This past fall I got hooked on gel manicures because of their long lasting nature and how shiny & chic they looked. What I didn't love was the cost, sitting in the manicure chair and how I felt entrapped by the color for at least two weeks. I also have realized that I suffer from sensory issues and sometimes the feeling of thick nail polish on fingers sent shivers down my spine.
How could I mitigate the cons and still keep the pros? It was like Olive & June heard my prayers and answered them in quick succession.
Right before Christmas, my favorite nail polish brand released their at home gel manicure system and I don't know the last time I pressed checkout so fast. I bought the full gel system with 6 colors-- all which I have the regular polishes for too which made it easy to choose.
I did my first manicure before Christmas but wasn't a huge fan because I had chosen a color, LD, that wasn't as red as I wanted so it didn't put me in the festive spirit. I immediately ripped the color off within 24 hours and didn't attempt the manicure again until this past week.
The reason for that was fear and laziness; I didn't want to put my hands through the damage again and I didn't want to take the time to carefully and slowly give myself a manicure.
Well, I sucked it up because I wanted my nails to look picture perfect for a work event and well, I think I did a solid job.
The system comes with everything you need: the curing lamp, a top coat, base coat, all the nail tools you could possibly need and even a peel off base coat to make removal easier. You can see everything listed on Olive & June's website here.
As with any gel system, you apply the base coat, cure it, apply a coat of polish, cure it, a 2nd coat, cure it and then finish off with the top coat & cure it. The step by step takes a while but once you do it a few times, you get the hang of it.
I think I like how my nails came out this time versus the first, mostly because I tried my best to do as thin of a coat as possible to not make my nails raised or bumpy. I succeeded on some and not so much on others, but it was fine.
Compared to a salon gel manicure, I do think you have to be a bit more careful with Olive & June; I find that I need to give my nails a bit more time to set so they don't smudge. It's also super important to pay attention to how the polish is applying as you're doing it, to make sure that it's even and not too thick. I cannot recommend using the clean up brush enough as you go, so that you get the cleanest manicure possible.
Once you find a good rhythm, the gel manicures will get a lot easier and I'm confident in myself that this system won't go to waste.
It's only been three days since the manicure and it's held up really well so far, better than a regular manicure that's for sure. I'm excited to keep honing my skill and eventually master the art of a gel manicure.
If you're someone who hates regular manicures but wants a more cost effective way to get a gel manicure, I do think Olive & June is your answer.
xoxo
B
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