Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been getting my nails done for years (usually acrylic) but my manicurist turned me onto gel polish and I loved it! Gel polish stays looking newer for a longer period of time because it keeps its shine. My acrylic could last for weeks if not for the surface polish (regular nail polish) that will have chipped or dulled in less than 2 weeks. With the gel polish over acrylic I could go much longer without a fill because my nails still look new and shiny even after 3+ weeks of nail growth. Though I haven't gotten acrylic lately I still enjoy polishing my nails at home. Polish usually lasts about 5-7 days for me depending on how much effort I put into prep work and the type of polish I use. I first saw this kit at Walmart and thought it was too expensive to try. Finally saw it at CVS instead with a $10 off coupon next to it recently and bought the kit. It came out to something like $40. Upon opening box I was pretty impressed with the UV lamp - it looked high quality. I was less impressed with the other tiny, tiny, bottles of gel cleanser, base/top coat, gel color, and primer. It would have been nice to have larger bottles of product. The instructions were LONG. Not that any of it was complicated, but there were a lot of steps involved. Half of these steps I already do when I put regular polish on anyway. (File, clean, etc.) No big deal really. It's helpful that they give you a summarized reference card in addition to detailed instructions so you don't have to read the long instructions over and over again. The process: 1. I took my old polish off using regular remover and cotton. This will prove to be a huge no-no later with the lint from cotton. 2. Using their lint free wipe, clean nails with "Gel Cleanser". 3. Applied "Gel Primer" to nail in a circle (though I did a box shape) around my nails. Air Dry. 4. Apply thin layer of "Base/Top Coat". This is clear so I couldn't tell whether I was applying thin or not. At this point I notice little fuzzies everywhere on my nails from cotton earlier. Doh! Oh well, must keep polishing! Cure for 30 seconds...the lamp beeps after 30 seconds and turns off after 60 seconds. 5. Apply thin layer of "Color Gel Polish". As I am doing this I accidentally swiped my other hand with cured base coat against my sweater sleeve. Not only do instructions not tell you that curing doesn't set your base/top coat but your nail surfaces are quite sticky right now and you have to be very careful. Grrr..More fuzzies all over my nails. Must continue color gel polish. Cure for 60 seconds. 6. Repeat with second coat of "Color Gel Polish" and cure for 60 seconds. The fuzzies are annoying me but thankfully since my nails are not set I am able to remove some of them as I am applying polish. At this point nails are still super, super tacky. Stay away from dirt, lint, everything! 7. Finally, apply one more thin coat of "Base/Top Coat" and cure for 30 more seconds. 8. Take the lint free wipe, put some "Gel Cleanser" on it and wipe it over surface of nails. This takes away that tacky/sticky layer. Viola! Done! Pros: - Gorgeous, mirror like shine, gel manicure that looks incredibly professional. Shines like crazy. - No strong odors at all. I was surprised that it barely had any. No odors on nails after either. - I figured out during process that if lint sticks to polish after curing you can clean it up with the "Gel Cleanser" and continue on to next step of polishing. It turns out that the polish IS set underneath the sticky layer on top and you can just wipe it away with the cleanser. - Polish color has depth, no streaks at all. - Read instructions once and just referred to reference card afterwards. Pretty easy. - Nice UV lamp. - Though it seems like long process, it's not. Remember you are not curing each finger, you are curing one hand at a time (minus the thumbs). - Save money in long run (maybe not time because of removal). Cons: - Probably should have mentioned in instructions that your nail surfaces will be sticky through entire process until last step. - Not much product in kit. - Price is sort of high. Bottles of polish cost around $10. Refill kits I think are slightly higher or around same price. - Removal time and effort is expected to be high. It's a given whether you get acrylic, brush on gel, etc. I have not tried a product that did not require the use of a Dremel, literally, to take the manicure off. If this is a concern of yours, you could still purchase this kit and do a clear gel overlay on your nails instead. Let your nails grow out or do your own fills. - Not good for people that like to switch colors often. - And last, the whole UV lamp thing does concern me. Is it dangerous to be using this thing? Conclusion: Though I'm dreading the removal part because I've had to go through similar process with brush on gel before, I am overall very satisfied with the outcome. It's my first time using this and my nails came out great despite the couple of snafus. I still have fuzzies in my nails but you can't even tell because it's so ridiculously shiny. I'll upload a picture for everyone. ***Follow up 7/25/12 I am still a VERY happy user of this gel kit. I just wanted to update on removal methods (and it's really not that bad!) Pure acetone soak: I went and purchased pure acetone from the beauty shop (it comes in plastic bottle in different sizes). Poured some into a glass bowl and soaked for 10 minutes. (This is after I had filed the shiny layer off surface of nails). After 10 minutes I noticed gel had softened on nails. Taking an orange stick I scraped the gel off one finger at a time. It was not difficult whatsoever. Your hands don't look pretty during this process. The gel doesn't come off in one piece, it sort of shaved off...like if you were to take a chocolate bar and a peeler to get some chocolate shavings lol. Even when I soaked other hand for longer I still had same experience. Some people put the bowl of acetone into another bowl of hot water. I have not tried that method yet. If you try this method make sure you have a good surface to work with and a glass bowl. I originally put it in plastic and it melted the plastic. Also the acetone can eat away at your furniture/laminate. I'm sure adding heat would have helped but I have a small apartment and not much workable space to do anything. Other reviewers seem to say that is key to easy removal. The peel off method: I know, this is not the "prescribed" method but I just scrape it off my nails without the acetone. I found that this was less messy and since gel wasn't soft from acetone soak, came off in bigger chunks. Any remaining gel I just filed away. The traces of gel normally stick to where you had placed your primer. So don't go overboard on the primer! I have not used acetone since and I've done my nails several times since then. If your natural nails are pretty strong then you can probably get away with this method as well. The other peel off method: This is the fun one. I skipped the primer when I put the gel on. The resulting manicure looked just as good though didn't last as long. And when you are tired of your manicure all you do is peel it off each finger in one piece. It reminded me of the polish we used as children that peeled off in what looked like a layer of vinyl. It was fun but don't expect it to last weeks or anything. Great for anyone with commitment issues :) Final tip: Watch out for that primer. The more you put on, the more difficult it is to take off gel. It's like super glue. 9/11/12 Just a quick update. (Still loving the system btw!) They have a new tool now that looks like a scraper, costs about $5 and works GREAT in helping remove polish. Looks sort of like a mini curved spatula. I have not gone back to using the acetone at all and continue to just remove polish by scraping it off dry. With this added tool I can remove my polish in less than 10 minutes. Do use care when using the scraper not to dig in and damage natural nail! I use primer sparingly....so if your polish is not coming off easily you will need to soak your nails in pure acetone to soften if you have trouble.