Sally Hansen Insta-Gel Strips Starter Kit

I love gel manicures. While you can't achieve the same designs you can with regular nail polish, they do come in different designs. And there is no drying time with a gel manicure, (my least favorite part of doing my nails) they last twice as long as a regular manicure and are so shiny. Do I wear gel all of the time? No, I don't. Who has the time and money to go to a nail salon every other week? Well I just got a gel mani in my apartment. No, my mother did not send over Olga to my apartment; her weekly at-home, manicurist. I used Sally Hansen's Salon Insta-Gel Strips Starter Kit.

This kit has everything you need to give yourself an at-home gel manicure. And unlike other kits, it's affordable and small - so you can easily store the LED lamp and don't need a giant box that takes up valuable closet space.

First, you want to push back your cuticles with the included stick. You then will use the included nail file to file your nails to your favorite shape, soft square for me. When you're done with that, use the other side of the file to buff your nails. Don't worry, you won't be buffing your nails like salons do before applying tips, in turn damaging your nails. This is just a light buff to remove shine.

Then you use their polish remover packet to make sure your nails are completely clean and bare of any oil. When you run out of these pads for future gel manicures you can also use polish remover on a cotton ball.

 

Now for the application: apply the strips to nails. They come in different sizes, so choose the best fitting strip for each nail. Start at your cuticle, just below it, be sure to not cover your cuticle. When applying ,stretch the strip a little bit to smooth it out. Use the stick to push down the edges so it's bonded to your nail.

After you have applied strips to all ten nails, you will apply the gel top coat to your first nail only (make sure you shake it up really well). After applying a thin layer of the top coat to one nail (if you get it on your skin just remove it with the stick), you will place that nail into the LED lamp. Press the button to turn it on, after 30 seconds it will turn off automatically. Apply the gel top coat to the next nail and use the LED light, then continue for all ten fingers. 

Lastly, use the other included cleaning pad to remove any residue. Voila, you're done. You now have a gel manicure!

Once it has been around two weeks you will want to remove this manicure. Similar to removing a glitter polish, gel polish takes a bit longer to remove. Use cotton balls and tin foil to remove it, which I already explained to you. If you need to, you can also use the stick to peel off any extra polish after you remove your tin foil fingers.

Sally Hansen also posted a how to video on this kit.

 

Perfectly Glossed Kisses,

Sutton