Sensationail, Gel Starter Kit
Hi ladies!
Today I am talking about the Gel Starter Kit by Sensationail (*), a complete kit for applying gel nail polish at home.
Gel nail polish is the best option if you are looking for a super shiny manicure that will last for more than 10 days without chipping, and, if you are a beginner, it will be safer to start with a complete kit, just to learn how to apply gel nail polish in the correct way.
There are so many different kits that it’s hard to choose one, therefore today I’m reviewing this one by Sensationail, in order to help you find if this would work for you or not.
First, let me say that gel starter kits are created for beginners, and buying one of them is the best choice if you have never applied gel nail polish at home before. So, if you consider yourself a beginner, you will surely find this review useful, but if you are already more familiar with gel nail polish you will probably need some different products.
Sensationail Gel Starter Kit includes everything you will need for a complete at home gel nail polish application: a small led lamp, 12 lint-free wipes, a double-sided nail file, a wooden manicure stick, a gel cleanser, a gel primer, a 2 in 1 gel base and top coat, a coloured gel nail polish and the instruction manual.
All the products come in mini-sizes of 3,69 ml, which is about one third of a regular sized nail polish (usually about 9-12 ml). The only exception is the gel cleanser, which comes in a 14,60 ml bottle. Sensationail guarantees that these products will be enough for ten manicures: personally I still haven’t tried them for so long, so I can’t tell you if it’s true or not. Anyway, consider that the number of usages will vary according to your nail length: longer nails mean less manicures.
The lamp is very small and compact, and that is great if you want to bring it with you in any moment. The metallic piece on the bottom is magnetic and has to be removed when you are using the lamp for your feet.
Sadly, it isn’t a very powerful lamp (only 4 watts), and even if it dries perfectly Sensationail products, it may not work with gel polishes from other brands. So bear in mind that, if you have this lamp, you’d better buy Sensationail gels, and that you will probably need to buy a more powerful lamp in the future if you want to try some other gel nail polishes.
The kit has all the necessary for gel nail polish application, but lacks of the products necessary for removal. Anyway, you’ll just need to buy a bottle of pure acethone in order to remove your gel manicure, so this won’t really be a big issue.
To remove gel nail polish you’ll have to: 1) file the gel nail polish glossy surface 2) put acethone on a piece of cotton 3) place the piece of cotton on your nail 4) wrap your finger with aluminium foil and wait for 20-30 minutes.
Even if there are some aspects of this kit that are not convincing me, like the mini-sized bottles and the low power of the lamp, I still think that it’s cute and that the products have a good quality. So, if these aspects are not a problem for you, you can consider buying this kit, but if you are looking for a kit with a more powerful lamp, bigger-sized products or even the necessary for the removal, you should look for something different.
Glossy red is a must have, and it’s the perfect shade for everyone: you just can’t go wrong with red! This one by Sensationail is called Scarlet Red. It’s better to apply it first on the thumbs, and then on four fingers at a time.
The instruction manual explain very clearly how to apply gel nail polish correctly, so just follow the steps to get a perfect gel manicure!
I just would like to add some little thoughts that are not written on the manual. The first is about the primer: unlike many other primers, this one doesn’t evaporate, but it leaves a sticky coat on the nail that will increase gel nail polish adhesion. So, let it dry for some minutes and then simply proceed with base coat application.
The second thought is about the colour application: the coloured gel shrinks a lot and leaves some nail parts uncovered. I found a great way to avoid this inconvenient that will be helpful also to you: after having cured the base coat under the lamp, wipe it with gel cleanser and then go on with the gel polish application. That worked for me and made application much easier!
As you can see, this red is really fabulous, plus it is super long lasting and extremely resistant: it looked perfect even after 6 days! Just remembers to follow the trick I’ve explained you above in order to make application easier: this will help you making thinner coats and it will make removal easier!
I have to admit that this gel polish was a bit tricky to remove: I had to insist a lot on nails to remove it.
I hope you found this review helpful! 🙂
Kisses
Ele
(*) press sample
