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Review: SensatioNail Gel Polish in Raspberry Wine

Oooo do I have something special to show you all today!  For the past two months, I've been starting at the Gel Nails kits in Shoppers, trying desperately to justify to myself some way to buy a starter kit.  Reasons not to? Expensive, I like to change my nails every day, expensive, not terribly exciting colours, etc, etc.  Mostly, I just wanted it.  Finally, with an unexpected bonus at work, I bit the bullet and finally get to try the SensatioNail Starter Gel Nails kit.

Got lots of text on this one, click through to keep reading. 




This really was new territory for me, last night, not least because I'd be living with one colour, and one colour only, for like, more than a day!  Let's take a look at the colour that came with my kit, Raspberry Wine.

There are a ton of steps to get this going:

  • File nails and clean with "gel cleanser".  
    • Just seems like rubbing alcohol to me, nothing special here.
  • Add a coat of primer.  This just felt like a normal base coat and you have to let it air dry for a while
  • Add a "thin" coat of the base/top coat.  This is where it got interesting, as you have to cure this for 30 seconds.  Nothing difficult though, thanks to Californication on my computer being my timer. 
  • Add a "thin" coat of the colour.  This is where I ran into difficulties.  It's almost like the base coat created a filmy layer as I had a hard time getting a smooth edge around the cuticles.  The polish kept wanting to shrink back.  It took a bit of fiddling to get it to sit evenly.  At least it tells you to seal your tips, it's good advice.  This then had to be cured for a minute. 
  • Repeat the colour + curing process two more times.  The polish applied more evenly this time and I was able to get a cleaner edge.  I rely heavily on acetone to clean up cuticles on all my manis so this took a lot of concentration.  
  • Add the top coat, cure for 30 seconds.  Gotta seal those tips, ladiezzz!
  • Clean your nails with the Gel Cleanser.  The final coat does leave a residue, just need to be wiped off.






The Verdict:  Well, after all that I did end up with very shiny red nails that show absolutely no signs of wear the next day.  I mean, you'd hope so but you never really know what will happen with these kinds of kits.  I'll be keeping this on at least one hand for up to a week so check back to see how this actually wears.

The Polish:



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Comments

  1. MaryJuly 4, 2012 at 9:56 AM

    I've been eyeing gel kits lately too. I also tend to change my polish almost daily, but it's more because I don't think going to work with chippy polish is professional. I might have to suck it up and buy one some day soon. Please update when you know how long it lasts!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJuly 6, 2012 at 3:45 AM

    Change color by painting over the Gel with a standard polish. Remove next day (or whenever with non-acetone remover and your back to the original gel color, good as new. Great for a night out or to match an outfit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 16, 2012 at 10:55 AM

    I ran into the same problem that you did my first time with the Sensationail polish. My first experience with any kind of gel polish. Turned out quite well despite the polish shrinkage on 1st coat. The box does not say anything about using a dry lint free wipe after the base coat is cured, but their website did. So I did my toes for the first time today and lightly touched each nail one time with the lint free wipe before 1st coat of polish and no shrinkage whatsoever!! No need to use the wipe again until the final cleanse. Three thin coats and beautiful toenails...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJuly 16, 2012 at 12:49 PM

      UPDATE:Do NOT press down on the dry lint free wipe or you will have a dent in the gel basecoat like I did...wouldn't smooth out until I smoothed with the buffer and put on another basecoat after cleansing the debris from buffing and continue...

      Delete
  4. AnonymousNovember 6, 2012 at 4:32 PM

    even sealing the tips, it still wore off while typing and started snagging. I added additional clear gel and cured it again, and had to do that 3 days in a row... so when i realized the gel just wasnt working, I tried taking it off and it took me over 3 hours of soaking, filing, soaking, filing again... my nails are very damaged now after that attempt to take the gel off... has anyone ever sent the product back after using it?

    ReplyDelete

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