Beauty

[catlover]

Red Carpet Manicure 5-Finger Light LED Gel Kit

598-381

this one looks very interesting from hsn.

The removal was easy....no scraping involved.

[juperier]

@catlover First, I am not commenting on the quality of the components in the kit itself, only the false info regarding the characteristics of the lamp. LED is a type of bulb. An LED bulb may or may not emit UV frequencies. But the lamps used to cure polish have to. Otherwise the polish wouldn't cure! The chemistry behind gel polish is complex. To keep it simple, stating that the lamp in the package doesn't emit UV is totally false.

This article will explain why in a bit more detail.  

https://www.schoonscientific.com/downloads/tech-articles/Understanding-UV-Nail-Lamps.pdf

[Shanus]

@catlover. If (and that’s a big IF) I wanted gel nails, I would not invest in a kit. I’d go to a salon where someone knows what they’re doing.

Even using my nail strengthener, I’m great doing my left hand (right handed), but not my right. Would not want to see what my non-dominant hand would do with all the coats & curing of a gel manicure.

[juperier]

@Shanus Gel nails aren't for me either. But if I did decide to go that route (at least as far as gel polish goese), I would either carefully research any nail tech I chose to go to or purchase professional level products and do it myself. I've actually gotten very good at applying regular polish with either hand AND I've learned a great deal about gel polish regarding it's proper application/maintenance and the basic chemistry involved. While my first choice would be to go to a well educated nail tech, I'm amazed at the lack of knowledge some in the field have. Bottom line is that I trust myself as much or more than I would trust a random tech.

[Naturesbeauty]

I bought this kit for me, my daughter and granddaughters. It's a nice kit and you really do get nice results. Everyone loves it. Got the kits from HSN when they carried them. Now Ulta carries them and all the polishes, removers and everything you need to replace what's in the kits. Lots of polishes to choose from. You don't put you whole hand under the light just your finger tips. I did a lot of research before buying........

[Katcat1]

@catlover   I am not that familiar with gel polish.  Is it hard on nails the way the nails are that you get in the salon?  I wore those nails years ago and they made my regular nails paper thin.  Give me the details on this product, please.  Thanks.  

[juperier]

@Katcat1 Damage to the nail from any enhancement product has way more to do with preparation, application, maintenance and removal techinquies than to the product used.

In your case the thinning was most likely due to excessive buffing and/or filing of the nail plate. To be fair, products many years ago did often require more roughing up of the nail surface. But products have evolved over the years.

Unfortunately, training courses vary greatly in quality. Techs don't follow up with continuing education classes to update their skills as products change. There are techs still using (and teaching) outdated practices. There are techs who, while very talented artistically, don't comprehend the science behind the very complex products they are using, thus unintentionally doing things that increase the overall risk of problems.

UV Gel polish was originally considered a professional product. While the process doesn't look that complex, the chemistry behind it is. Failure to appreciate that can not only lead to doing things in a manner that increases, rather than decreases, the potential for physical nail damage, but also increase the likelihood of development of skin reactions and allergy to one or more ingredients.

[Tsukiko]

@catlover I just got an email today from Butter London, they have a new gel system that requires no acetone soak for polish removal. You soak your nails in warm water and peel off the polish. It's called Purecure. I have no experience with this but it sure looks interesting. Here is a tutorial:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4VJDnb61w50