I love myself a gel mani. In a perfect world, I would have the cash to get a professionally done gel manicure every two weeks -- but I don't. Which is why I'm super excited to have found a solution to support my gel addiction without going broke: an at-home gel manicure kit.
Courtesy of Sally Hansen, this kit comes with everything I need to do a DIY manicure that promises salon-comparable results. And here's the best part: Each kit is good for 10 manicures and costs $69.99. Doing the math, that means each manicure rounds out to only $7.
Sounds too good to be true? Of course it does, which is why I'm testing this baby out to see how it fares on my nails. I also asked Sally Hansen's Nail Ambassador Tracylee to walk me through each step so I do exactly what I'm supposed to. Ready to see if an at-home gel manicure is as good as the salon version? Read on.
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What's included
Short of giving you a manicurist, this kit comes with everything you could possibly need for a DIY mani. It has:
Cleanser Pads
Base Coat
Color Polish
Top Coat
Remover
Application Accessories: Cuticle stick, buffer and alcohol cleaning pad
LED Light
From these, the LED light is the most important. It cures a lot faster than a salon's UV lamp, and since you're not subjecting your hands to harmful UV rays, this is far less damaging to your skin and nails, says Tracylee.
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Prep your nails
After I used the file to shape my nails, I pushed back my cuticles with the orangewood stick that's included. Tracylee says removing your dead cuticles that are attached to the nails is crucial, because polish does not stick to skin.
Once I pushed back my cuticles, I used the cleanser pad to clean away any debris and lotion on my nails so that I was left with a smooth, clean surface. Tracylee says that while these pads have alcohol in them, they're not as drying as nail polish remover.
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Apply base coat
It's time for the base coat, which is easy to find (it's marked with a big No. 1). Tracylee says it's imperative that after applying a thin coat of polish on your nail, you then swipe the polish on the "free-edge" of your nail, which is the very end of your nail plate that wraps around the tip. "This gives you a nice seal so that there's more protection against chipping," she says.
I applied the base coat starting from my pinky finger to my index finger. Then I placed those four fingers under the LED light for 30 seconds. I repeated on my other hand, then I did my two thumbs last. Tracylee says this is so that the thumbs can lay flat under the light, allowing the entire nail to be cured evenly.
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Don't be afraid to apply multiple layers of color
Now it's time for the fun part: color. I decided to do a dark burgundy color for fall -- like it? After applying a thin layer of the polish to my fingers, Tracylee warned to remove any polish I got on my skin with the orangewood stick before curing. She says this is crucial to prevent chipping: "Since polish doesn't stick to skin, when the polish starts to come off the skin, it'll take the rest of the polish on your nail with it."
You can also vary how opaque you want the color to be by choosing to do more coats. "I like to apply two coats just to make sure it's perfect, but sometimes I even do three if I see any inconsistency with the opacity," says Tracylee. Just make sure to cure it under the LED light after each layer, she says. I decided I was satisfied after two coats. Then I applied the top coat (bottle marked No. 3) and cured.
I love myself a gel mani. In a perfect world, I would have the cash to get a professionally done gel manicure every two weeks -- but I don't. Which is why I'm super excited to have found a solution to support my gel addiction without going broke: an at-home gel manicure kit.
Courtesy of Sally Hansen, this kit comes with everything I need to do a DIY manicure that promises salon-comparable results. And here's the best part: Each kit is good for 10 manicures and costs $69.99. Doing the math, that means each manicure rounds out to only $7.
Sounds too good to be true? Of course it does, which is why I'm testing this baby out to see how it fares on my nails. I also asked Sally Hansen's Nail Ambassador Tracylee to walk me through each step so I do exactly what I'm supposed to. Ready to see if an at-home gel manicure is as good as the salon version? Read on.
