Gel nails are a new-ish technology in nail care that gives you the option to have longer lasting nail lacquers that dries almost instantly and doesn’t chip until two weeks to a month. It has been all the rage last year among the beauty gurus I follow. Ever since then, I’ve been wondering about when this trend will finally hit our side of the world. The answer came a few weeks back when I got chosen by Jennifer Lynn to try out their gel nail polishes.
Jennifer Lynn, by the way, is a nail and skin care American brand established in 1990. Their mission is provide us with “the best of science and nature to create a unique line of hypo-allergenic, formaldehyde free nail and skin treatments.” In the Philippines, the brand is a staple in the country’s top nail salons.
I had my free manicure and pedicure at Beauty & Butter SM Mega Mall. It was a nail salon unlike any I’ve been to before so I’m writing a separate entry on it. You guys should watch out for that. 🙂
Anyway, before I digress any farther, let’s proceed to the my first ever gel nails experience:
Eventually, I decided on the red, which was called ‘Chloe” since I figured that it’s an easier color to live with for a longer period of time. It’s a classic, professional color that can go with anything.
GETTING IT ON
Gel nails are applied similarly with your regular nail polish except these have to be cured under UV light. After the usual manicure rituals, a product is applied on the nails to strip it of its oils. Apparently, the oilier the nail surface, the easier it is for nail polishes to chip.
After this, a base coat is applied.
The base coat is then “cured” by a UV light machine.
First coat is then applied, then back for curing under UV light.
Then a second coat and back to the machine.
Lastly, the top coat is added then back to the machine again for curing.
Then voila! Shiny, pretty, instantly dry nails!
Now let me list down to you the pros and cons of this nail technology:
PROS
- You get instantly dry nails! No need to wait for it to dry after the top coat is cured. You can dig into your wallet for money and not worry about it getting smudged / chipped.
- If done well, it can last for two weeks to a month so no need to change regularly. You get perfect nails for longer.
- It’s perfect for when you’re going on a long vacation or for a wedding / honeymoon and you need to have your nails looking great all the time but would have no time to go to the salon.
CONS
- You can’t remove this by yourself. You need a special soaking agent to get this off your nails so unless the salon provided you with the kit, you have to go back and them remove it.
- You can’t apply this by yourself unless you’re really good at applying the polish and you have the UV machine for curing. You’ll have a difficult time if you’re like me and get the nail polish all over the skin instead of just the nails.
- Not sure about how healthy it is to expose your hands to UV light often.
- Can be a bit pricey. A manicure using Jennifer Lynn would cost you about PHP590 and a pedicure would cost you PHP650. Other brands are even more expensive.
As for me, my nails chipped after only a few days 😦 I think it’s because the gel wasn’t sealed properly at the tips. I know you have to run the polish along the tips to seal it but in the salon, they didn’t do that. That’s probably the cause. Will I use gel nails again? I think so, but only for special occasions and definitely, when I do that, I’ll choose Jennifer Lynn again because it’s the more affordable option, it has a good color selection, and it does seem to be of good quality.
How about you? What’s your take on gel nails?
My nail is paint-free now so I want something like this on them. Polished!
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sounds nice but I tend to bite on my nails so sayang lang 😦
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This looks promising. I think I need to try that soon! 🙂
Bec of http://mygorgeouspinkcheeks.blogspot.com/
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I think I like it because it lasts long. The usual nail polish doesn’t last on me because I often wash my hands so the nail polish gets off easily.
But too bad, you can’t remove it easily. What if you want to have a new color? I hope there will be an easy way to change nail polish.
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woah.. mahal nga.. o__O pero pag di naman siyang basta basta natatanggal, oks na rin siya.. sulit na 😀 love the classic red… gusto kong ma try yung pastel purple ❤
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my nbalitaan ako na nkakasira daw ng kuko ung gnagamitan ng machine n kgaya nyan. Altho I’m not sure kasi I haven’t tried pa nmn and I don’t want to try, too risky. I’ll just have to manually apply the nail polish on. hhe anyways, ang cute ng color at mukhang it will last.
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ang mahal pala. nagulat ako nung nakita ko na linalagay pala sa isang machine na may uv light. looks somehow scary in the long run.
pero wow. mahirap pala tanggalin? at least you get your money’s worth somehow . 🙂
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Do they provide the polish removal kit? I have a sked for Jennifer Lynn too but I’m having second thoughts because it’s such a chore to go back and forth.
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Nope, they don’t. You have to go back to the salon to have it removed. 🙂
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I wanna try this because I want my nail polish to last longer.
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Agree with Rowena, I think it’s such a hassle for me to go back to the salon for polish removal. But I think it’s another marketing strategy too, para pag bumalik ka, you’ll avail of mani/pedi once again.
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Hahahaha could be! :))
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sayang naman! it chipped off agad, can they redo it for free or something? Anyway, I don’t think i need gel nail polish as i change my colors often ;P
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Oo nga. Don’t think they re-do it for free 😦
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I actually haven’t heard of gel nails yet.. >.< Gah, I'm so left behind when it comes to nail trends! XD Anyway, I'd love to give this a try but I'm actually quite scared 'cause it might chip off earlier than promised like what happened with yours. Pricey pa naman.. 😦 Maybe I'll try this if there's an upcoming occasion ahead.
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LOL sounds so complicated!!! i dont think id try it out as i love changing my nail polish a lot but nice though.
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Ang mahal! Haha but it’s good kasi it last long but exposing you skin often in the UV machine is not good. I think haha i like the shimmering blue polish! ❤ but your nails looks good too cute nails. Cutie! hihi
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Okay na yan kung matagal din naman matanggal eh. pero kasi minsan pag nabored ka, gusto mo papalit palit yung color. Yun ang mahirap. Hindi mo matatanggal basta basta, 😀
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I am gel polish addictus specially Jeniffer Lynn USA and I always go to tips n toes, never pa nag chipping sa akin..maybe sa application lang un.
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yah, could be 🙂
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I went to Posh Nails to have my gel manicure done and it didn’t chip even after 2 weeks. I think Beauty and Butter didn’t do it right the reason that it didn’t last for weeks. I had a bad experience at Beauty and Butter so I swear never to go there. There are removal kits sold online, will try them and advise you if it works. If not then I have no choice but to have it removed at the salon.
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Thank you so much for your feedback, Ahn! I’ll try posh nails next time 🙂
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I’m surprised to learn that it needs to be removed with a special remover… because I applied a revlon gel polish on one of my nails (tester), and I was easily able to get i off! wa!
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Hi Anne! Did you use the laser / ultra violet device to dry the gel polish? That’s what helps it stay longer. But yes, for gel nail polish, you usually need to go back to the salon to have it removed (or that’s what they told me). I actually scraped it off slowly myself. Just don’t know how much damage that did to my cuticles!
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