Gel Polish vs Regular Nail Polish: Which Should You Choose?

If regular nail polishes have always been your go-to, but you’re considering moving over to gels, this is the post for you! You might be wondering ‘what’s the difference between the two?’ and ‘what makes gel polish so special?’ – fortunately I’m going to aim to answer all your questions down below!

So, if you want to know whether you should stick to traditional manicures or make the switch to gel polish, keep reading!

What’s the difference between gel polish and regular polish?

The main difference between a gel manicure and regular manicure is that gel polish needs to be cured using a UV or LED lamp in order to stick to your nails, whereas regular polish adheres by air drying.

A Quick Comparison

	Regular Nail Polish	Gel Nail Polish
Longevity	Lasts about a week	Can last for around two to three weeks
Price	Most drugstore polishes are around £3 – £8	Quality gel polishes usually cost upwards of £7
Drying Process	Air dry	UV or LED curing
Drying Time	>15 minutes	<1 minute
Removal	Can be removed with a few swipes of acetone or non-acetone nail polish remover	Needs to be soaked in acetone nail polish remover for 15 minutes

Regular Nail Polish

Pros

NO EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Unlike with a gel manicure, all that’s required to get started is the nail polish itself. You don’t need a lamp or any type of prepping solution. At most, you’ll need an extra base coat and top coat, but you can definitely get away with just using your single chosen shade.

EASY TO REMOVE

If you’re someone who likes to switch up their manicure pretty often, regular nail polish is an obvious choice. Unless you’re using glitter polish, you can usually remove your base shade with just a few swipes of nail polish remover.

CHEAPER

There’s no doubt that regular nail polish is a whole lot cheaper than gel polish. This obviously varies depending on the brand – a designer nail polish is of course going to cost more than a budget gel alternative. But, on the whole, you’ll find that regular nail polishes are much kinder to your purse.

Cons

RUINS EASILY

I can’t be the only one who’s painted their nails, started on another task, then realised that they’ve completely smudged their whole manicure. Because regular polish takes ages to fully dry, there’s a high chance of ruining it when it’s still tacky. Not only that but regular nail polish is prone to chipping and cracking. So, even when it is dry, you’re still not out of the woods!

STAINS NAILS

Dark polish always comes with the added risk that it’s going to stain your nails. Sure, a thick base coat can help a little, but somehow the polish manages to discolour them anyway! This doesn’t seem to be so much of an issue with lighter, pastel shades. However, there’s still a slight chance that yellowing will occur.

Gel Nail Polish

Pros

LONGEVITY AND DURABILITY

It’s no secret that gel polish lasts waaaay longer than its regular counterpart. If you’re looking to save a little time – yep, gel polish doesn’t require regular touch ups – then a gel manicure is definitely the way to go.

BETTER FINISH

Since gel polish doesn’t start drying as soon as it leaves the bottle, you have much more time to play with when you’re painting your nails. This means you can even out any streaks or fill in gaps without the coverage looking patchy. Gel polish also tends to be a lot glossier than regular polish, so the final look is not only smooth, but super shiny too.

QUICK DRYING TIME

It takes around 15 to 30 minutes for regular nail polish to stop feeling tacky. But did you know that nail polish actually needs 24 hours to dry fully?! With gel polish, the longest amount of time you’ll spend waiting for your nails to cure is one minute. It’s so much quicker!

STRENGTHENS NAILS

If your nails are naturally weak, gel polish offers them extra protection. Of course, this only applies when you’re actually wearing the polish – think of it as a type of shield. When you’re removing your gel manicure, you’ll want to be really gentle so as not to damage or weaken the nails any further.

Cons

STEEPER LEARNING CURVE

It takes a little while to get used to the process of doing a gel manicure. Added steps like buffing and prepping the nail plate are easy to forget, and you’ll need to be really careful not leave gel polish on the skin while curing.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Gel polish needs to be cured with a UV or LED lamp, so this is an essential purchase when you’re first starting to do gel nails. You’ll also need things like prepping solution and acetone nail polish remover, which can easily be bought but are still an added expense.

A cost effective way to buy all the equipment you need is with a starter kit. The Mylee Convex Curing Lamp Kit is my recommendation and you can read my review of it here.

PRICIER AND HARDER TO GET HOLD OF

Gel nail polishes are inevitably more expensive than regular nail polishes. The difference in price isn’t always huge, but it’s definitely more costly to build up a gel collection. You’ll also find that it’s far easier to pick up regular nail polish at the drugstore than it is gel polish. Many gel brands sell exclusively online or will only sell to professional nail salons. This makes it slightly trickier to pick up the shades you want.

POSSIBLE SAFETY HAZARD

UV light exposure is linked to photoageing and skin cancer. While the FDA states that nail curing lamps are a low risk – you’d need to be spending an excessive amount of time with your hand under the light to do serious damage – it’s still worth applying sunscreen or wearing UV-blocking gloves while you do your nails.

You also need to be careful about cleaning up any gel polish that gets on your skin and curing your nails fully. Gel polish that is not properly cured can lead to allergies, so always follow the instructions on your lamp and wipe off any product that gets onto your skin before curing.

So, which should you choose?

In the end, it’s really down to preference. If you’re someone who doesn’t have the time to constantly be reapplying or touching up your manicure, then gel polish might be a better fit. But if you like to change up your look often, and you’re looking for an affordable way to do so, regular nail polish would be more suitable.

What type of nail polish do you prefer: gel or regular? Let me know in the comments below!