For a girl who tries to stay on top of the trends, I’m embarrassed to say my first time doing a gel manicure was for this blogpost. Crazy right? I’ve heard rave reviews about them, but I’ve never really looked into doing one myself.
I do my own nails a lot. Like one to two times a week! I’m constantly changing my polish because I’ve either chipped it, or I feel like a colour change.
The hard part about my at-home manicures has been the presence of my toddler. I am always waiting for his nap or bed time to do my nails so they have a chance to dry.
I was a little worried that a gel manicure would be too time consuming for me to take on with the limited time I have to spare.
The SensatioNail Fuse Starter Kit is so pint-sized that it’s hard to believe what it includes. A Fuse Gelnamel colour, nail file, manicure stick, Gel Cleanser, cleansing cloths, and a high-powered Fuse LED lamp is included in the kit.
The Fuse Gelnamel polish formula ensures you don’t need a base or top coat which makes life even easier!
Since this was my first time doing a gel manicure, I read the instructions very carefully. I usually skip the whole “instructions” part of a project, but I figured I’d better play by the rules this time around. It was pretty easy because there weren’t many (part of the reason I was following them). Basically I had to wipe my nails with the cleanser, then add the polish. It was important to do very thin coats! The tiny LED lamp easily plugged in, and the button to turn the light on would stay on for 30 seconds, which is all you would need to set the polish on each nail.
The final step was to cleanse the nail again, and that’s it. I was surprised how easy it was. Each nail had to be painted and set with the LED lamp one nail at a time, and that was actually a good thing for me because the first time I tried the kit my son woke up with a nightmare (of course) during his nap! Luckily I was able to run upstairs and soothe him without getting my new manicure all over him.
I decided to try one of the SensatioNail colour kits because it included a matching sparkle polish. Fuse also sells individual colours as well which you can use once you buy the starter kit.
The real test for me would be how long this polish would last without chipping. My nails are the worst – they are always breaking, and I chip my polish all the time. I kept track of my progress to see how long the manicure would last over the holidays.
Eight days is a new record for me for sure. I’m used to making it three days without a chip if I’m lucky! On the 9th day I finally chipped a nail, and decided it was time to remove the polish.
I used the SensatioNail Gel Polish Removal Kit and SensatioNail Gel Polish Removal Tool for this part. The foil had pads inside that I saturated with acetone, and left on for fifteen minutes. Once I removed the foil, most of the polish slid off as well. I used the removal tool to remove the rest of the polish easily.
The whole process ended up being a lot easier than I expected! It gave my nails a chance to grow as well since the gel manicure prevented my nails from breaking. The best part was how quick the process was. Thirty seconds for each nail to dry was very impressive, and was perfect for someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of time to work on their manicure.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to try a gel manicure, but now I get what everyone is raving about. This home kit couldn’t have made it easier for me!
You can find the SensatioNail Fuse Starter Kit, and other SensatioNail products at most major drug stores (including Shoppers Drug Mart), and online here.
