Really? Thanks AGAIN! $40 I can do - it's the hundreds I won't do. If I completely SUCK at it, I'm stuck with an expensive piece of equipment. lol.

I'll remember that tidbit about the bulbs, and I'll just order some replacements at the same time.

I can't wait to order it now!

Here's my first attempt at a french. I used 1 coat of Ambience, did the the white tips with the Gelish polish freehand (my Gelish white is sooooo thin! I had to do the tips 3 times just to get it opaque. Hmmmmm...) and then I made the ultimate mistake and put another coat of Ambience over the top because I prefer a soft white and I wanted to sort of hide my imperfect white tips (coverage not too even).

DOH! I should have used simple sheer over the top - I should have done 2 super thin coats of Ambience, white tips and a coat of simple sheer. The Ambience over the top made the tips really pink and it's not uniform. Tonight I will remove and try again!

I'm thinking of just doing a solid sparkle, lol. Like Simple Sheer base with Waterfield over the top. I'm not brave enough to try my incoco tips for the wedding, just in case they peel or get messed up - I don't want to be messing with my nails on this trip.

What other colors would look good with a navy evening gown and silver & rhinestone shoes???

ericader - nice job! and it's like you read my mind... I was actually going to ask you what colours you would use to make a decent french mani... I'm on the website to order right now and couldn't figure out which combo of light pinks and white would do it...

so, do you recommend curing between the base coat of ambience and the white tips? Did you cure between your 3 coats of white tips as well? I'm a total newb to this idea, sorry. :P

Erica your nails are loveley- again! Very nice job with the French Manicure. So classy and the smile lines are very good. I have Midnight Caller on right now. It is almost exactly the same color as "Gun metal" by Sally Hanson.

Danya- for the extra couple bucks you might just want to order two UV lamps instead of extra bulbs. For me it was little less then $20 buck difference- so I just bought another UV lamp. Another tip is after a couple months take the lights out and turn them over. This reveals the fresh side that does not have smudges of color from when you bump your nails.

Also- ladies please use cuticle oily twice a day. It works itself into the nail and the product. Give the product more flexibility and nourishes the cuticles.

I did base coat, cure, 1 coat ambience, cure, tips, cure, repeat tips if needed curing between coats, ambience again (my oops, don't recommend this over the white), cure, top coat, cure.

I love simple sheer for a typical French, and ambience is soooo pretty (it has sparkles!). I also own Moroccan nights and the vanilla one but haven't tried them yet. You can't go wrong with simple sheer and/or ambience!

Thank you very much for the info!!!! That's a lot of curing, but I bet it holds up a lot nicer than regular polish. I've been having to redo regular polish 2 to 3 times a week, just from chipping, etc. And every time DD asks me to fix HER polish, the polish remover starts to eat at mine too, which just means I basically have to do them every day... lol... vicious cycle.

Alexa - good tips! I might just get 2 lamps. Thanks for the tip about changing the lights around. I probably wouldn't have thought of that.

Oh the fun I'm having. It's like being a kid again!

I just ordered 3 colors along with the foundation and top it off! can't wait to try it out. I did ALOT of price shopping on the internet and decided to go with this site http://transdesign.com/Gel/GELISHSoakOffGel.htm I also ordered a 36W lamp from them for $60.

I tried that link you provided nberlowski... and they don't have the cleanser or remover in stock. And nail tech supply is out of the cleanser too... I wonder who's got it in stock??

i ordered the cleanser off of ebay last night, i think there are still a few yet. i've heard you can use regular acetone to remove it. has anyone else tried something other than the harmony remover and had luck?

Just ordered Bellas Vamp, foundation, top it off and a uv lamp!

I just had some Axxium nails done about two weeks ago and loved it! Normal polish lasts less than 24 hours on me and the Axxiums lasted the whole two weeks.

Decided to get something I can do at home and went with Gelish! Can't wait to get that package in the mail!

For those that have Bellas Vamp, would you say it's similar to Lincoln Park After Dark? I wear that color 95% of the time, so I hope it is!