A few weeks ago I was suckered into getting a gelish manicure. Well actually, I'm a sucker for a good deal, so I was just being myself when I took up the offer at Dischem (where I get my treatments - coz every 5th treatment of the same kind is free... see!) for a gelish mani with free gelish pedi. I didn't even know how much it cost until I got to the till. (R195 for a mani btw).
Anywho, gelish is a gel nail polish that gets applied in many stages and each stage has to be cured. It takes quite a long time, but the results are well worth the time spent. Once the last stage is cured, your nails are set, no drying time, and it lasts for up to 3 weeks. It doesn't smudge, doesn't chip, stays put until you take it off or it grows out with your nail. If it's not properly done, it will start peeling away, which will be very annoying.
Mine took 2 hours to apply: fingers and toes. You'd better make sure you like your therapist coz that's a long time to be spending with someone one-on-one. The colour range is not very extensive and the colours are safely standard. The colours I chose were a pretty pink (Light Elegant 01327) on my fingers and a sparkly deeper pink (High Voltage 01402) on my toes. See here for colour swatches.
I won't get into the process, there's a video you can watch to see what application entails.
Once the last coat is cured, you can put socks and shoes on or scratch around in the depths of your handbag for those elusive keys and it won't do a thing to your manicure. If you're the type of person who wants to have colour on your nails, but can't be bothered because it needs frequent maintenance, this is definitely for you. It really lasts! What is also awesome about gelish is that you can apply other nail polishes over the gel and remove it with normal nail polish remover and it won't affect your manicure.
The proper way to remove the gel is to soak a swab (cotton wool ball, pad, swab) in acetone, wrap your nail with the cotton wool, wrap foil over the cotton wool and let it dissolve for ten minutes. After 10 minutes, whatever is not on the cotton wool after you've taken it off your nails, you can scrape away with an orange stick or with your nail, and your nails are good for another application.
I don't think I'll do it again because I like to change my nail colour if not every day, then at least every second day. I really liked the end result of the mani, but I started to get fidgetty around the fourth day and started picking at the polish because I can't stand to have the same colour on for too long. I managed to hold out for a week and a bit, but then I just started peeling it off. NOT THE RECOMMENDED REMOVAL METHOD!!! Layers of your nail comes off with the polish which you then have to buff away to smooth out again. Needless to say this is very damaging for your nails and could result in infection!
When the stain grows out (I don't use a base coat with my normal nail polish - not good either, I know) and if I can stand some length on my nails, I might consider getting a french gel mani, especially because you can apply other colours onto it. I still highly recommend it though, it just doesn't suit my short attention span.
If you've tried it, let me know what you think about it.
