Gelish Pedicure and a bit more on gel manicures

I did say I thought the SensatioNail LED light will work with other UV and LED hybrid gel polishes, and I was right :)

This is the best gel polish ever, the name in itself is to die for! I give you Gelish "Oocha Coocha Bing Bam, Alakazy Alakazam". Longest polish name ever?? It might be. The colour is a lush sea blue-green that sparkles like crazy. A bit like dragon scales?.. I am still very ill with this cold and it has now gone to my chest so this pedicure was just the thing I needed. When I have a coughing fit I just wiggle my toes above the duvet covers and watch the blue sparkliness and I feel better :)

If you haven't tried gel polishes before, you might be amazed how quick it is - this is 3 coats of coloured polish and a base layer and a top layer. That took me less than 30 mins to do! OK so I cheated and didn't clean up properly but it's my own toes so I'm not bothered with that. Plus bending for extended periods of time when you have bronchitis is asking for a coughing fit...

My manicure took 30 mins to do, and that included the prepping of the nails and cuticles. Now that means you can have a lunchtime nail appointment AND a sandwich :)

So what is this all about? Gel polishes are a hybrid between traditional nail polish and salon gels. They don't smell and they last for 14 days +. They brush on like regular polish, but the formula is quite different to work with! They are self-levelling however so they are easy to learn to work with. They are all cured with either UV or LED light in a matter of minutes, so there is no drying time! So which hybrid manicures are there out there? Well, CND Shellac may be the celeb fave and most well-marketed among the gel polishes, but for me, nothing beats the variety of the Gelish colours! Their range of EFX Aurora colours also includes a green similar to my beloved China Glaze "Moonpool" and they also have a magnetic range! Artistic Color Gloss has an amazing colour range as well and are just getting established in the UK. Gellux is available at quite a few salons across the UK and they also have some more exciting colours. Gelax is a brand from Essential Nails and you may see this from mobile therapists trained witht their NailTrainer. Larger companies are now also venturing into this territory - OPI are leading the way with their OPI GelColor and Orly have a range of their popular colours in their Orly GelFX range. Jessica Cosmetics have gained popularity with their Geleration range, and Nubar has their Gelicure.

Bottom line is - if you haven't tried it, you should! And if you get bored with the colour you can apply normal polish over it as long as you use non-acetone remover to remove it :)