Salon Napa Coming Through

Hey everyone!
 
I hope your day (morning, afternoon, night - whenever you're reading this!) is going well!
 
I am the type of person that does not really buy expensive things. I am actually quite frugal. When you grow up with immigrant Filipino parents, you kind of grow up with poor man's mentality where everything is too expensive. LOL. Though I do like to treat myself from time to time, I am mostly on the conservative side financially, typically feeling guilty with purchases I want but could survive without.
 
If you had been following me for a while, you know I love doing my nails. I have several posts on amateur nail art I have done in the past. This is definitely next level up.
 
Getting your nails done can be quite pricey and at-home nails never last as long as gel nails at the salon. I have been wanting to purchase a gel nail kit for a few years now, but could never get myself to cough up the expense. Prices that I have seen range from $80+ and, to reiterate, I just don't make those hefty purchases on non-essential items. Also, I was a little skeptical about at-home DIY gel nails. Is anything ever as good as the salon?
 
With buying on a kit on my mind in the last year, I decided to just go for it. I am 32, work hard, make decent money (I got a higher paying job last year, woot!), and don't usually buy things for myself.
 
I bit the bullet, did my research and found the ASP Soak Off Gel Polish Complete Starter Kit for $71.49 at Sally's. With tax, I paid close to $80 and it was worth every penny!
 

 

$71.49 at Sally's

 

 

LED lamp



 

The kit comes with the following items:

• Mini LED Lamp (with power cord)
• Cleansing Wipe
• Bonder
• Base Coat
• Top Coat
• ASP Gel Polish in Passionate Pink (this is super bright)
• 2-in-1 Dehydrator (to remove the tacky feeling after curing)
• Conditioning Soak-Off Solution
• Easy-to-follow Instructions (with pictures! WIN!) 

According to the sales representative at Sally's, the ASP starter kit is one of the cheaper ones (in cost, not quality) and is a good beginner-friendly kit which is what I was looking for. She was completely right.

 

The whole thing was very amateur friendly and the results look as though you were a pro. Of course with anything new, there is the learning curve of fine tuning your skills.

 

Overall, I give the kit an A-, not an A+, only because 1) there is no timer, 2) the lamp is pretty small and 3) the pink polish it comes with is a bright pink which is not really an every day color I would wear. Perhaps that's a tactic to get you to buy more! 

 

Though I can't hate on it too much for these reasons because 1) I wanted something on the affordable end and 2) I kind of have big hands and really long fingers, but still (lol).

 

 

 

 

 

However, for a beginner, it does the job and I love it despite those three reasons. When this eventually wears out, I will definitely splurge on something a little bigger with a timer. It gets tedious having to pick up my phone to set the timer for every coat. But hey, first world problems. I will survive.

 

So now....time for the exciting part...the RESULTS!

 



My first ever manicure using the kit

 

Gelaze by China Glaze - Kill the Lights

 

 

 

Gelaze by China Glaze - A Waltz in the Park

 

FingerPaints - My Best Angle

 

FingerPaints - My Best Angle

My current nails

 

Gel polish is, understandably so, pricier than the regular drugstore nail polish I would buy. Because of this, I currently have my 3 staple colors: mauve, nude and lilac. I was lucky to get them on a Sally's promo of buy 2 get 1 free. Each polish (I purchased Gelaze by China Glaze and FingerPaints) was about $9-$11 each.

 

As you can tell from my pictures and clips, my shaping and cuticle work needs some improvement, but the product itself works great.

 

I get a good 2.5 - 3 weeks with them. They probably could last 4, but I get bored of them after a while and start to pick at them encouraging lifting >_<

 

Alright, this post is getting way too long. Kudos to you if you made it this far. Let's summarize the pros and cons of the kit.

 

PROS:

• Decently priced and affordable
• Compact kit
• Easy-to-follow directions
• Lamp doesn't get hot like some salons professional lamps
• Great quality machine and products enclosed
• (Side note: Kudos to FingerPaints and Gelaze by China Glaze for having bomb products too) 

CONS:

• A little too compact (I wish a little more than half my hand could fit in so I can get my thumb)
• No timer
• In my opinion, a terrible choice of pink polish included in the kit

As a beginner, I highly highly highly recommend the ASP Soak Off Gel Polish Complete Starter Kit for anyone who loves doing their nails and has been thinking about getting a gel nail lamp or kit. If I could go back in time though, I probably would have splurged higher to get a lamp with a timer, but I am still very very very happy with my ASP kit. I am confident it will last me a long while. Thank you, ASP!

 

 

<3<3<3

Save Your Lifting Or Outgrown Manicure

Happy Wednesday, y'all!!

I hope this hump day is going more than well for you! If not, the week is halfway over (silver lining??) 

If you are anything like me (half frugal, half smart shopper?), you know the guilt I feel paying for these gel manicures - like yo! How are they getting more and more expensive year?! - and then the anger and frustration when they start to either grow out or lift in the following 1 - 2 weeks after the manicure.

If I am paying $30 - $50 for my manicure, it better be on my nails looking fresh for a while!!

It is a blessing and a curse that my nails grow quick. Anyone else?!

So instead of shelling out $30 - $50 every two weeks for touch ups or redos, I follow these hacks to keep my manicure going strong for long! 

OUTGROWN MANICURE:
Like anyone else, my nails start out all fresh and banging once I leave the nail salon, but then that freshness will only last for so long. 

Two weeks later, nails are still intact but the nails are growing and the gap between the cuticle and the polish grows wider and wider. The rest of the polish is still fly though. I can't just get it redone two weeks later. Or filled! A fill is still money!

After staring at the annoying gap, I realized and learned that I can just fill it in with regular nail polish at home. 

See the picture below:

TA-DA!!!

I love it!!! What do you think?

This look is actually a style in the manicure world. It is called reverse French manicure. As you know, the typical French manicure has a tip at the end of the nail that is a different color than the remainder of the nail. The reverse French manicure has a the "tip" at the top of the nail by the cuticle. 

It's actually a thing! "Reverse" French because the small tip of color is reversed in position. Get it, get it? :D

LIFTING MANICURE:

I have hit the two week point of my [first time with] dip powder manicure (I LOOOVE IT). For the most part, it is still going strong. However, it is starting to lift by the cuticle and y'all know what that is like - hair getting stuck in our nails in the shower or just hair getting caught in them out of the shower. WHAT A PAIN.

So when my manicure below started to grow out and lift, my heart began to sank. I've been wanting to try this look for a while and I was nowhere near ready to let it go.

Fresh coat

Yes, they are two different colors on each hand. I was undecided. LOL.

How did I fix the lift? I put a clear top coat on the edges of the manicure where it is lifting and filled the gap (basically a top coat reverse French manicure). The nail polish colors are nude so the gap isn't too noticeable or bothersome. 
As you can see, there is some top coat residue on my skin by the cuticles. To be honest, I rarely clean those mistakes. I like to naturally let them wash away. And they always do. 

And that's all folks!

So ladies and gents, SAVE YOUR MANICURE. 

You did not pay all that money to just get it done in two weeks. Oh no, honey! Not on my money-saving time! I got chuuuu.

<3<3<3

DIY: Removing Gel Nails At Home

Two weeks ago, I treated myself to my third manicure ever! After two weeks of having my spring coral gel manicure, it was time to get them off! I was 1) sick/bored of the color and 2) missing doing my own nails. Also, it was just time. A few nails were starting to chip. A nails enthusiast like me cannot stand chipping! For me, a slight chip demands a retouch or a do-over. 

The first time I got a gel manicure, my friend encouraged me to just eventually peel the gel off and so I did. After doing so, I saw the damage it had done! The polish had taken the first layer (nail skin?) off my nail. Not good!

This time around, I decided to YouTube some DIY tricks to remove gel at home. I found +NewBeauty Magazine's video and followed the directions given what I have. 

Step by step, I'll walk you though the process:

SUPPLIES:

What you'll need:

- Nail polish remover

- Cotton balls

- Nail filer

- Foil

- Tweezers (not pictured)

The video called for a cuticle pusher. I didn't have one so I made due with dull tweezers

FOIL:

Cut the foil into 10 squares. As you can see, mine are not evenly cut.

THE NAILS:

So I know this picture looks awful. I had already started the process of removing the gel nails when I realized I should document this for a blog post. Here, my nails are buffed out with my nail filer. That's why my fingers look quite dry and why the gel shine is gone.

Before I started this DIY test, my initial plan was to peel the gel as you'll see from my right hand. After I saw the beating my nail took from that peel, I decided to find a better way to do it.

By the way, the silver and the gold polish are regular polish. When my gel nails started to grow out, I hated that gap so I filled it in with nail polish to create a reverse French tip.

FOILING:

As recommended by the woman in the video, I pulled apart my cotton ball in half as half is sufficient. I soaked the cotton ball in nail polish remover. I laid the cotton ball on my nail. With the square foil, I wrapped my nails then squeezedthe foil to tighten and secure the foil around my finger. Doing this all made a mess of polish remover dripping down my arms...egh. I definitely over soaked the cotton.

I do wish I had bigger squares of foil. A few fell off my finger because there was not enough foil to tightly secure the cotton ball.

Recommended time is 10 - 15 minutes. 

REMOVE FOIL

Nearly 20 minutes later, this is how my nails looked like. Gorgeous, right? haha. So gross.

You can see that the edges were loosened and had lifted up. I thought it was going to be an easy peel. But this is what the cuticle pusher is for. The gel is softened so that you can lightly scrape the gel off. I used dull tweezers in lieu of a cuticle pusher.

FINAL PRODUCT

Ta da! These are my nails buffed, washed and lotioned (soaking in polish remover made my fingers dry and pruney).

I didn't get every last tidbit of gel off, but I got the majority of it off. I am pleased with the results.

As much as I love gel nails, it is definitely work and a process to take off. Though it's not too too bad, it definitely makes me love and appreciate doing my own nails with regular polish at home :)

Here's the easy to follow video that I used for reference:

Have you ever tried removing gel nails at home?

<3<3<3