Can You Use Regular Nail Polish With Gel

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Byrdie / Sabrina Jiang

The at-habitation manicure is a notoriously tricky endeavor. There'south a lot that goes into it, between having to paint a small expanse with your not-ascendant hand, impatiently waiting for the shine to dry, and so accidentally smudging it. Once your nails are done, you lot go do the dishes, and suddenly they're chipped.

A long-lasting manicure doesn't merely exist underneath the UV lights at a smash salon. We're talking about these UV-less gel nail polishes. They're formulated to be ultra-durable and withstand chipping for at least a week, and they come in really pretty colors.

Keep scrolling to meet the best gel nail polishes.

Ulta

What We Like

Goes on smoothly
Long-lasting
Wide range of shades
Pretty packaging

What We Don't Like

Can fleck

Who else recommends it? Expert Housekeeping, Glamour, and Who What Wear all picked the Essie Gel Couture Nail Polish.

What do buyers say? 4,200+ Walmart reviewers rated this product 4.half-dozen stars or college.

These polishes avowal both display-worthy packaging and a stellar formula that goes on without streaking or bubbling. The best part: It really does final up to two weeks.

Shades: 43 | Size: 0.5 fl. oz | Finish: Shimmer, smoothen | Cruelty-Free: No

Sephora

What We Like

Made with high-quality ingredients
Applies smoothly
Dries quickly

What We Don't Like

Expensive

This smoothen is infused with ingredients that are good for your nails, like greenish tea excerpt, biotin, and omega-half dozen fatty acids. The formula applies smoothly, dries quickly, and is long-lasting.

Shades: 18 | Size: 0.5 fl. oz | Terminate: Shimmer, shine | Cruelty-Costless: Yes

Ulta

What We Like

Shine smoothen coagulates upon awarding, keeping it neater
Flat, angled brush
Inexpensive
Broad shade range

What We Don't Like

Takes hours to fully set

This shine has a slightly thick formula that distributes well thanks to the broad brush. Information technology also comes in a wide range of colors (we're talking really, really wide), from light neutral pinks to bold blues. When combined with the corresponding top coat, it tin can sustain upward to a calendar week of chip-free vesture.

Shades: 64 | Size: 0.5 fl. oz | Finish: Shimmer, shine | Cruelty-Gratis: No

What Our Testers Say

"I'1000 a big fan of the shiny top coat—it's thick, easy to apply, and like in texture to a professional gel. If your polishing skills are on point, you can definitely achieve a glossy gel manicure that looks professional-form." — Kelsey Clark, Production Tester

Courtesy of Nordstrom

What We Similar

Loftier-gloss finish
Intense colors
Long-lasting

What We Don't Similar

Not a broad shade range

Vibrant and glossy are the top adjectives that come up to mind for this lacquer. Reviewers are too fans of the wide brush that makes for a streak-gratis application. One time dry, look it to far outlast your regular mani.

Shades: 10 | Size: 0.3 fl. oz | Finish: Shimmer, shine | Cruelty-Free: No

Courtesy of Amazon

What We Similar

Long-lasting
Resists chipping
Beautiful neutral shades

What We Don't Like

Can exist difficult to apply evenly

This smoothen is a non-streaky, super-shiny lacquer that comes in more than 60 shades and stays looking fresh for up to ten days. We are specially large fans of the nude and neutrals range for a clean and classic mani.

Shades: eleven | Size: 0.5 fl. oz | Finish: Shine | Cruelty-Gratis: No

Courtesy of Walmart

What Nosotros Like

Vibrant colors
Inexpensive
Dries quickly

What We Don't Like

The scent could carp some people

This budget-friendly shine combines base glaze and color in 1 application so you can achieve a salon-quality mani at home fifty-fifty on a time crunch.

Pro tip: Apply this nail smooth in thin layers to minimize drying time. Follow with the accompanying pinnacle coat for a manicure that stays shiny and scrap-costless far longer than its regular smoothen counterparts.

Shades: 7 | Finish: Smooth | Cruelty-Complimentary: No

Courtesy of Khol's

What We Similar

Rich, sleeky shades
Free of formaldehyde and other ingredients
Nice shade range

What We Don't Like

A picayune expensive

This polish comes in a range of super-pigmented, loftier-shine shades that look freshly painted for over a calendar week. Like all Butter London polishes, this one is formulated without formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, DBP, toluene, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, or TPHP.

Shades: 35 | Size: 0.4 fl. oz | Stop: Shimmer, shine | Cruelty-Free: Yep

Courtesy of OPI

What Nosotros Like

Works with whatever base colour
Resists chipping
Boosts polish

What We Don't Like

Can be messy to apply

Plow any blast color into gel polish with this natural light-activated top glaze. It imparts a glossy, high-polish finish that'southward chip-resistant for up to 11 days.

Shades: Articulate | Size: 0.five fl. oz | End: Polish | Cruelty-Free: No

Courtesy of Sephora

What We Like

Nourishing formula
High-gloss end
Brush makes it piece of cake to utilise

What We Don't Like

Must be used with base and top coat

This high-shine polish is long-lasting and conditioning. It's formulated to mimic the effects of a salon gel manicure and is made with a rare blossom extract that works to strengthen your nails.

Shades: 4 | Size: 0.five fl. oz | Finish: Shine | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Courtesy of Walgreens

What We Like

Dries quickly
Inexpensive
High-gloss finish

What We Don't Similar

Can chip

2 coats of this long-lasting polish are all you need—no pinnacle coat or base coat required. In the authentication of a truly good nail polish, it dries actually quickly.

Shades: 8+ | Size: 0.5 fl. oz | Finish: Smoothen | Cruelty-Free: Aye

What We Like

Cute shade
Reasonably priced
Long-lasting
Vegan

What We Don't Similar

Requires UV light

Okay, and so this shine does require a UV light, but it was too good non to mention, and you tin can purchase this at-home UV lamp to cure the polish yourself! If you have brown pare, then yous know the traditional implication of the give-and-take "nude" doesn't always apply, then this long-lasting dark-brown nude is a gem. With a mission to diversify nail care, yous can always feel confident that OOO Polishes volition look great on dark pare.

Shades: 1 | Finish: Shine | Cruelty-Free: Yes

According to our Diversity Pledge, 15 percent of products in our newly-published marketplace roundups will feature Black-owned and/or Black-founded brands. At the fourth dimension of publishing, we were not able to find enough gel polishes from Black-owned and/or Black-founded businesses to run into this pct. If you know of ane we should consider, delight email united states of america at contact@byrdie.com and nosotros will evaluate the product ASAP.

How Nosotros Researched & Tested

To compile this list, our team of editors and contributors spent hours researching the all-time products on the market in this category, evaluating their key features—like ingredients, shade range, or design—in addition to reviews from customers and other trusted sources. Our team as well incorporated their own personal experiences testing products in their own lives. Nosotros then used these insights from our research and testing to assign a star rating from ane to five (v being the best; one being the worst) to sure products on the listing.

Byrdie takes every opportunity to use high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our manufactures. Read our editorial guidelines to learn more most how we keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.

xi best gel smash polishes for a long-lasting, bit-free manicure. Practiced Housekeeping. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/nails/g33003945/best-gel-nail-polish
The best gel nail polish for shiny, chip-resistant nails that final (and last). Glamour. https://www.glamour.com/gallery/best-gel-blast-smoothen
Nosotros're just going to say information technology: these 13 gel shine brands rival a salon manicure. Who What Wear. https://www.whowhatwear.com/best-gel-nail-shine-brands