I have been using gel nail polish for a very long time now. Thinking back, I'd say I've been using it a good 4 years, perhaps a little longer. Once I discovered gel nail polish, I pretty much tossed out or gave away all my regular nail polish and just used gel. The reason? None of that pesky drying time except what you do under the light to cure the polish. No chipping or peeling. It lasts at least 2 weeks and if properly prepped, often longer.
Recently, we had a change in our lifestyle and are spending 4 days a week in the city and 3 days at home in the country. With the split in time and homes, the nail polish situation got a bit challenging and I'd find myself without nail polish at some point in time while I'm either in the city or the country. I didn't have duplicates for my nail polish and didn't want to get into the situation where I bought duplicates. For a while, I had been carting a bag of nail polish essential back and forth so that I could do my nails whenever I needed to. This is not practical and really annoying.
Last week, I decided I had enough of the carting stuff around and unpacked everything back home in the country. This left me with the situation of not having any nail polish in the city when I needed to do my nails. Then Steve decided that we would stay in the city for the weekend and extending our usual 4 day stay to 2 weeks. I had to figure out how to deal with my nails in between.
Then I lost a nail ... right at the beginning of the week! My nails, due to some recent hormonal changes have not been lasting as long, and instead of needing to be soaked off with acetone, they peel right off.
Trying to figure out what to do, I decided that I'd get some regular nail polish and keep a couple of bottles in the city for emergencies.
I picked the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel polish as it claims to have the staying power and finish of gel polish without the need for curing with a lamp.
Having used gel polish for so many years, I actually needed to look up tutorials in order to learn how to apply the polish. It was quite funny.
Here's what I learned:
- The polish is quite thick but the first coat is streaky. You need at least two coats. I went with three.
- You have to let the polish dry between coats, which is annoying.
- You have to let the polish dry quite a bit before applying the top coat. I have to say this is a bit of a pain. The color polish takes forever to dry and if you don't let it dry first, the color will come off on the top coat brush. You will need to wipe off the brush before putting it back into the bottle. I let the polish dry for 20 minutes and still color came off on my top coat brush. This was disappointing.
- The finished product is a bit odd. I can see the lines from the brush across the surface of my nail. It's a glossy finish with the top coat but it's not that beautiful smooth finish you get from the gel polish. It still looks like regular polish.
- I haven't tried it for long so I can't attest to the 14 day staying power claim.
The instructions from the Sally Hansen website says this:
The
ONLY TRUE 2-STEP GEL MANICURE with no light needed. Over 45 shades that
wow! And it's only from Sally Hansen. Leading the revolution in gel
technology.
Step 1: Apply 2 coats of Miracle Gel™ Color
Step 2: Apply 1 coat of Miracle Gel™ Top Coat
OMGel! Let natural light do the rest!
Step 1: Apply 2 coats of Miracle Gel™ Color
Step 2: Apply 1 coat of Miracle Gel™ Top Coat
OMGel! Let natural light do the rest!
Perhaps I need to apply the polish and go stand outside in the sunlight for 10 minutes, but seriously, who's got the time for that?
I guess the point of this is to say that even though it claims to be like gel polish, it's not. Only gel polish is like gel polish. There really is no regular polish substitute. Perhaps there are other brands that come closer, but I do not know what those are. My need for regular nail polish is intermittent. It will be unlikely that I would be going out to buy other brands and products to try or experiment with.
In a pinch. this works for me and I'm glad that I have it, but for the most part, I will be sticking with my gel polishes even if my pesky nails are not cooperating and making my nails not last as long as I would like.
One last thought. I'm rather jealous that there are over 40 colors in the US. Over here, we only have about 20 colors. I'd really like that dark purple color called Pueplexed.
If you're interested, I do have a few videos regarding gel nail polish:
Find me around SOCIAL MEDIA: Deanna's World - Daz in the Kitchen - Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - Youtube - Pinterest
No comments:
Post a Comment