ORLY smartGELS review

I recently compared a few pricelists of nail- and beautysalons to look for the cheapest gelish nail service. I was a bit blown away because I knew it would be pricy, but hadn't expected it to be thàt expensive. The first time will cost you about 70 euros, and to update them it would be 30 euros each time. I guess you reaaaally have to want them if you are prepared to pay that much.

So I thought it to be a lost case for me, but when I was shopping (of course) a while ago at DI (beauty store), I found a DIY gelish nail device, complete with all kinds of colors and care products. I was a bit over the moon, but that's usually my first reaction to this kind of miracle marketing that claims you can perfectly do something yourself when you would pay big bucks if you wanted it to be done by specialists. Being a fanatic DIY-er, this is a concept that inevitably gets me excited. Even if I want to be stronger, the biggest part of me always tells me to believe it works at least as good as 'the real thing'. You'll find me in doubt for about half an hour just lingering around in the store or thinking it over as I go my way a bit further, window shopping past other stores with still that one, seducing product in my mind. It's like I'm Eve and every shopping mall is like Eden and has at least one apple that might be a wise or a very bad decision. This one might be the biggest apple, because the whole kit was about 140,- euros. But, as I said before, it would be a whole lot more expensive to get my nails done in a beautysalon everytime. Plus, I got bottles that are slightly bigger than the ones in the starters' kit to get me through a longer time. This is a one time investment giving you months of pretty nail beauty joy! At least, if the fairytale was true. So I decided to take the risk and that it would be a punishment for being impulsive if it would've turned out to be a fail.

(Of course I know about the existance of online reviews, still those never seem to apply to my personal experience. So I'm always on my own deciding whether or not to buy things.)

The DIY gelish kit I will be reviewing is called the ORLY smartGELS kit. I find this name to be kind of funny because 'O RLY?' was kind of my first reaction when I saw this.

I had a long chat with the woman who sold this to me because I was of course being very suspicious. I asked how long the nailpolish would last, if it's hard to get it off, if it's unhealthy for your nails etc. Long story short, she told me the nailpolish would stay on about 3 weeks, and that way the bottles will get you through a few months if you would be constantly doing your nails again after those 3 weeks each time. It's a very easy kit to use, just takes a little time doing all of the steps to get you a ferm manicure. I guess it can take quite a while in a salon too, but doing this at home makes sure you can keep watching tv or anything like that.

I forgot to take pictures of all the supplies that you need but you can either buy a starters kit (I didn't, because it contained all kinds of things that I already had or didn't really need) or buy all of the bottles and supplies apart. This is what you will need: ORLY gel polish in a color of your choice, ORLY base+top polish, ORLY primer polish, ORLY cleanser + whipes, ORLY remover (NOT the regular dissolvant because it won't work) and the remover sachets (I don't have the patience to remove the polish in the normal way so I just rip it off when it starts to get loose after those 3 weeks, therefore I can save some sachets but probably hurt my nails). And of course, the lamp. This will cost you the most (about 50,- euros). The steps are as follows and take about 20 minutes:

- Remove current nailpolish if you have any. Clean your hands + nails thoroughly and use the whipes + cleanser to get them as clean as possible. You don't need a lot to do so.

- Apply primer on the nail tips and put your fingers under the lamp for 60 seconds (do thumbs apart because the lamp base isn't really big enough for all 5 fingers at once and polish might start leaking)
- Apply base coat + lamp again

- Apply nail polish in several layers (most of the time I do 3 for maximum effect) + lamp

- Apply top coat + lamp

- Use the cleanser again to give your freshly done nails a smooth surface. They will feel awkward just after you've done all of the steps and doing this should make them feel nice.

If you want to remove your current gel nail manicure, do as follows:
- Apply remover fluid to every little sachet, one for every finger (if you haven't got very thick fingers you can get 2 in one little bag to save them)
- Leave on for about 10 minutes
- The polish should automatically come off and if that's not the case for a few zones, just scrub it off or put it back for a few minutes longer.

Also, the lamp works on electricity so you won't be running to the store for batteries every once in a while. I hate that about most devices. But: NEVER look right into the blue light (which is purple on the picture above) because it really hurts your eyes.

I am really satisfied with the purchase. Not only do I prefer to do my nails myself rather than letting someone else fiddle with them, I don't need to make an appointment or spend a lot of money to get beautiful nails either! You can even use normal nailpolish, but might not stay as long as the smartGELS polish. The most important thing for me is that it really does stay on for about 3 weeks. That's the whole thing about gelish nails, right? When you're too lazy to do regular nailpolish after only 3 days each time... ;)