Gellux: Oriental Poppy and Gold Rush

I know I've said that I'm usually not partial to gel nail polish, but I cannot deny that it is really practical for me.  I suppose my main concerns were that I wouldn't be able to find a good variation of colours and that doing art would be too difficult.
Welp, I've proved myself wrong.

This is Oriental Poppy, with Cherry Blossom (pink) and Gold Rush.

This took a little longer to create (not much) than a manicure with normal polish might've...but this is because I had to cure every single layer of gel polish that I applied, before going on to the others. Sound excessive? Well, it wasn't, considering it only took 30 or so seconds for each coat to cure under an LED light (it would've taken 2 minutes with a UV light!)
The only thing I had issue with was the black acrylic paint. Initially, the lines were much thicker, but after curing, the top coat over the thick lines bubbled. After each layer of gel is cured under a UV/LED light, there is a sticky layer left. This is not removed if you are going to continue applying more colours or topcoats - this sticky 'dispersion layer' is what bonds one layer of gel to another. I have a feeling that I covered too much of this dispersion layer with my acrylic paint and this caused the topcoat to bubble in these areas. Had I used a black gel polish, I wouldn't have had this problem. I just picked off the bubbled area, buffed the shine off the polish and then repainted the lines. I always find a work around and I enjoy experimenting to make things work for me. 

I'm going to try my best to stick with this manicure over the next few weeks - just to test Gellux's longevity. Hopefully, if Santa is good to me this year, I might be able to increase my Gellux stash!
I should also say that despite there being reviews suggesting that there have been issues with removal, I've not encountered any problems.  On this occasion I've used Salon System Profile's new 'Easy-off' base-coat...we'll see how it goes.
xx

Gel nail polish? Nooo...okay, maybe.

Hey nail pals, how are you?

Me? I'm blocked up, can't hear out of my left ear, have a runny nose and a throat infection...good times. Only goodness knows how I got this nasty bug, but it won't get the better of me!

Despite being dead on my feet today, I attended a gel polish training event with a company called Profile. Their gel polish line is called Gellux and now that I'm providing treatments to clients, I can't not offer a gel polish...despite my feelings about it. I used to pride myself on being a staunch conscientious objector (to gel polish of course), and I had poo-pooed the idea ages ago. I mean, how can a person wear the same nail polish for two whole weeks? It's sacrilege I tells ya.

Anyway, I sat there with a bunch of other women with varying skills and was told how amazing Gellux was. I was told that someone would work on me - something I hate, especially when the person working on me doesn't know how to hold a nail file. Luckily, as there were odd numbers, the tutor said that she'd work on me. I say luckily. After she nearly stabbed my fingers to death with her 'cuticle handy' (metal cuticle pusher), she did this to me.

Erm. No. That's. No. Good.

More?

When a nail line carries one of those great flat precision brushes, you should really try to use them correctly. Rather than use the wide side of the brush, she turned the brush and used the narrow side. I was so shocked when she'd finished and the hairdresser who painted my other hand was far better! I was even more deflated when I remembered that I couldn't take the bloody manicure off without having to soak it off!!

The manicure does the Gellux no justice. It has a nice brush, nice consistency and when it is dry, it has more shine than Seche Vite (but doesn't have the shrinkage issue).  There are some nice colours in the line too.
Soak off was pretty straightforward. We filed off the shiny gel layer, wrapped nails with acetone soaked cotton pads and used foil. Hands were put into heated mittens and after about 20 minutes, we were able to scrape the crumbly Gellux off. I've heard that there are other lines that take less time to remove and don't need to be filed, but I have nothing else to compare this to yet.

I just couldn't walk around with these bare side walls, so I stuck some gems and pearls on! I'm going to try to keep this Gellux on for at least a week, to see if the claims are true.

I will say that if you want an alternative to gel or acrylic overlays to grow your nails, you could try using a gel polish base coat. My middle nail was quite weak after removing an extension recently and right now, it feels well reinforced. The tutor had clear Gellux on her nails, but she'd used about 20 layers...it was all thick and horrible. But that was her own technique, not the product.

'Magenta Rocks'
Okaaay, so there is a little bleed on the side walls, but that's because my partner was having the Gellux scraped off her right hand and she was bouncing around a lot.

Okay, I'm off to bed to get some well deserved rest. Don't worry, as much as I like the stuff, it will never take the place of my lacquer!

Let me know how you feel about gel polishes.

xx