Sounds awesome right?
Well, I had a pleasant experience with it. It was thick and strong and lasted the full two weeks (to the day) they promised. It began to chip at that point, and I peeled them off (not the smartest idea). You're supposed to soak them off....either in pure acetone or a special "gel soakoff solution". Mine were loose enough at that point that it didn't do THAT much damage to my actual nail, though. The french didn't even chip on mine.
Bestie: not a great experience. Her nail tech wasn't as skilled (and also just didn't give a crap about doing a good job). Hers were chipping by the end of the day, and after a week of having them she hated them and started ripping her own nails to shreds trying to get them off. But she bought some pure acetone and finished getting them off with only minimal harm done. She's pregnant and already has strong nails so she has SUPER NAILS right now.
Downside to these: They're $25-$35 just for the gel part. That's not a manicure and the gel. That's JUST the gel. They're about the price of getting fake nails put on...because it's time consuming. HOWEVER, several nail supply brands: Sally Hanson, Gellish, Sephora, OPI, SensatioNail, Kiss...I can't speak to all of them. I haven't used them all.
There's a pretty good review on three of the "drug store" brands (Sally Hansen, SensatioNail, and Kiss) here: Gel Nail Review
The kit I chose was the SensatioNail because it came with a large UV light, enough color for 12 polish changes, and all of the liquids they use at the salon: gel prep, top/base coat, clear color coat, color coat, and remover.
Now you may think: I already own a base/top coat and color and remover. What's the point?
These are all SPECIFICALLY for use with gel and uv lighting. They are much different than your typical versions of this. If you don't follow the steps correctly then your nails won't turn out. But, it's all the same steps they take at a salon so I thought it was worth the investment at $49.99
I also bought an add on set for french because I really wanted french for bestie's wedding this weekend: $12.95 additionally.
You get a little pamphlet inside that tells you the steps, but basically they are as follows:
Rough your nails up with the file (the way you start any good manicure)
Wipe them off with a little dab of the acetone/remover on the lint free pads
Apply gel primer to one hand
Cure for 30 seconds (it will beep when 30 seconds is up)
Apply gel primer to other hand
Cure for 30 seconds
Apply base/top coat to one hand
Cure for 30 seconds
Other hand
Cure for 30 seconds
"Rim" the nails with base/top coat (basically make sure the tips are covered well)
Cure for 30 seconds
Now, here is where there will be a difference between a color coat and a french coat. For a color coat you would:
apply the color coat
cure for 60 seconds (that's the length the light stays on)
other hand
then rub over with acetone on a lint free wipe over each finger (that helps seal it)
cure for 30 seconds on each hand
For french:
(you have two options)
1. clear coat COLOR polish (it's clear but it's labeled as clear coat color. that's important, not the base/top coat).
cure 60 seconds (each hand)
Hand paint your tips with white color polish using either the cuticle pusher or any nail brushes you might have and the gel remover to fix mistakes.
Cure for 60 seconds (each hand)
Go over each nail with lint free wipe with acetone/remover
Cure 30 seconds (each hand)
2. Clear Coat Color Polish
Cure 60 seconds
Use the white nail tip "strips"
If you've used strip nails / nail "stickers" / premade french tips before you'll know the drill:
Find the right size for your nail (you can see them in the picture above)
Peel off the top layer of plastic
Press the strip to the nail at the desired height for "french tip" effect
Press it down hard enough that it sticks to your nail and comes off the plastic
File in a downward motion around the tip of the nail to remove the excess polish
--you may also have to "peel" some of it away. just make sure you've made a good indention around your nail so that the polish on your nail versus the polish hanging off are sort of like a perforated line.
If you need to shape or secure the edges use the flat part of the cuticle pusher to secure it.
Cure for 60 seconds
Use wipe with acetone to go over each nail
Cure for 30 seconds
Now it should be noted that the reason you use the wipe is to "seal" it. It's not to "erase" anything. If you need to "erase" then you'll need far more acetone/remover than you should be using to seal the nails. I'd suggest ebaying some professional nail brushes if you're going to spend much time doing french nails simply because they make the "erasing" easier. I got a whole set online, ebay, $3.50, free shipping.
Now back to the final steps you do FOR EITHER:
Apply base/top coat
Cure 60 seconds
Other hand same deal
Rim the nails again
30 second cure each hand
Use lint wipe with acetone over each nail
Cure 30 seconds
As you can see it turned out pretty well. I'm on day three and the ends are chipping just a bit, but I don't think I rimmed them as well after the tips were on. I'm going to do some white touchups and tell you how that goes. All in all though I would give SensatioNails at home gel manicure kit:
Difficulty: B (there are a lot of steps, but they're not THAT hard)
Time: About an hour
Price: B + (It's a steep one to start with, but when you look at what you get the value is great)
Overall: A- (I really feel like they do what they say they do, and once you've bought the kit -- about the cost of 1.5 gel manicures in a salon-- you get approximately 12 of them. There is a bit of a learning curve, but on my first go round -- which took an hour and a half but i'm quite sure I could cut it down to an hour or less next time -- I still got a pretty good result.)
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