It's been a while. like. well, a long while since I can't even remember when the last time was for a manicure. The idea of sitting in a salon getting my nails primped and preened over by a manicurist is just too far removed from my school-home reality that I rarely venture into these uncharted waters. Then comes a call from my cousin with a voucher that allows me to choose between a classic mani pedi + foot and hand mask/ scrub or a gelish mani with hand mask. It was a welcome treat! Just right in time for a good break from the madness of school this week, a wedding dinner this weekend and the others coming up.
The problem was, like it wasn't hard enough to find a day to fix the appointment, I had to choose my treatment. So of course I seeked the advice of the professionals. Three of them in fact. Love my total-opposite of me girlfriends. Gelish was the unanimous reply. It helped that they totally knew I was a nightmare at keeping my manicure intact.
What then, is Gelish? If you are like me, far left behind with the fashion forward crowd then read on and let me share my newfound knowledge. :)
Gelish works like acrylic gels but they apply like polish (hence the namesake) and are cured in an LED/ UV lamp. They come in an equally dazzling array of colors as the traditional nail polishes. What then, makes gelish -the- choice of manicures these days? The simple fact that it stays on nails for three weeks with no chipping or peeling! But they do however, require a proper soak off for removals which can be completed in 15 minutes.
On a Friday, I skipped out of school (actually I dashed out of school and across the road, really) to hop onto the train for my appointment at Pretty 360.
Say hello to my pretty manicurist! Now then, let's talk nails.
1. Sanitize, prep, and push back cuticles.
2. Filing them down to my requested square tips.
3. Buffing them with a sponge block and after a quick wipe with the cleanser
4. Applying a Gelish Foundation Gel in a thin layer including sealing the nail edges
Then comes the first coat of colour, the second coat and finally a Gelish Top Coat Gel Sealer from cuticle to free edge.
For all these applications, I had to leave my hand in a UV lamp for 2 minutes. I felt like microwavable taco pockets. Pop them in for 2 minutes a piece, take one out and put the other in again.
In any case, I loved the fact that I was all good to go after the final curing process. It's DRIED! Plus it's amazingly shiny and smooth. I've been warned that the only problem would be to see where the nail had grown out given the long lasting nature of Gelish hence the friendly advice to choose a lighter shade of nail colour.
And the package includes a hand mask. So amidst my microwave popping exercises, I got a good rubdown on my arm and hands including a short but rejuvenating massage on my palms. She's small but hey, she packs a punch when doing the rubdown and massage. And I really appreciated that she was sweet enough to grab my bag and shoes for me after the manicure although I was entirely functional to grab these things on my own with my fast dried Gelish. :)
So if you have long nails and don’t need extensions, Gelish polish is a great alternative to gel nails! Let's see how long we ride out this Gelish manicure. I'm counting on the minimum of 3 weeks as promised.
And I'm thinking I could get used to this. At least once in. Well. A -while- ;)
1 comment:
I would strongly advise not to buy anything from Pretty 360, even with some tempting discounted offer. there are dishonest people, who make business out of voucher deals but then refuse to honor fully the service or ask you to pay extra for it. my voucher indicated that the IPL was UNLIMITED, but then, actually it was limited to 12 sessions. the IPL machine was not performing, so if I really wanted to remove hair, I should pay extra for a machine that is really working. I hate to be fooled, and I will make sure that the world knows that those people are swindler until, they have to either stop their business or start giving honest services.
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