I was on the fence about gel nails for such a long time. I loved the way they looked but I am a fickle soul and the fact that I like to change up my nail polish so regular made me think a gel nail kit would be a waste of time.Well I ended up changing my mine and asked for the Sensationail Deluxe Gel Starter Kit for Christmas. I think the thing that swayed me was that in April, baby will be here and lets face it I will not have time to be painting my nails every few days like I often have in the past so getting this means (hopefully) I can still have well manicured nails whilst looking after my little one.
The Sensationail Deluxe Starter Kit comes with,
- 2 Colour Gel Polishes
- Gel Base & Top Coat
- Gel Primer
- Gel Cleanser
- 2 Glitters
- Nail file/buffer
- Manicure Stick
- Removal Tool
- Lint Free Wipes
- LED Lamp
Basically everything you need for an at home gel manicure. The only thing you need to buy extra is acetone for when you need to remove the gels.
There is simple step by step instructions included which I found really easy to follow and having the two colours and glitters you have a range of shades and effects to practice with before you need to buy more colours.
My first application I used the gorgeous shade Raspberry Wine which unfortunately only lasted just over a week. I think this is due to the fact I applied the layers too thickly and got some of the base and top coat on my skin which meant the gel lifted after a while. Learning from my mistakes I tried the shade Pink Chiffon next and with a more steady hand applied the coats more accurately and thinner. This proved much more effective and the polish lasted about 11 days before it started to look a bit worn and one of the nails started to lift at the edge.
When it comes to removing the gel polish I will admit, it is a bit of a faff and quite time consuming. I use the foil technique and soak a cotton pad in acetone and wrap it round my nail with tin foil. They say to leave it on for 15-20 minutes then use the removal tool to lift the gel away. I found I need to leave the acetone on for a good half an hour and I still had to scrape some areas with the tool to remove all the gel.
Unfortunately this does mean the nails do get a little damaged so maybe invest in some good almond oil to keep your nails healthy.
Even though it is a bit of a faff to remove I love this kit from Sensationail. I love having a perfect manicure for nearly two weeks without worrying about chips. I can see this being something I get a lot of use out of and I already have a long list of new shades I want to pick up.
You can pick a Sensationail Nail Kit up from Boots for £69.99.
Have you tried an at home Gel Manicure set? Is there any colours you recommend I pick up?
