Nails of the Week: Ruby Pumps by Gelaze

Okay, I am officially obsessed with Gelaze gel polish! After taking off Dorothy Who?, I wore some regular polish for a week. That polish chipped within a couple days, so I am right back to the gel polish again. It seems like this is the only polish that I want to wear now. The fact that this polish won't chip is just too irresistible. 

This week I reached for the only other color that I own and haven't personally tried yet, Ruby Pumps. I used it on my mom when I first bought the set. Although you can't see it in the picture (bummer), this is a glitter like Dorothy Who? The glitter is slightly more subtle than Dorothy Who?, which I think is why it didn't show up as well. The color pretty much looks exactly like the bottle.

Unlike Dorothy Who?, I got full coverage with two coats of the color, but I think that is because I did thicker coats with this polish. I would recommend doing three thin coats instead of two thick ones though because I got a little messier with this than I did with Dorothy Who?

Overall, I am really liking this color and I'm looking forward to see how long it will last.

Review: Gelaze by China Glaze

As promised, here is my review for the new Gelaze line from China Glaze. Gelaze is their new line of gel polish. I had been wanting to try this out for a long time, but was hesitant because it is kinda pricey and I already have a ton of regular nail polish.

From left to right: Ruby Pumps, Rose Among Thorns, Dorothy Who?, top coat

Eventually I wanted to try it badly enough and decided to buy some. To start out, I purchased the Gelaze Necessities Kit from Sally's for $34.99. It came with Ruby Pumps, the top coat, a file/buffer, a rosewood stick, and cleansing wipes that wipe off the sticky residue at the end. I also purchased Rose Among Thorns for $11.99 because I wanted a summery color. I already had an LED light which I got for Christmas, so I was able to save there.

Items included in the Necessities Kit

Red Carpet Manicure LED light that I got for Christmas

In order to use this polish, there are some steps that you have to take before you start painting. This doesn't bother me because I always prep my nails before I paint them, but for other people, this may add some extra time. After you shape your nails, you have to push your cuticles back (which I always do anyway) and then buff your nails with the white side of the file included in the kit to rough up your nails so the gel polish will stick. The Gelaze website used to have a video showing all the steps to take before and while painting your nails, but for some reason it is no longer working. It was very helpful, and I wish it was still working. Here is the link to the Gelaze website in case you want to check it out. Even if you can't find the video, the Necessities Kit comes with instructions.

The next step is to wipe off your nails to remove any dust after buffing your nails. The instructions that come with the kit say to use a cleansing wipe, but I didn't want to waste the wipes on that because they don't sell the wipes separately at Sally's, so I put some rubbing alcohol on an eyeshadow brush and wiped my nails with that. So far, I haven't had any problems doing it that way.

When you start painting you nails, they say to start out with a very thin coat of polish. At first, I didn't understand why the directions were stressing this, but after doing the first couple nails I understood. If you use too much polish, it will pool in the corners of your nail and drip onto your skin. I didn't think that was a big deal at first, but soon realized that after you cure the polish under the light, it WILL NOT come off of your skin. Usually when I paint my nails, I can get a ton of polish on my skin and just wipe it off with acetone and an eyeshadow brush when I'm done. This is NOT the case for gel polish. Because of this difference, the first time I painted my nails with this polish, I had a good amount left on my skin that I couldn't get off. However, the second time I painted my nails with it, I was much more careful and had a better result. If you want to see the result of that, click here to see my Nails of the Week post about it.

Overall, I really like this line of gel polish! I think the best part about it is how long it lasts. I had Dorothy Who? on for two weeks and it didn't even chip. I only took it off because my nails had grown out so much. Now, when I had Rose Among Thorns on it did chip in a couple places, but I think that was more because part of my nail peeled up. I had that polish on for two weeks as well. I am wondering though if the glitter polishes like Dorothy Who? stay on longer than the cremes like Rose Among Thorns because that is usually the case with regular nail polishes. I will have to investigate that further and keep you updated.

Another great thing about this line of gel polish is that it doesn't have a separate base coat, the color has the base coat already in it. This is great because it saves a step, and therefore saves time, which I like. I have not tried any other gel polish (yet), but I like the fact that you don't have to do another step and don't have to buy another polish.

So, to sum up my really long explanation of this new gel polish, I think it's great and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to try out gel polish for the first time. If you do try out, let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions about the polish feel free to ask me.

Happy Painting!

Nails of the Week: Dorothy Who? by Gelaze

It's been a long time since I've posted a Nails of the Week. I got really busy with work at the end of the school year, but now that it's summer I'm hoping I will have more time to post. 

This nail polish is from the new Gelaze by China Glaze collection. It is China Glaze's new gel polish line. This is the third color from this line that I have purchased and it is by far my favorite! I will be doing a review on the Gelaze line soon.

The color goes on a little lighter than what it shows on the bottle; it is more of a teal blue than a royal blue (which isn't quite evident from the picture). At first, I was upset that it was more of a teal color because I wanted it to match a new swim suit cover up, but I still really like the color. It also took three coats to get full coverage. According to the directions, you are only supposed to have to do two coats to get full coverage, but that's not something that really bothers me. I think the color is gorgeous and I love the way the glitter looks in it.

I have had this color on for about a week and a half now and it's still going strong. I have had absolutely no chips! That's a plus for me because I do my nails EVERY WEEK to prevent having any chipped nails. So I love that I am able to wear this color for two weeks.