33 Day Challenge day 20 - based on a pattern in your wardrobe!

Hello!

Today's challenge was to create a mani based on something from your wardrobe, and what I ended up with wasn't what I intended (is it ever?) but it came out so well I had to use it! The base you have seen before, when I used Zoya Storm in between layers of SensatioNail gel in this post. I added some stamping on top of the gel, and sealed it with regular topcoat. This worked really really well, and it meant that I could take off just the stamping (with non-acetone nail polish remover) and change it up if I wanted to! The stamp is from the Pueen Love Elements set, stamped with Barry M Silver Foil.

And here is a mighty fine picture of me looking my absolute best, wearing the top that I based it on. /sarcasm.

I'll go over the process of adding stamping and nail art on top of gel polish in a future post (and how to remove the gel polish), but it really was simple and it's definitely something I will be doing more of in the future.

As for the night out that this outfit/nail ensemble was for. Let's just say it was messy...

Hx

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SensatioNail Gel Polish Starter Kit - How to use with regular nail polish!

Hi!

I'm following up on my review of the SensatioNail Invincible Gel Polish Starter Kit today with a solution to the one of the things that puts many people (myself included) off trying a system like this. I have been 'collecting' (I like to call it that, it makes it sound more acceptable...) nail polish now for almost four years, and in that time have amassed over 800 polishes (851 to be exact. Yes, I have a spreadsheet...) I have cremes, shimmers, glitters, holos, magnetics, foils, textures...there's no way I could replace them all with gel polish. Don't get me wrong, SensatioNail does do a fab range of gel polishes, easy to find at Boots, Tesco and Asda (and I plan on building a stash of those too, shhh don't tell Mr NN) but even if they did duplicate every polish in my collection it wouldn't be financially viable for me to replace it all. So I wondered if I could use my regular nail polish with the SensatioNail Gel base and top coat for a longer lasting manicure, and it turns out you can!

I started off by prepping my nails as you would for a gel manicure. I took off my previous manicure, cleaned and shaped my nails and pushed back my cuticles. It is important to do this as any gel polish you might get on the cuticle will cause the gel to lift and not last as long. Once that was done I lightly buffed my nails with the pink side of the file in the SensatioNail kit, wiped them with the cleanser and a lint free wipe and then applied the primer in a circle around the edge of my nails, all following the instructions in the kit. Next, I applied a thin even coat of the gel base and top coat, making sure to cap the tips of my nails (very important!) and cured for 30 seconds under the lamp. SensatioNail recommends in the instructions that you cure the fingers on each hand separately and the thumbs together for ease. You need to make sure no gel gets on your skin or cuticles too, otherwise it will set rock hard! If you do get any where it shouldn't be, you can just wipe it away before curing.

Now this is where you'd normally apply two coats of your gel colour and cure each coat, but using regular nail polish is different. Usually you'd leave the sticky layer left on your nails after curing until the last coat, but I wiped it off now using a lint free wipe and cleanser. You're left with a smooth surface to apply your polish onto, and I used two coats of Zoya Storm. Make sure the tips are capped again and leave to dry. Unfortunately, you can't cure regular nail polish so you have to wait for it to completely dry before moving on. You can use a quick drying topcoat to speed this process up if you need to (and protect your manicure if you're leaving a longer gap between adding the gel top coat), but I didn't. I would also recommend using gel colour "undies" if the polish you've chosen is sheer or needs more than two coats - chose a gel colour that is close to your regular polish colour, or even a neutral nude and cure it before adding the regular polish. That way you don't need as many coats of polish and you're cutting the dry time a little. I'm going to treat myself to SensatioNail La Creme for this purpose! I left Storm to dry for 45 minutes before moving onto the top coat.

Apply a thin layer of gel top coat on top of your regular nail polish, again making sure the tips are wrapped and no gel gets on your skin. You need to also make sure the polish underneath is covered completely otherwise your gel could lift and not last as long. Cure for 30 seconds, wipe off the sticky layer and you're done!

It's really as easy as a normal manicure, and for very little extra effort you should (hopefully) have a manicure that lasts so much longer. I did this for a weekend away, on the Friday evening before I went and it meant I didn't have to worry about taking any polish/remover etc with me or it chipping before my night out on the Saturday.

*UPDATE* It lasted about a week before it started showing signs of wear. It probably would have lasted a few days longer if I hadn't got bored of it! I'd say if you're careful you could get 8-10 days from it.

Now, the only other thing that put me off switching to gel polish full time is how much I like to change my polish. I've not attempted removing a gel mani yet (the pedi you saw in my first impressions post is still going strong after almost 3 weeks!) but I know its not going to be a case of wiping it with polish remover! Also, I usually change my nails 3-4 times a week for various reasons - chipping being the major one but I also love doing my nails and creating nail art. Also I need stuff to post for you guys on the blog! So, in my next SensatioNail post I'll tackle that issue - removal, nail art and changing it up a bit! I'm looking forward to it already ;)

And great news if you're in the UK - until 5pm on Monday you can get £20 off the SensatioNail Invincible Gel Polish starter kit at Sensationail.co.uk, making it just £49.99. It would make a fab Christmas present (if you're feeling organised!) or just treat yourself :)

Hx

The product featured was a PR sample provided to me for free for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own and 100% honest. Please see my disclaimer in the tab above for further details.

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SensatioNail Invincible Gel Polish Starter Kit - First Impressions

Hi all!

Today, I'm venturing into the world of gel nails! It's something I've wanted to try for a while and SensatioNail kindly sent me this starter kit to try. The starter kit contains everything you need for 10 complete manicures (or pedicures!) and costs £60-69.99 - so that works out at less than £7 per manicure. When you compare that to going to a salon, you pay anything from £15-£35 so it's a huge saving. The kit contains gel cleanser, gel primer, colour gel polish (there are a choice of colours available in the kit form, and extras available separately), and gel top and base coat. You also get a file/buffer, lint free wipes, cuticle stick and of course the Pro 3060 LED lamp and instructions.

My first impression when I opened the package was how dinky it is! For me this is a huge plus - it's easy to store, wont take up a lot of space and there isn't a huge load of stuff everywhere - perfect for a home kit. It fits snugly in my nail art draws without taking up a bucketload of space and is easy to get out when I need it. I did wonder if it would be big enough for a pedicure, but as you can see below (yes, feet pictures! You have been warned!) there was plenty of room! The instructions are clear and precise, and really pretty foolproof. Firstly, you wipe your bare nail with the cleanser and a lint free wipe, and then leave to air dry. Then you use the primer in a circular motion around the nail and air dry again. This doesn't take long - by the time I'd done the second foot the first was dry. Then you paint a coat of the base coat, and cure for 30 seconds. The lamp is really clever, it beeps to tell you when 30 seconds is up and turns itself off after the 60 seconds needed for the colour coats. Two coats of colour, with 60 seconds curing each time and then a top coat, cured again for 30 seconds. After that, you need to wipe a sticky layer off with cleanser and a lint free wipe again and you're done! I'm going to post a full tutorial (on my hands!) too, so you can see how easy it is.

I have to say, I was so impressed with how easy it was. The whole process took about 20 minutes from start to finish and I was left with an incredibly shiny, perfect pedicure. Now, of course a regular pedicure doesn't take 20 minutes, but you then have to add dry time onto that. I put my shoes on about 3 minutes after I'd finished to go and pick up the boys from school with no smudging. No more walking around like you've stepped on lego for an hour! And so shiny! Even Mr NN said how shiny they were, and he never normally notices things like that. Also, I can honestly say that a week and a half on they are just as shiny and perfect - not a single chip, smudge, or scratch. I keep my toes polished all the time, and they're quite ridged and bumpy, but you can't tell. Colour me impressed!

I can tell I'm going to get a lot of use out of this kit. Obviously it wont replace my regular polish collection, but I definitely think it's going to be my new pedicure solution, and my preferred option for nights out and special occasions. If it lasts as well on my fingers as it does on my toes, I will be a happy bunny! I have a much needed night out next weekend, and am planning a gel manicure for the occasion and I'll update you then, and also talk about removal. And I'm hopefully going to try some nail art in another post too - I can't resist! Apparently you can use regular polish over your gel manicure if you want to switch it up, and then remove it with non-acetone polish remover, so I'll definitely give that a try!

SensatioNail products are available at Asda, Tesco, Boots (in-store and online) and www.sensationail.co.uk, so you can pick one up with your shopping! Seriously though, if you have gel nails done at a salon, this would be a great, money saving alternative. You can also buy SensatioNail polish (in loads of colours and finishes) and a gel polish essentials kit, for when you need more cleanser, primer, and base and top coat.

All in all, my first impressions of this product has been nothing but positive and I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can do with it!

Hx

The product featured was a PR sample provided to me for free for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own and 100% honest. Please see my disclaimer in the tab above for further details.

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