The kit comes with a battery operated LED light, a cleanser, bonder, base/top coat, 5 gel shades, polish remover and instructions. All that and a side of fries for just 30 bucks. Everything you need to get started in the gel world. Just kidding on the fries though, please don't go to Costco and ask for fries to go with your NaiLuv kit...
Since I don't plan on showing my toesies around here and I wasn't up for swatching the gel shades on my nails, I decided to try them out on swatch sticks. I followed the included instructions, curing the base and top coats for 30 seconds and the coats of gel polish for 45 seconds. I don't have much of a reference to compare to, but everything worked as promised. Although it is not roomy, I was able to easily slip my toes in there for a pedicure...
The five shades included in the kit are:
Dynamic Duo - a fuchsia pink
Eternal Passion - a coral orange. I expected this to be red based on bottle color, but the gel inside is actually orange as it appears in the swatch.
First Crush - a soft pink
Merry Mermaid - a pretty teal with a very subtle hint of shimmer.
Diamonds R 4ever - a sheer silver glass fleck
I used two coats of each gel for the swatches...
The gels are much thicker than regular polish and it took me some time to adjust to applying them.
I've had a Merry Mermaid pedicure for a week now and love it! Aside from one spot where two layers of gel separated, it is holding up beautifully. I'm assuming it separated because I made it too thick and it didn't cure properly. With a bit of use and practice, I hopefully won't be having that problem.
No more worries about chipped polish during this open toed time of year. My only worry now is how the heck I'm going to remove it when the nails start to grow out... :)
Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)
** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **
** For more information please see the disclosure policy **
Does this come with a UV Gel top coat? if yes, I would be interested to see if you can top coat your nail art or normal nail polishes with the uv top coat and if it won't destroy the nail art.
ReplyDeleteTo take it off I'd just soak some cotton balls in acetone and then wrap all of the toes together in a large piece of foil. Make sure you buff the shiny layer off so it'll soak off easier. That's a great price for an LED light and it's cute too.
ReplyDelete@K, It comes with a gel top coat, but it is an LED light. Not sure if it would work with UV. I don't think you can top coat just a full manicure of regular polish, but if you have just a little bit sandwiched between gel layers (something like stamping) then it does work without destroying the nail art. Check out the Chickettes blog for gorgeous gel nail art. She would be able to tell you what works and doesn't with gels :)
ReplyDelete@Amber, thank you soo much for the tips! I'm sure it will be a fun experience to remove them. I think the heart shaped light is so cute too. It's not fancy for the price, but it works which is all I want :)
Score!!! I've been wanting an LED mani/pedi lamp...Costco to the rescue!
ReplyDeleteYes! You can use UV top coat over regular polish & nail art. I do uv mani sandwiches (uv base & top coats with polish art in between)before traveling so I don't have to worry about doing my nails while I'm away from home.
Great haul! I recommend trying to stamp with gel polish on your nails (at least just the top coat). I LOVE being able to wipe the stamp off and try again when I mess up.
ReplyDeleteWow, $30 for all this?!? That's crazy! I bought the Sensationail kit for use for my toes for the same reason you did. I HATE painting my toes! That and I thought it would be nice to have for vacations when I don't want to be painting my nails.
ReplyDeleteWou, how cheap is that! And I'm dying for the mermaid colour.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite one is merry mermaid that a gorgeous color (:
ReplyDeleteI bought the Sally Hansen kit the other week. Sadly, the gel tore up my fingernails, so I doubt I'll be using it on them again (peeling like crazy. And I made sure to thoroughly soak them off, no picking at the gel. I have never heard of this happening to anyone, so it might just be the SH brand). But I used the base coat, one coat of gel polish, two coats of regular polish, and one coat of glitter polish on my toes. The next day, I applied a coat of the gel topcoat, and so far, it is holding up beautifully.
ReplyDelete@Inky Whiskers, Yay! I'm glad I could help. I have seen gel sandwich mani, but it is great to know it works with full nail art!! Thanks :)
ReplyDelete@Andrea, I love the idea of being able to wipe it off and start over! When I go on vacay, I will have to try it out for sure :)
@Angie, Yes, I couldn't believe it either. It was such a good deal considering that NaiLuv has a similar kit (better lamp I assume) online for over $100...
@hannele & @HG, The mermaid color is my fave out of them too! Love it on my toes :)
@KD, Ouch, I have not heard of nail peeling that way after gels especially if you soak them off correctly. I like that you found a way to make it work with regular polish. Hopefully it will be gentler to your nails when it comes to removal!!
I have merry mermaid on my nails right now, too! :)
ReplyDeleteYou can also mix and match some other brands with the lamp you have--I use Gelish and OPI gelcolors quite frequently.
That is quite a steal; what section of costco did you find it in? I paid $30 for the light alone last year!
@gelli fied, I'm so glad to hear that you can mix the different brands! This kit was in the beauty/healthcare section of Costco. Right next to the toothpaste and the beauty cream... heheh :)
ReplyDelete