DIY gel nails

Nail polish and my nails don't get along. Actually, they repel each other. I can spend an hour doing my nails carefully (cleansing, priming, base coat, two color coats AND a top coat) and the polish always chips at least 15 hours later. Expensive manicure? Forget it. It chips in about a day and peels off shortly after that.

Even through all the chipping, peeling and short-lived nail polish, I still love painting my nails. It's silly but I always feel prettier when they are painted and make a bad day a little better. There are few things worse than looking down and seeing nails that aren't maintained, or worse, having someone else (like an interviewer) notice a lack of maintenance. This may make me seem overly 'girly', but I strongly believe in taking care of yourself, and something as simple as keeping your nails moderately groomed shows you care about your body.

Due to the inability of my nails to keep nail polish on, I was ecstatic when gel nails became a "thing" a couple of years ago. Even better: at-home gel nail kits became a thing shortly after which allows me to save money on expensive manicures and fuel my polish addiction - wahoo!

UV light hardens the gel polish in literally one minute

My sister got me the SensatioNail Starter Kit for Christmas last year and I have been buying individual SensatioNail polishes ever since. There are so many color options, and even though they are slightly more expensive than regular nail polishes it's so worth it because it lasts longer and looks better.

Four days and still going strong with the perfect pink.

At-home gel polish doesn't last quite as long as a salon gel manicure (about 1 week versus 2 weeks), but it's still a better option than regular nail polish. It also takes patience and a little chunk of time to do gel nails correctly but it's about the same as painting with regular nail polish if you factor in drying time.

If you love having your nails painted but hate the constant attention it requires to maintain, definitely give gel polish a try - there are endless brand and color options to choose from! I'll take one in every color, please.