A few weeks back I spotted the new entry into the UV/Gel nails: Nutra Nail Gel Perfect UV-Free Gel-Color. I think Walgreens had four colors total available, and I chose Dahlia, the darkest shade in the group.
These Nutra Nail Gel Perfect collections are a non-UV, gel nail colors, that dry in 5 minutes or less and protect nails from breaking with a patent-leather shine. Each set comes with three bottles:
1. Nutra Nail 5 Minute Gel Polish "Activator" (the larger polish with the red label)
2. Cleaner (small bottle with white lid). This was actually clear, but I used this before I snapped pictures. As you'll see below, this is used to clean the brush on the actual nail color, hence the fact that the cleaner is now a deep maroon too!
3. Gel Color - bottle with the black lid.
Below is a closeup of the color I purchased - Dahlia. This is a cream chocolate maroon. A beautiful color for fall and winter, I have worn this on my fingers, but will be using this as my pedicure shortly.
So, the next question is, how do you do this without UV? I took a picture of the instructions, or you can go over to Nutra Nail's website and click here to see them. It's really pretty easy. I would suggest laying everything out in advance, though - that will make it even easier.
1. First, make sure you have a clean work space, and a towel or paper towel that you can use to dry the brush off after cleaning.
2. Open/unscrew all your bottles, but leave the brushes in them.
Note: you will do the next steps 5 fingers at a time. Don't try and do all 10 fingers as the activator will dry out and get sticky, which makes the application process much more difficult.
3. Brush one coat of applicator on 5 nails. Apply liberally, but don't go overboard. You just want the nails to look wet or shiny. Do not let this activator dry, and do not touch it, before you move onto the next step.
4. Apply one, thin, coat of the gel nail color. This is a very thin "polish" or color, so don't be surprised if it bleeds out, or spreads out on the nail more than a standard nail polish.
Note: You're first coat will appear streaky!
5. Clean the brush in the cleaner, and dry on your paper towel. You will want to keep this cleaning step and repeat every 5 nails.
6. Repeat Steps 3-5 on your other 5 nails.
7. Repeat for a second coat - you will need to do this to achieve full coverage of the color.
You can clean the activator and color brushes in the "cleaner" bottle. This will help avoid buildup.
Below are my swatches of my first attempt. I will say, because of the fluidity of the color, having accuracy upon application is a lot more difficult than it is with standard nail polish. All in all, I was very impressed with my mani seeing as this was my first attempt!
Overall thoughts? I actually liked this. The product does leave my nails stronger and thicker (due to the polish and activator, not because it is making my nails healthier). The activator reminds me of nail glue - maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that's what it reminds me of! The color dried impeccably smooth and shiny. Probably shinier than anything I've used before, including Seche Vite. I didn't wake up with any fabric marks on my manicure, so when it says it dries in 5 minutes, it means it! The actual product lasted on my nails for a good 10 days before anything began to chip off. I should have taken a final picture, but I was so anxious to try some of my newer polishes I picked up that I didn't even thinking about it. So, with that being said, make sure it's a color you really like, because you'll be wearing it for a while! I think this would be great for a pedicure, simply because of the shine, strength and lasting power. I tend to leave my pedi's the same for a longer period of time, so it makes sense for me to have something that can last that long.
So, bottom line, would I buy this again? I certainly would! My only request would be to have more color options at the store - I like to see them in real life, not a computer generated swatch, so I probably won't order anything online. The colors available online definitely surpass those at the store. This is a pricey venture, too. At $13.99 for a set, I would like to see the individual colors available. I don't know that I need to buy the entire package again - I have plenty of activator and cleaner left from my first manicure, so if I could buy the color bottle alone, that would be nice, too. On a side note, there are coupons available online if you are interested in trying these out, and are turned off by the price. I'm not sure how much an actual professional gel manicure costs, but I would think that the costs of the at home version is close to 50% off of the cost of a salon version.
One more thing, I almost forgot. This does suggest using the remover associated with this system, but I'll be honest, I used 100% acetone and didn't have a problem at all.
So, seeing as this is fairly new, have you seen this or given it a try yet? I know one reader posted earlier on my "spotted" post, but would like to see what others think too!
