Gelish Mini Basix Kit (Press Release)

At-home gel polish kits are popping up everywhere you turn, from Sephora to CVS. And it’s no wonder why – saving you both time AND money, they’re a no brainer! Gelish® MINI’s at-home gel polish system provides the long-lasting color you crave, and at just $90 total, it’s a fraction of the cost of most other at-home gel polish kit’s on the market.

The Gelish® MINI formulation lasts up to 3 weeks, does not damage the natural nail bed and comes in a wide array of eye-popping colors. Gelish® MINI is available at SallyBeauty.com. 

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Who's tried Gelish? I haven't yet but plan to soon! I'd love to hear about your favorite Gelish colors and your thoughts on the products. Sound off in the comments below!

Disclosure: Information and photos provided by company PR.

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Sensationail: Taupe Tulips

Hi everyone! Wonder what I wore on my nails during vacation last week? I decided to go neutral and long lasting with Sensationail's Taupe Tulips. I HATE chipped nail polish so I knew I had to chose something that would hold up all well so Sensationail was it for me. I went with this neutral color so I'd match all of my clothes for the week. I love this one. 

I wore it for 10 whole days with no chipping at all. The only thing I dislike about wearing these polishes for so long is the growth at the end of the week. 

This time when I removed it I used the Gel Polish Remover Tool which I picked up at CVS for just $4.99. This proved to be an essential tool for removal and it went much smoother with the tool than it did without it my first go around. I have no damage at all. If you buy the system do yourself a favor and get the tool. It's worth the extra $5 for sure.

What do you think of this one? Have you tried Sensationail yet?

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Sensational Removal

Hi everyone! Today I want to talk about how I removed my Sensationail manicure. I am so annoyed right now because ALL WEEK I have been trying to get the video I took of the process off of my iphone and I have been unable to do it. I tried emailing it, uploading it right to YouTube, uploading it to facebook, plugging the phone in and downloading it, nothing worked! I am so sorry. I will try to explain the process the best I can.

Removal was not as bad as I was expecting. Reading other reviews made me DREAD the removal process but honestly with some patience it was not too bad.  Here's what I did:

First I buffed off all of the shine with the file included in the kit. Then I used the glitter polish removal method and soaked cotton rounds in acetone and place them on my nails and wrapped them in foil. I let my nails soak for 15 minutes and then removed the foil/cotton. Once I removed the cotton/foil (which was on the VIDEO I can't show) it didn't look like the polish was going to budge. However, all I needed to do was take the manicure stick, provided in the kit, and scrape the polish off. The polish then flaked off, like dust. On spots that were harder to remove I simply used the nail file to buff it off.

While removal wasn't difficult I do feel like my nails were majorly dehydrated. I went a little overboard cutting them down after because they got really long over those 9 days, so the last photo of my shorter nails is not all the fault of Sensationail, I simply went a little crazy getting them shorter. They were not severely weakened from the maincure but they were dry and had virtually no shine.

Honestly it wasn't difficult to remove. Time consuming, yes, but difficult, no. I really wish I could get this video on here to show you because it came out good, but I cannot get the thing off of my phone!

Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments and I would be happy to explain the removal further!!! Have a great day!!!

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Sensationail Update

Hello everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Steve and I had a great weekend. On Friday we went to the hibachi with some friends and had a blast. On Saturday we went to our nephew's 2nd birthday party. We had a great day! 

Steve and I at the hibachi:

I wanted to give you all a quick update on my Scarlet Red Sensational manicure. Today is day 9 and the manicure is going strong.  However my nails have grown a lot so it's driving me a little crazy. Other than that, they are still shiny and have not chipped. There is some tip wear but only on the very edges of the tips, it has not traveled to the tops of the nails at all. I am impressed.  Here's some photos from the last 9 days...

So far so good everyone. I am really impressed with this system.  When I remove it I will be sure to report back on removal.

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Nailene Sensationail: Scarlet Red (Day 1)

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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