, while simple varnishes do not have a sticky film. This leads to the fact that the manicure chips and slides together like an accordion.

Some people advise covering an already made completely shellac nail with colored varnish. That is, paint over the top-finish coating. Since the top is a polymer, regular Golden Rose will stick to it more firmly than on a natural nail plate. When you get tired of the last design or color, Golden Rose can be wiped off with nail polish remover and a new design can be applied directly to the top.

However, there are such brave girls who, when asked whether it is possible to apply top coat to regular nail polish, answer yes! And apply the finishing coat of gel to the design of a simple varnish. But in order for the layers to adhere well to each other and sit firmly on the nail plate, you need to calmly wait for all layers of simple varnish to dry completely. Only then apply the finishing coat of gel. Then you will get a wonderful design from inexpensive ordinary varnishes, of which you have quite a lot of accumulated at home. The whole procedure will take a little time. Because working with regular varnish is much easier and faster. The drying procedure is shorter. And the topcoat will preserve its beauty for a long time.

Additional Variations

There is the option of applying regular varnish to an already dried top coat.

For example, having shellac on her nails and remaining completely satisfied with its condition, the owner of a manicure urgently needs to change the color of the coating or its intensity. You can try applying regular varnish on top, but you should be careful with its composition. An unsuccessful experiment will make the surface of the nails swollen and uneven. Liquids containing acetone should be excluded from the test samples. Such experiments also have another negative side.

Once you find a suitable varnish that adheres well to shellac, it will be impossible to remove. Shellac is afraid of acetone, and most nail polish removers are made based on it. Using liquids without acetone also does not solve the problem. The ideal coating, which did not lose its brightness for 2-3 weeks, becomes cloudy after treatment with such a liquid. If the result is positive (the varnish was applied in an even layer and even wiped off), you will have to repeat the repainting procedure until the time comes to remove the shellac.

The reason lies in the inability of conventional varnish to stay on such a surface for a long time. Frequent use of solvents, in turn, significantly increases the risk of damage to shellac. You can use the option of applying regular varnish over shellac, taking into account the color match on the regrown areas of the nail plate, in order to hide imperfections in cases where it is not possible to visit your manicurist.

Application technique

When applying the finishing coat, you must carefully cover the entire painted surface. Don't forget about the ends. If they are not treated, then after a while the gel in these places will begin to peel off. The finishing varnish must be completely sealed.

If the gel has a sticky layer, it must be removed, otherwise your nails will become covered with dust. Wash with either a lint-free cloth soaked in a special liquid or a degreaser. Some of the produced options are also designed for removing the dispersion layer.

What types of gels are there?

Gels may or may not have a sticky layer. Some models give a glossy glow, others - a matte one. As a rule, masters prefer to use gels that do not have a sticky layer. They are easy to use and liquid. The applied layer hardens in 2-3 minutes. You also won't have to remove the sticky layer. There is no need to degrease the nail before applying it. Over time, a yellow tint will not appear.

It is necessary to take into account the nuance that if 30% of the nail or more is occupied by the design, then it will not be possible to use a finishing gel without a sticky layer. To secure the design, it is better to use a clear varnish. Some experts recommend using a finish with a sticky surface. If you skip this stage, the drawing will quickly become covered with cracks.

If the mater uses a gel with a sticky layer, then you can remove it only after the nail has cooled. Then the drawing will shine. In addition, this approach provides resistance to mechanical damage. To avoid stains on the coating, you need to buy only high-quality gels.

Gels also have varieties. If the sticky layer is thick, then the varnish has a viscous consistency. The drying process in the lamp will take less than two minutes. This gel is often used to correct nail defects.

The matte finish gel must be applied in two layers. Each one is dried for at least 2-3 minutes. It is used when working with both acrylic and gel, gel polish. The mother-of-pearl version has inclusions of various colors (gold, silver, blue, and so on). Separate topcoats are available for gel polishes. They have a sticky layer. Gives special strength.