The Review: Sensationail Gel Manicure

I have been a long time fan of salon gel manicures, and last week while on holiday and perusing the aisles of Boots (some things never change) I decided to take the plunge and have a go at the "At Home Gel Manicure" from Sensationail. The starter kit, which contains enough for 10 manicures plus the lamp, retails for £69.99 and promises two weeks of perfect polish. I argued that this makes each gel mani cost only £7 and there is nowhere near me that I could get a treatment for that price!

The kit is available in 5 starter colours and I picked Chiffon Pink. I also had a Boots voucher for 500 points on a £50+ spend so really it was only £65. The instructions inside the kit are clear and accompanied by small pictures which is great for impatient bodies like myself who can't be doing with reading the whole shebang before getting stuck in.

The set comes with the gel cleanser which is used as the first and also final step to cleanse the nais. The gel primer which is the first step and is then left to air dry. A gel base and top coat which is cured for 30 seconds at each stage, and then the gel colour polish. The kit recommends two coats of the colour, sandwiched between the base and top coats, each cured for 60 seconds.

The lamp is LED and mains powered. It beeps after 30 seconds and turns off after 60 seconds which is great and avoids having to get the stopwatch on your phone out. In between steps the gel will be 'tacky' and this is completely normal. This should only be wiped with the gel cleanser after the final top coat, doing this before the final step will worsen the life of your gel manicure. 

I applied only a single coat of the Pink Chiffon as I was looking for something very natural for work and I am impressed by how easy the kit is. I tend to work on a " 4 fingers, 4 fingers, both thumbs" rotation of the layers and this bit does take a little more time than in a salon as you cannot be painting the other hand while one is under the lamp. 

The set also tells you to create thin layers, I cannot stress this hard enough. While it may take more layers to build dark colours (I will be ordering some this week and reporting back) it is worth it as the finish is much better. As a traditional polish user, this is a hard habit to break, particularly on my toes where I had a more concentrated colour.

So have you ever tried an at home gel? I would love to know your experiences. I would recommend this, I was totally impressed by how easy the whole process was and also how good quality the products and equipment seemed. Full marks all round.