Why Does Gel Polish Wrinkle – How to Fix & Prevent

Why Does Gel Polish Wrinkle or Bubble- How to Fix & Prevent
Why Does Gel Polish Wrinkle or Bubble- How to Fix & Prevent

Gel polish will usually give you an amazingly smooth, colorful, and glossy finish. But sometimes gel polish can become wrinkly and bumpy.

Wrinkled and bumpy gel polish not only looks bad but is a sure sign that the gel manicure won’t last very long, which is why it needs to be fixed and prevented from happening in the first place.

So in this article, we are going to explain why gel polish can become wrinkled and how you can fix and prevent this from happening to you.

Related Article – 9 Reasons Why Gel Polish Peels Off & How You Can Fix it

Why Does Gel Polish Wrinkle or Bubble

Gel polish tends to wrinkle or become bumpy when it is not cured completely. This usually happens when:

  1. Gel Polish was not cured for long enough
  2. The gel polish was applied in thick layers
  3. Wrong type of nail lamp was used
  4. Nail lamp used is broken and bulbs not working

When gel polish isn’t cured enough the top layer of polish will be partially cured and semi-solid. Whilst the bottom layer will be semi-liquid.

And this causes bubbles, bumps and wrinkles to appear on the top layer of the gel polish due to the liquid bottom moving around which causes wrinkles and bumps on the surface.

Why Does the Gel Polish on Thumbnails Wrinkle or Get Bumpy

The most likely fingernail to wrinkle is your thumbs. This is because: when your hands are inside the nail lamp your thumbs tend to be at a slight downward angle. This causes:

1- The UV light to not directly hit the gel polish on the thumbnails which causes it to not cure completely.

2- Gel Polish to Pool in one area – If your gel polish is applied in very thick layer on your thumbnails because your thumbs are at an angle it can cause the gel polish to move from one area to another before curing causing it to become bumpy and wrinkly.

How to Prevent Gel Polish From Wrinkling

1- Ensure Your Gel Polish is Completely Cured

The best thing you can do to prevent wrinkles from happening to gel polish is to cure them completely. To do so try to follow the curing time given by the brand of gel polish. And if needed be you can cure your gel polish for a bit longer.

Its always better to over cure your gel polish than under cure them.

I have an entire article that will guide you on how long you need to cure your gel polish click here to read it.

2- Cure Your Thumbnails Separately

You should apply gel polish separately on your thumbnails and then cure it separately from the rest. Also ensure your thumbnails are pointed upwards when curing them.

This ensures that the gel polish on your thumb is cured completely and won’t shift around.

Related Article: 6 Reasons Why Your Gel Polish is not Curing & How to Fix

3- Apply Your Gel Polish in Thin Layers

Thick layers of gel polish are harder to cure and are more likely to wrinkle. So you need to apply your gel polish in thin layers and then cure each layer.

Video of How to Apply Gel Polish

4- Use the Correct Type of Nail Lamp For Your Gel Polish

There are different types of nails lamps such as UV and LED lamps and these will also have some variations too. Now some gel polish will only work with LED lamps whilst some will only cure under UV lamps.

Its recommended that you use the nail lamp that was recommended by the gel polish that you are using. This ensures that your gel polish will be cured.

You see most brands will test their gel polish with only their brand of lamps. So if you use mostly Gelish gel polish then consider sticking with Gelish recommended nail lamps.

But most gel polish cure under LED UV lamps which is the most common type of lamp and gel polish. So you should be safe with an LED UV nail lamp.

Recommended Nail Lamp

I highly recommend the Anself LED UV Nail Lamp it is a premium nail lamp with a very high wattage which means it works very fast. It is built with 28 bulbs at the perfect angle to ensure all your fingernails and toenails are cured.

The Anself is a bit pricey but its worth it, you can Click here to see the price of it on Amazon.

5- Ensure Your Nail Lamp is Working

Broken bulbs will reduce the effectiveness of the nail lamp. So if your nail lamp is very old and worn out, consider getting a new one.

6- Use High Quality Gel Polish

A Good quality brand of gel polish will have a nice formula that will apply smoothly and cure very quickly which will help to prevent wrinkles from occurring.

You can click here to read my recommendations for the best brands of gel polish.

How to Fix Wrinkled Gel Polish

There is no way to fix gel polish that has wrinkled, instead you need to remove it and then reapply the polish.

If you got your gel polish at a salon and don’t want to go back; you can watch the video below to see how to remove gel polish at home.

Or you can click here to read how to remove gel polish at home without using acetone.

Citation

Why My Gel Polish Not Cured