I find myself on a sudden — and very determined — mission to master gel.

I’ve been doing gel nails since I started back in ’92. I can even sculpt them on forms. I’ve tried a variety of brands over the years. Mostly, all I’ve really figured out for absolute sure is that I really like to squeeze my gel out of a bottle. Which, as we’ve discussed, is hard to find.

I have already worked out lots of kinks with gel and overcome some of the common "wisdom" regarding the creature, and I didn’t need Amy Becker to tell me that it’s OK to file the free edge after the final cure.

So what is it that is standing between my gel nails and Amy’s? Or some of those jaw-dropping European artists’?

Who knows. Probably practice, plain and simple. I do a lot of acrylic. And acrylic is still big here in the Central Valley — people who want gel have it in their heads that "gel" means super thin and short, or maybe they mean "gel-polish." They seem to be completely ignorant of the concept of gel as a sculpting medium.

Nevertheless, I remain on a mission to find my gel soul mate. A product that meets all my expectations and demands — that I can put in a squeezy bottle. Honestly! I don’t mind having to put it in a bottle myself! I know, I know, it’s such an arbitrary line in the sand, but it’s my arbitrary line in the sand, so there’s no use in trying to talk me off that ledge.

But you know what I’m finding not just frustrating, but downright bizarre? Website after website offer their line of gel products in a variety of colors — particularly coverage pinks and peaches — but do not show a photo of the color! I get that computer monitors differ, blah blah blah, and so colors you see online aren’t perfect representations of the colors in person, but seriously? NO color swatches? Not even a hint of your "warm pink," or "rose blush," or "translucent beige," or whatever each company calls its colors? That’s crazy!

And it’s not helping me at all. Like they say on the Interwebs, "Pix or it didn’t happen!" And by "it didn’t happen" I mean, I didn’t order anything. I’m just going to go back to watching Russian nail videos on YouTube and hope to learn by osmosis.

[photo courtesy of Bio Sculpture]