Press Sample

By Sheila Arkee

The subtitle of this post should be: If a nail klutz like Sheila can give herself an amazing gel manicure that made her nails look great for weeks, so can you! Couture Gel Nails is a system that allows you to achieve shiny, long-wearing gel nails in the comfort of your home and has revolutionized my nail care routine.

What are gel nails anyway? That’s a good question, and one that I always wondered about. I’d heard about acrylic nails of course, but gels were unusual and mysterious. According to Couture Gel Nails: “Gel nail polish is a light-sensitive lacquer that quickly dries to a shiny, indestructible finish under a Salon Quality Curing Lamp. It’s easy to apply, smooths out the nails, and lasts for up to 3 weeks.” Sign me up!

Raising an active little boy, it’s impossible to maintain any kind of a decent polish job on my nails for any reasonable amount of time. And the fact of the matter is, I avoid doing my nails simply because I abhor the process of removing, cleaning up, and starting all over again. Couture Gel Nails has made it EASY for me to have beautifully polished nails that I can spend about 15 minutes applying and not have to worry about for weeks, literally!

The Couture Gel Nail Polish Kit sells for $129 and includes:

• Your choice of 3 Couture Gel Nail Polish colors
• A base coat and top coat
• A professional 36-watt Salon Quality Curing Lamp
• A VERY helpful instructional DVD and brochure
• A zippered carrying case for easy storage
• And a bonus salon nail care kit with the implements you need for the job.

Admittedly, I was nervous before my first ever application, but the DVD and brochures break the process down beautifully, no fear involved! The polishes and top/base coats look and apply exactly the way a “typical’ polish would.

Between applications you cure your polish in a UV dryer for two minutes, which comes with a handy self-timer in the back.

Another great feature about gel nails is that they dry so fast and you don’t have to worry about smudging them! Here are my nails right after application…

And well over a week later with a little wear but mainly still looking great …. I ended up removing them at this point because of the regrowth and I was ready go with another color.

Removing the gel polish doesn’t require renting a sand blaster. All you have to do is break the nail polish seal by roughing it up with a nail file and soaking  your nails in 100% acetone for 5 minutes. The polish bubbles off and literally scrape out with the help of a cuticle stick.

The colors I chose for my kit are:  Painfully Hip, Chic, and In The Spotlight.

There are a couple of precautions, one is to be aware of how much polish you’re applying so as not to create pools of color along the sides of your nails and cuticles. Also, take your time with the application! In all, I have to say that the gel color overlay makes my nails feel stronger, and allows them grow longer than I typically allow them to, which was a pleasant surprise.

You can order a Couture Gel Nail Kit online.