Gelish MINI Soak Off Gel Nail Polish Gel Manicure System
Back in February of this year I was invited to the red carpet premier of Oz the Great and Powerful. Although I had never had it done before, I decided that a trip to the nail salon for a gel manicure was in order for this special event. I decided to use gel because I had heard that it stayed on longer than regular polish. That was my desire, as regular nail polish tends to peel off my nails within two days. I was incredibly pleased with the outcome of my salon gel manicure and loved that my nails continued to look good for nearly three weeks.
Monthly trips to the nail salon are not not feasible on our budget, so I decided to dig around on the internet for home manicure options. I had remembered that the salon had used Gelish products and was incredibly pleased when they agreed to send a Gelish MINI BASIX Kit, a Gelish MINI Pro: 45 LED light and the Gelish MINI Love in Bloom collection to review (free of charge, all opinions are 100% my own).
The 6 colors in the Gelish® MINI Love In Bloom collection include:
Sweet Morning Dew: Carefree Coral
A Petal for Your Thoughts: Playful Punch
All Dahlia-ed Up: Flirty Fuchsia
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: Perky Purple
Garden Teal Party: Timeless Teal
A Mint of Spring: Minty Green
The manicure instructions included with the kit were very simple to follow and similar to the process we remembered from the salon. Starting with the cuticles and shaping the nails and then cleaning the surface we then applied the PH Bond.
The next step was the foundation layer. GELISH Foundation Base Gel creates the adhesive bond between the nail plate and gel products. This product secures adhesion while not damaging the natural nail plate. FOUNDATION will work with Hand & Nail Harmony GELISH products as a base for GELISH STRUCTURE or GELISH Soak Off Gel Polish. GELISH FOUNDATION cures in 10 seconds in a LED Light or 30 seconds in an UV Light.We took special care to not apply the foundation layer, seen above, too thick so that we could avoid pooling on the sides of the nails.
The MINI Pro: LED 45 Light was just the right size to cure 4 fingers at once, and then the thumb. We were both in awe at how quickly each layer cured with the LED light… less than a minute! Because we are tight on space the compact nature of the MINI Pro light was perfect for us.
Gelish color gels apply just like regular nail polish with a twist cap and applicator, but they cure (dry) incredibly fast with a lamp: 30 seconds with an LED lamp and two minutes in a traditional UV lamp. With 119 colors to choose from I’m sure we will be ready to change colors before the manicure needs to be redone!
The final step is the Top It Off Gel. GELISH TOP IT OFF Gel is a sealer top gel designed to create the ultimate finish with your GELISH Soak Off Gel Polish. TOP IT OFF creates a high shine that will not dull, chip or peel from the GELISH Soak Off Gel Polish. TOP IT OFF is a soak off gel product that can quickly be removed with Soak Off Gel Remover. GELISH TOP IT OFF cures in 30 seconds in a LED Light or 2 minutes in a UV Light.
This was Kaytlin’s end result of her first Gelish at home manicure using Garden Teal Party: Timeless Teal . She did all of the steps on her own and was very pleased with how it looked. The color is vivid, bright and amazing… she received several compliments. It took us about 45 minutes to do an entire manicure from start to finish, but I’m sure with time and experience we could get it down to around 30 minutes.
For our second at home manicure we wanted to try French tips. We followed the same steps as with a color manicure but on the color step we only applied polish to the tip. Although the Gelish MINI instructions did not include using a brush to shape the smile line, Kaytlin and I are particular about a clean edge so we shaped them with a nail brush dipped in acetone. This worked great.
Emma loves to have painted nails, but unfortunately she cannot keep regular polish on her nails more than a day or two like me. She wanted in on the manicure action so we tried out the He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: Perky Purple. We did our best with the nail prep, but the sensation of having her nails filed and buffed was not a pleasurable experience for her. Because of the lack of prep, her manicure only hung in there about 3-4 days. She was still very pleased, though, because normally they would have peeled off in less than a day.
The Gelish site quotes that the gel stays on nails for three weeks with no chipping or peeling, and soak completely off in only 15 minutes. Kaytlin and I both decided at two weeks to re-do the manicure because the growth was bothering us. They weren’t chipping or peeling though!
I am incredibly impressed with the Gelish MINI system. Local salons in our area charge $30-$45 per gel manicure. It would take only a handful of home manicures for the Gelish MINI system to pay for itself… more than worth it in my opinion!
Connect with Gelish:
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Gelish® MINI products are available exclusively at Sally Beauty Supply stores nationwide.
You can also find them on Amazon.com
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. Your experience with the product may differ from mine. The sponsor is responsible for prize fulfillment and will be shipping the winner(s) their prize(s). This post may contain affiliate links. For more information read my disclosure policy.
I love all of the colors and how easy it is to remove polish to change the look.
I love the variety of colors! I also love how the polish stays on soo much longer than regular polish..I wear gloves at work and the Gelish System seems to be my answer to keeping my nails looking god for more than one day!
I love the high voltage glitter polish. I really want to get this done to my nails, but it is too expensive at the salons. I would LOVE to win this!
love the effects series of polish – way at the bottom
the Googly moogly especially for my daughter
I love the grand jewels color!
I’d love to try the Reserve very pretty color
I learned that it only takes 15 minutes to soak off which is much quicker than going to the salon! Plus I don’t have to worry about if I am going to get a nail fungus from a nail salon.
I learned the 9ml bottles will do approximately 15 – 20 full sets.
I want the double shot espresso color!
I love the “after dark” color!
I would love to try that!
OMg I would love kit like this! My daughter loves doing her nails and would go crazy for this!
Nice material. I wish to have a kit for my doughter.
I like that Gelish does not cause any damage to the nail but rather it acts like 2 sided tape. Who knew?!
I like that it is not dangerous!!!:):)
I love the colors, especially the teal and I like that it stays on for such a long time!
I like the silver sand glitter polish… they have a great collection of polishes!
I learned how to apply a french manicure – I love those.
I like the June Bride gel polish
I love the Glitter – Silver Sand polish! I love that this polish actually stays on, so I could enjoy painting my nails knowing that it will still be on the next day! 🙂
This looks so awesome! Would love to try this with the help of the the step-by-step instructions! 😀
i want the ocean wave color pretty
I like the frost ocean wave polish
I like the Night Reflection polish
I like the 04230- Effects nail polish!
I love their selection of nail polish colors. I love how they have neutral and bright colors and I also like their glitter polishes.
Love the glitter silver sand polish.
I love it all! I get my nails done with gel every three weeks for $35 bucks a pop. To be able to do it at home would be sweet! The colors are also great, including the hot hot red!
I love the Samuri nail color
I like the Glitter Silver Sand.
i like their gossip girl polish
I like the High Bridge color
I like that their website has a tutorial for how to apply the polish.
I love the Sea Foam polish color.
I like the Ocean Wave Polish.
Thanks for the chance.
mogrill12@gmail.com
The Silver Sand looks like a super fun color for the summer.
I like the emerald dust color!
I love the glitter polishes!
I like copa cabana banana polish!
I love the fact that the nailpolish stays on for so long, and looks beautiful the whole time!
I love that the polish stays on for so long!
I learned the Gelish® doesn’t cause any chemical damage to the natural nail. Awesome!
love the variety of colors my wife would love this
i would like to get their glitter polishes thanks
i like the colors but most of all the effects polish
I learned you keep a coat of polish on up to 3 weeks.
Thanks for the chance.
I love that it stays on for 3 weeks with no chipping or peeling
I love the selection of colors they offer!
Like the glitter night shimmer color
I would LOVE their newest neon collection! I’ve seen so many swatches and I NEED them in my life!
I thought Gel polishes only came in a few color but Gelish Minis come in so many and even glitter and shimmers! Very cool!
I learned that I can do approximately 15 – 20 full sets with the 9ml bottles.
I would love to try the Vitager Nail Strengthener!!
great pictures & review. I love gel polish!
oh & I so want the effects Ooca Coocha Bing Bang Bam Alakazy Alakazam! I love this turquoise gradient effect.
I really really like the Flirty Fuchsia. I think the whole kit is great and the instructional aspect from the site is fantastic!
I love that the manicure lasts so long! I’m a vet tech and need the extra wear.
I like the Samuri frost and so many of the others
I like the Effects line!
The colors are very unique! Gorgeous!
I love the color varieties, especially caution.
i love the colors and i love the fact that the polish stays on longer than regular polishes.
I love all the colors. I have always wanted to try a at home gel system.
I love the Emerald Dust!
I love how gel lasts longer and looks better longer.
I was surprised at the number of colors and that there were also glitters!
Love the silver sand polish!
I love that Gelish stays on for 3 weeks without any chips!! The colors are great, I especially love the glitter polishes
Great variety of colors
What a cool system! i love all of their colors & glitters!
AFTER DARK COLOR
I would love to try the playful punch
I like the frost taffeta & the frost sheer colors a lot, very pretty.
My aunt has this kit and she loves it. She did my nails once and they lasted a long time. I would love to have my own. I like the sea foam colored polish!
I had NO idea there were so many color options!!
I like the Sea Foam polish.
I love the selection of beautiful colors that they have.
The colors!
I like the 04257 Glitter Grand Jewels Nail polish
thank you for the nice giveaway!
like the double shot espresso color
I love all the colors that are available!
i learned you can get professional results at home
I like the variety of available polishes, especially the blues.
I love that they have tons of videos on their site! I’ve been dying to try an at-home gel polish system. I tried it a few times at the salon, but like you said sometimes its hard to keep up with when you have a busy lifestyle. Doing it at home would be perfect!
I like that they stay on for 3 weeks with no chipping
What a cool system! I love the colors!
high like bridge is so pretty
I like the light elegant color.
I’m really surprised by the variety of the colors!
I like their French Manicure gelish
I love that you can do your nails in the comfort of your own home! And the fun colors!
I like the After Dark color!
I love the “wiggle fingers, wiggle thumbs, that’s the way magic comes”.
I love how easy it is to remove and that it lasts up to 3 weeks is amazing
I learned that it only takes 15 minutes to soak off
i like the glitter silver sand polish.
I like the sweat dream color polish
I love the colors and how the polish stays on longer
I love the color Ambiance!
I like that its easy to apply and has lots of colors to choose from and last a long time
I like the high voltage glitter nail polish. Their colors are beautiful
I like the Hot Rod Red color.
I love the June Bride color….but I really love all the variety 🙂
I love the glitter silver sand polish!
I love the color, Ready and Waiting. Normally I won’t paint my nails bright colors since it chips so fast so this would make it fun to try bright, bold shades!
It looks like they have alot of good things for gifts
I think my daughter would like the glitter grand jewels!!
pick me so i can win for the wife
i like the colors! and how it lasts for 3 weeks!
I learned that it is quicker to soak off (15 minutes) than a salon visit. Great colors too!
I was surprised to see how many colors they offered in polish!
I love the tutti frutti color swatch!! 🙂