If you’re anything like me you HATE painting your nails with regular polish because you are too impatient to wait for them to dry, but you also HATE going to the salon and spending around $30 every two weeks for gel nails! Because I no longer wanted to spend money to get my nails done, I decided to buy the Red Carpet Manicure Pro 45 Starter Kit. This includes all of the items you will need for an at home gel manicure. I was a little nervous to drop around $80 at first but I told myself that it is just 3 times at the salon, and if I can do this at least three times at home, it will have paid for itself (plus it would make a good blog post). So, I bought the kit and immediately set home to try it out.
The kit comes with step by step instructions on which products to use and when. This wasn’t too hard for me because I’ve gotten gel manicures so often and they are really similar steps. I first started with prepping my nails. I filed them and cut down the cuticles, as well as cleaned my nails so the base gel would stay on better (this is all in the instructions). I then applied the base coat. I found that with all the steps related to actually applying the polish, I had to be SUPER careful about not getting any excess on my skin because once I put my hands under the light, the polish was stuck to my skin until I pealed or filed it off. Getting the nail polish on took practice, and now after using the kit about 4 times I feel pretty confident.
Then I applied the white shade 263 Iconic Beauty. This one is a just a pure white and needs at least two coats. I curated the polish under the LED light between each coat (in the photo below I’m wearing two coats). Some of my other favorite colors are 132 Glitz and Glamorous (a sparkly red), 069 Mink Coat (a rose gold), and 075 Green Room (a muted forest green). All of these colors have worked well on me but have each needed at least two coats!
Now that I’m used to the steps, I can usually finish my nails anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes, and I actually really enjoy doing it! Since I’ve already used the kit around 4 times, I feel confident in my purchase. I haven’t even gone back to the salon since! It’s also important to note that while it is definitely a cheaper option, each individual nail polish color is around $10. I honestly think this set is worth it and I will for sure continue to use it especially while I’m in college and can’t always afford to go to a salon!
Red Carpet Manicure Kit – $79.99