Time consuming. Excellent results. Everything needed in the box, 4 Sept. 2016

Just spent the last hour and ten minutes painting my wife's nails; it's the first time she's used gel and the first time I've painted nails. She thinks her nails look great and thinks I've done a good job (win - win).

Firstly I'd say have a root around in the box and read all of the labels and then read the instructions from start to finish. The 70 minutes spent by us is a realistic indication of the time required so it's worth ensuring one (both?) has uninterrupted time because one's nails are sticky / tacky pretty much throughout the whole process.

The process rather reminded me of spray-painting a car beginning with preparation, primer, undercoat, top coat and polish / lacquer. In a similar manner ones has to prepare the nail by pushing back the cuticle, cleaning the nail with a liquid cleaner and gently roughing the surface of the nail so that the first coat can find a surface to grip on to.

The first coat needs exposure to the UV light for 30...

This review is from: Red Carpet Manicure Gel Polish Pro Kit (Personal Care)

Good Lamp with everything you need to get started, 3 April 2016

Received this for my birthday. Have used it once and really like it. It comes with everything you need to get started and the finish is the same as you get in a salon (although I need a bit more practice on painting neatly!). You do need to cure your thumbs seperately but this isn't a massive issue. It cures for 45 seconds when you press the button but the base coat only needs 30 seconds so you need to time this - hence why I've given 4 stars not 5. Would be better with different time options. All in all though, I'm very happy with it

This review is from: Red Carpet Manicure Gel Polish Pro Kit (Personal Care)

Great results. Four and a half stars, 31 Aug. 2016

I love this little kit. I was very sceptical when I started and read the instructions. All of the stages seemed like a marathon and I could well see why a manicure with gel nails was so expensive. However, the instructions were quite clear and as I was on holiday and had loads of time, I thought I'd give it a go.

Firstly there are preparations involving orange sticks and pushing back cuticles and roughing up surfaces. Certainly its important that your nails are completely clear of old polish or any other debris. A final cleaning is followed by the next stage - a basecoat that has to be baked under the gel light and then (ta-da!) applying a thin coat of polish, bake, then another coat of polish, bake and finish up with a shine polish and..you've guessed it..bake. Followed by a final rub down with cleansing lotion.

Each coat of basecoat/polish/shine that you apply is tacky. Everything is tacky until you get to the final shine and clean stage. This makes it...

This review is from: Red Carpet Manicure Gel Polish Pro Kit (Personal Care)