Hi everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend and gave your dad's some extra love on Father's Day! Today I want to show you my latest nail splurge. I went ahead and purchased the Nailene Sensationail Starter Kit which is an at home gel polish kit similar to the ever so popular Shellac. I had a Shellac manicure once, last year when I went on vacation, and while I liked the durability I did not like the acutal manicure I got. I found myself wishing I could just do that at home. Shellac isn't technically made for at home use (though I don't see why you couldn't use it the same way as you'd use this) and buying everything I'd need to do Shellac at home would be expensive, so when I saw this product on a few other blogs it piqued my interest. I have a vacation coming up in August and I was thinking of getting Shellac done again but then I decided "why not try that Nailene kit instead?" so I decided to buy it well before my trip to test it out.
I decided to purchase the Starter Kit which comes in Scarlet Red, Raspberry Wine or Pink Chiffon. I chose the Scarlet Red and I also purchased a polish in the color Taupe Tulips because I love greyed nudes; I plan to wear that one on vacation. The starter kit comes with an LED light, lint free cloths, a nail file (forgot to photograph that) manicure stick, a gel cleanser, gel primer, color gel polish and gel base/top coat. There's enough product in the starter kit for 10 applications and the kit has everything you need to complete your gel manicure. Have a look at the starter kit (minus the nail file I didn't photograph) below:
I gave myself a manicure using this today. Here's how it works:
I removed all polish from my nails, shaped my nails and buffed the top lightly with a nail file to remove all shine. Then I washed my hands. As instructed I took a lint free cloth with some of the gel cleanser and cleaned my nails of any debris. I did my thumbs fully first then did all four remaining nails one hand at a time. First you apply a thin layer of the primer, just around the edges, including the free edge. Then you apply a thin layer of the base/top coat (capping the nails) and cure under the lamp for 30 seconds (it lights up for 60 seconds but beeps at the 30 second mark). Then you apply one thin layer of color, cure for 60 seconds and repeat. Finally you apply a thin layer of the base/topcoat and cure for 30 seconds. After curing you take the lint free cloth with some cleanser and wipe the surface of all nails (don't worry, they're rock hard, you won't ruin the manicure at all). And that's it. Simple as can be. There's literally no drying time at all after that final cure. After I wiped the nails with the cloth I went and folded laundry. No nicks, no smudging, just a perfect manicure, similar to Shellac at the salon.
Here's how it came out:
I think they came out pretty good for my first time. If you make any mistakes and get color on the skin you can wipe it with the manicure stick before curing. When I capped my nails I got some underneath and I just took my regular clean up brush with some acetone and wiped it before curing and it worked well. If you don't get it off the skin before curing it will be difficult (impossible) to remove so be careful. I didn't have many issues though, I just took my time and applied carefully. Honestly, to me, it applied like regular polish just be sure to remember to keep the layers thin.
I will keep you all posted on the durability of this product. It says it can last up to two weeks but if it lasts a week to 10 days I will be happy with it. I will probably mostly use this for vacations so I hate having chipped nails and didn't like my last Shellac manicure because I like to do my nails my way.
I purchased this kit at CVS. It was $59.99 there but I had $5 Extra Bucks, a $3 off coupon from Sensationail's Facebook, and two $2 off beauty purchase coupon from CVS so it ended up being more like $47.99.... the second polish I bought was $11.99. I know you can buy this at CVS and Walmart but I am not certain who else carries it. If it ends up lasting as long as Shellac then it's well worth the price because Shellac manicures are pretty expensive. I plan on trying Shellac polish with this LED light as well, I think it should work (thoughts anyone?).
Like I said, I will keep you posted on durability and will post on removal as well. I have heard removal is tough so we'll see. I plan to use cuticle butters and oils nightly to keep my cuticles looking nice during the week (two weeks?). I will take photos along the way.
Have you tried the Nailene Sensationail system? What did you think of it?
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