OPI gel color

Last Monday I was invited by OPI Belgium to come over to their corner at Smets in Brussels to try their new product: the gel color.
But what is it exactly?
The gel color is something between a nail polish and a traditional gel. It applies just like a regular nail polish but it dries under a UV lamp for 1 minute. It is supposed to last 2 weeks, or even more, and doesn’t lose its shine.

Wanna know what I think? Then keep reading!

So, my friend Eva and I arrived at Smets and sat down at the OPI nail bar. The place is really nice and the girls who work there are absolutely adorable. They first pushed my cuticles back and apply a Ph neutralizing product (it allows to apply the gel color without filling the nail!). Then, the lady who took care of my nails applied the base coat (1 minute under the UV lamp), 2 coats of gel color (1 minute for each coat) and finished the work with a top coat (1 minute again).
And then, that was it! My nails were completely dry, the color was really deep and shiny (I chose strawberry margarita, a beautiful pink color). I was really pleased and excited to have beautiful hands for 2 weeks.

That was last Monday. My nails were doing great until Saturday. I was shopping with my boyfriend when one of my nail began to peel off (it doesn’t hurt but it looks weird!). As soon as I got back home, I applied some topcoat to seal it. But then, it got worse. I was at a birthday party that night and one of my nail chipped, and two others were completely naked! Imagine my face! I only had my gel color on for 5 days! And I have to say that I didn’t do anything crazy with my nails! No DIY, no sewing, no nothing!

So I took it off. And I was so disappointed. I had really high hopes and I already could figure myself on vacation with a chip proof nail polish. Sigh.

Pros:

• Available in the most popular OPI colors
• Dries in 4 minutes under a UV lamp
• Super shiny

Cons:

• Didn’t last more than 5 days with really bad chipping
• Pretty expensive (45€)
• You have to go back to OPI to take it off

Overall, it was a really disappointing experience. If you want to spend 45€ at OPI, get yourself a nice selection of colors (I LOVE their nail polishes!) and a drip dry (this thing is crazy, I already talked about it here).

❤
Axelle

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