Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit Review & Tutorial!

This Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit Review and Tutorial is collaborative.

I love having my nails done but as a working mum of two babies, finding the time to go for a manicure can be a bit of a challenge.  It generally means persuading Mr M to take me to a nail salon in a shopping centre. He can entertain the kids for an hour while I go and have them done. Which works pretty well most of the time!

But the manicures never seem to last long and they’re expensive. It also means taking time away from the kids to get my nails done. Then the Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit arrived on my doorstep!

Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit Tutorial

A gel nail kit fits my lifestyle perfectly.  They last up to 2 weeks and stay shiny and new-looking for ages.  No more chips, scratches and blotchy nails!

This kit comes with:

*  a 6 watt LED lamp
*  4ml Gel Base Coat
*  7ml Gel Nail Colour in Wine Not
*  4ml Gel Top Coat
*  10 Nail Cleanser Pads
*  60ml Acetone Remover
*  Cuticle stick, nail file & buffer
*  Instruction sheet

The kit claims to contain everything you need to get up to 10 salon gel manicures at home with up to 2 weeks wear.

So I thought I’d put it to the test. Also create a mini How To guide for anyone who wants to know how to get your own Sally Hansen gel nails at home.

Video!

Read on for how I did my nails, my tips and what I think of the kit and I’ve also created a tutorial video here:

I paint my own nails often and I’m pretty quick and all up completing the gel nail manicure took me 30 minutes.  Not bad!  The gel nail colour glided on so well and evenly and as the kit promises, it dried to a ‘mirror shine’.

Here are some of my Pros, Cons and Tips:

Pros

• Manicure lasts up to 2 weeks – so once they’re done, you don’t have to keep redoing them every few days.
• No chips.
• Complete kit – you should have enough for up to 10 at-home manicures.
• The kit cost is much cheaper than 10 visits to the nail salon!
• The Wine Not colour is a lovely deep sparkly raspberry red. It’s perfect for all year round but especially the festive season!

Cons

• You might get bored of having the same colour nails for 2 weeks. However, you can paint over them with normal nail polish. I’ve done this before and then removed the normal nail polish with acetone-free remover so the gel nails are still left underneath.
• Removing the nails is much more time-consuming than removing normal nail polish. Do NOT be tempted to peel them off. You’ll only have yourself to blame when your nails are weak and brittle afterwards.
• Whilst the kit promises ‘up to’ 10 manicures, I will definitely have to purchase more cleansing pads. They dried up after only a few seconds when I removed them from the sachets. I had to use 2 for just 1 manicure.

Tips

• Make sure your nails are really clean before starting, any oil will prevent the nail polish from sticking.
• If you’re planning to do your own gel nails at home for a long time to come, I’d recommend investing in a spare LED lamp. The last thing you want is for the lamp to run out of power mid-mani!
• Shake the polishes really well before use – or at least a minute each. This prevents shrinkage and uneven coats.
• Don’t paint over your cuticles. It looks messy and as your nails grow, the polish will lift away and start peeling off!

Where to Buy

I love this kit and would highly recommend it – I also featured in my recent Christmas Gift Guide.

You can buy the Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit Amazon (affiliate link) in the UK or at Target, Coles, KMart in Australia.

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Disclosure: the Sally Hansen Gel Manicure Starter Kit was sent to me in exchange for my honest review.