Gel pedicure at home
A gel pedicure is a pedicure finished in gel polish, cured hard under a UV or LED lamp one coat at a time. It is dry when the tech packs up, so shoes go straight back on, and it stays glossy on your toes for longer than it would on your fingers.
Gel Polish for Feet is on our home service pedicure menu, and the tech brings the lamp to your house.
Gel pedicure vs regular polish
The pedicure itself is the same. The difference is the polish, and what curing it does to drying, wear and removal.
Why gel lasts longer on toes
A gel set looks old when the bare strip at the cuticle gets wide enough to see. On toes that strip grows in slowly. In a study of healthy young adults, fingernails grew about 3.5 mm a month and toenails about 1.6 mm, a little under half the speed. The big toenail was the fastest of the toes, and it is still the one you will notice first.
Source: Yaemsiri, Hou, Slining and He, Growth rate of human fingernails and toenails in healthy American young adults, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology 24 (2010), 420 to 423.
How a gel pedicure goes at your house
A chair, a towel for under your feet and good light are all the tech needs from you.
- 01
The pedicure first
Shaping, cuticle clean-up and callus buffing, as in the Classic Pedicure on our menu. The gel goes on clean, dry nails.
- 02
A thin base coat, cured
The base is what the color grips. It goes on thin and goes under the lamp.
- 03
Two color coats, each cured
Two thin coats rather than one thick one. A thick coat cures on the surface and stays soft underneath, and that is the coat that peels.
- 04
Top coat, cured, then wiped
The top coat seals the color and gives the shine. Any tacky layer left after curing is wiped off.
- 05
Cuticle oil
Last, once everything is hard.
Choosing a color or a design
One color on every toe is the classic, and red, nude and wine are the usual choices. A design on toes is usually kept to the big toes: a flower, a heart, a few dots, glitter or a little foil.
Pedicure designs has 24 ideas you can send with your booking, and nail colors for morena skin goes through shades by undertone.
Taking a gel pedicure off
Do not peel it. Gel pulled off takes the top layers of the nail with it. It is soaked off with acetone, the same way as gel on your fingers.
How to remove gel polish at home has the steps dermatologists give, or a tech can do it at your house with gel removal.
Gel pedicure questions
- What is a gel pedicure?
- A pedicure finished in gel polish rather than regular polish. Each coat is cured hard under a UV or LED lamp, so the color is dry when the visit ends and stays glossy until it comes off.
- Does gel last longer on toes than on hands?
- The grow-out line takes longer to show, because toenails grow more slowly. A study of healthy young adults measured fingernails at about 3.5 mm a month and toenails at about 1.6 mm.
- Can I wear shoes straight after?
- Yes. Gel is cured hard under the lamp before the tech moves on, so there is nothing wet to smudge.
- How do you remove a gel pedicure?
- It is soaked off with acetone, the same way as gel on fingernails. Do not peel it. Our guide to removing gel polish at home has the steps, or a tech can take it off at your house.
- Can I get a design on a gel pedicure?
- Yes. Designs on toes are usually kept to the big toes, a flower, a heart, a few dots or a little foil. The pedicure designs page has 24 ideas you can send with your booking.
- Can I have a gel manicure at the same visit?
- Yes. Gel polish manicure and gel polish for feet are both on the menu, and a manicure and pedicure can be booked together.
Want gel on your hands as well? Gel manicure at home explains it, or book a home service pedicure and add a manicure to the same visit.
Book a gel pedicure at home
Enjoy safe, salon-quality manicure and pedicure at home, with clean, sterilized tools, all delivered to your door.
Every day, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Appointments available daily.