Gelly Polish

So this is an at home gel manicure starter kit. I have no experience with gel polishes at all so this is all new to me. I received this kit as a gift and was wondering why I never thought to try out a gel polish. Then I checked the prices of them. They are crazy expensive! I didn't know what all the hype about them was, but apparently they have this super tough no chip formula that lasts up to 2 weeks. But the price of this kit alone is crazy! It's about $60.00 at the drugstore price, but it was on sale (which is awesoommmee). But why so expensive? I'm not sure about nail salon prices since they vary by area, but it costs about $30.00 to $50.00 to get a gel manicure by a professional. This kit offers enough supplies for that same manicure ten times. So I guess if you think about it that way, you're saving money by buying this kit once and using it over and over again. But for me personally, I feel like you're really just paying for the fancy schmancy lamp it comes with. It's an LED lamp (not a UV one!) that cures your polish and treatments in as little as 2 minutes. The color my kit is in is "Pink Chiffon," but there are other color choices available.

Let's open it up and see the stuff!

So, the lamp runs off of a power cord to plug into the wall rather than batteries, which is pretty neat. It also it full of tiny light bulbs and apparently they never run out. You never have to replace them, BUT, it does have to be maintained after each manicure. You have to clean it to keep the mirror walls clean otherwise it could mess up your next manicure.

These are the essential pieces to the kit: cleansing gel, gel primer, nail color, and the gel base/top coat. These are so tiny! I thought they were full sized, but I guess it makes sense that are mini sized since they are for 10 manis. How many would a full size bottle last? These are available in full size (all of the pieces) on the SensatioNail website webstore or where SensatioNail products are sold. This way you don't have to keep repurchasing the kit just for these pieces.

And a close up of the lamp. It's like a small mirror box. It beeps at the 30 second mark since it takes 30 seconds to cure some parts and 60 to cure others so you don't have to have a stopwatch around, it basically times itself. Also I don't think the brand of the lamp matters. Any gel polish will work with it as long as it is LED approved, which it should say on the box of the polish. Something like "Use With LED," or "LED Approved."

Oh, so another thing - removal. You have to purchase a completely different set for the removal of this stuff! Well, you don't have to, but it's recommended. Otherwise you just soak your nails in 100% acetone for like 20 minutes and then scrape the polish straight off of the nail. Talk about yikes for your nail health. And you have to completely avoid skin and cuticles when applying gel polish. Why? Because if you leave it on then cure it under the lamp, it will harden onto your skin and feel really tight and uncomfortable. So steady with those hands!

So! Have any of you ever used one these at home? Or have you had one done professionally? What do you think of them?