Like most collegiettes, I love a gel nail manicure. It lasts longer and I can reach into my phone and text my friends as soon as I hop out of the nail salon chair. Now, what I don’t like about gel manicures? The cost. I get it, I totally get it – it is a special procedure and a bit time consuming. But now with Sally Hansen’s Salon Insta-Gel Strips Started Kit, I can get a salon-inspired manicure in the comfort of my own home (while I watch Teen Mom and Real Housewives, natch) and ultimately for a fraction of the cost.
The kit – which comes from my favorite nail polish company – includes everything you need for salon perfect nails – 16 nail stickers, top coat to make it super, super shiny, cleanser pads, and cuticle stick, file and buffer, plus the UV system (a teeny LED lamp that turns on for the perfect amount of time to solidify your nails).
If you haven’t used nail stickers before, never fear. They are super easy. You apply them like a sticker and just gently file off the excess and then apply gel top coat. Stick your nail under the LED lamp for 30 seconds (it will automatically turn off), wipe the nail with the cleanser pad and voila!
I was really happy with how shiny and how easy the whole thing was. The only thing I had a slight issue was with the 16 nail stickers (they come in 2 packages of 8). I was confused why there weren’t 10, but I made it work by splitting some of them. Some didn’t exactly fit my nails either, but using the cuticle stick I was able to remove excess at the bottom of my nail too.
The nails were promised to last two weeks, and I’ve been wearing mine for 10 days without a complaint (but many a compliment over Thanksgiving). And they are still chip free, which is the most important.
Note that when you’re ready to take them off, you need to use an acetone-based polish remover to take it off (it’s a little more complicated than regular polish removing as you need to soak cotton and wrap it around your finger with foil for 5 minutes to remove). Small price to pay for 2 weeks of gorgeous nails though.
Overall: I am thoroughly impressed with Sally Hansen for this product and the price point ($27.99 at drugstores) and myself, for being able to pull this off.
Sally Hansen’s Salon Insta-Gel Strips™ is a breakthrough, 2 step chip-resistant gel manicure that lasts up to 2 weeks. Exclusive to Sally Hansen, you can get a fast and easy gel manicure in 2 Easy Steps! Just simply peel and apply. The gel top coat provides a durable manicure and nails appear flawless and shiny for up to 2 weeks. The UV-cured real nail polish appliqués that are nourished with additives such as Vitamin E and they are removed with Acetone polish remover in 5 minutes.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Sally Hansen via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Sally Hansen