Hand & Nail Harmony Gelish Gel Polish

10 Reviews

1. 

   gutturalThrush2

   Reply

   My review is for the Gelish Brush-On Structure Gel and Gelish Top it Off.
   The structure gel has been a complete game changer in my routine. I am now able to grow out my natural nails whereas before they were always breaking and tearing, despite using gel.
   I use it quite differently from its instructions though-
   Gelish recommends to apply a base coat, then apply structure gel, file, wipe clean then go in with whatever other color/top coat you want. Honestly I use it like a base coat on my natural nails. The only difference is I really take my time to ensure that I apply the gel in an even, thin layer. When I am done applying the structure gel, I flip my hands over palms up and let the gel even itself out a bit more for about 10 seconds. I proceed as normal with my chosen colour, then top coat. The gel gives my nails that annoying heat shock for a few seconds then subsides quick.
   The result is strong nails that have good flexibility and virtually never break on me. The colours that I apply over-top always look smooth and perfect, no ridges or bumps in sight.
   Another cool addition is I’ve noticed I am able to build a tiny bit with the structure gel. I’m impatient with my removal process so sometimes I dig too much and cause tears on the free edge, so when that happens I simply apply+cure+layer the structure gel on the tear. It works and stays intact till the next time I do my nails.
   I have nothing bad to say about the top coat. My nails are shiny for the 2-3 weeks I have them on, don’t stain or chip easily. At most I wish it was a no-wipe top coat but that’s just saying something when there’s nothing to say.

2. 

   peacefulTruffle3

   Reply

   Do I like it? No, I don’t:
   – the formula is thicker than other gels I’ve tried so nails get thicker than I like them to be;
   – the lasting power is below any good polish, not a gel polish. It lasts me whole FOUR days before it cracks on the surface;
   – I have to soak my nails in acetone for half an hour to be able to remove it without nail damage. Counting four days wear time it’s definitely very excessive.

   The worst gel polish I’ve ever tried.

3. 

   thriftyPoultry4

   Reply

   Anyone considering setting up an at home gel kit with Gelish…. JUST DO IT!!

   I had never been that into nail polish since I always dented it as it was drying, it could get everywhere, and even if the application looked perfect, I knew that would last 48hours max before chipping.

   So I tried gel. I purchased a starter kit with Gelish and a small LED lamp back around 2011 and I’ve never looked back. My collection continues to grow and grow and I finally upgraded to the best LED lamp in the market – the official big Harmony lamp which is amazing. Also, my nails always were weak and peeled. Now I have long, strong nails that people enviously comment on.

   I could talk about this forever but here’s what you need to know. Don’t buy UV – it’s suspected to be dangerous for skin and takes a long time. Just go LED – Shellac is really the only brand that’s stuck in the UV land. Almost everything else is LED compatible.

   You only need to buy the Gelish base, a colour, and the top coat. You don’t need PH Bond or cleanser or remover or anything else (you may find your nails are particularly oily and require the PH Bond later, but experiment first rather than wasting money). Where to buy these things? If you’re in Australia go to Harehouse Warehouse to look at the colours. They sell Minis for $20 which is wayyyy too expensive. Then find a seller in your State on eBay (to minimise postage costs) and buy full size bottles from them for $20 once you’ve picked a colour in real life at the shop. The branded cleanser and remover are just expensive ways of buying rubbing alcohol and 100% acetone respectively. Just go to Bunnings and stock up.

   There’s so much you can do once you’ve mastered the basic gel mani. Look into stamping (you can start with Konad as a brand – there are others, but this is a good quality popular one to start with), embellishments like rhinestones, pigments that can be combined, striping tape, dotting tools, etc. I’m always discovering new ways to build my repertoire – there’s no limit to what you can do. Start following nail people on Instagram and build up a library of ideas to browse when you sit down to do a mani.

   This is such an easy and relaxing process – it’s definitely how I treat myself every 1.5-2 weeks. I sit down, remove my last mani, prep my nail and create something new and amazing all over again while watching some telly and eating chocolate. It’s great. And I’m ALWAYS getting compliments on my different manis – from friends, shop assistants, anyone.

   JUST DO IT!! You won’t regret it 😛

4. 

   puzzledGatorade3

   Reply

   I have gotten two salon manicures with this and WOW!! No chipping or edge wear at all. None! It lasts for 2 weeks before it grows out and you need a re-do. I am very hard on my hands and I have thin, brittle weak nails. Normal polish chips and peels within 24 hours, and after a few weeks of regular Polish wear, my nails are yellow, broken to the quick, peeled so thin they hurt, and generally absolutely ruined. But Gelish makes them thick, strong, and darned near unbreakable!!

   The only bad thing about using a gel system is that you wear the same color for weeks at a time so you get bored with it, and you need a color that will basically match all your outfits! I wouldn’t get a hot pink because you’re limited with your wardrobe. But I get more neutral soft, kind of sparkly colors that kind of go with everything.

   As for removal, you can soak it off with no damage.

5. 

   needfulCheetah1

   Reply

   I have been using the Gelish line for about a year now. I could never make regular polish last on my nails because they are thin, weak and begin to peel after a few weeks of using regular polishes.

   For my nails I use the Gelish Structure Gel (2 layers, applied with a brush) and it is amazing! It goes on top of the foundation, and the small pot lasts forever. I don’t use any other Gelish products except the foundation, Structure Gel, gelish colours, and top if off, and daily applications of cuticle oil. All brands of this last product seem to be about equal to me. All the other products Gelish sells are unnecessary, and I have tried them.

   One thing I have found to be very important is the product I use to soak off. The best I have found is Red Carpet’s ‘Erase’. It is not that expensive when used with foil wraps, as the pads don’t soak up a lot of product. I do one hand, wrapping each finger firmly at the nail with tape. When I move to the next hand I use an eyedropper to deliver more Erase to the pad inside the foil wrap, and then put the wraps on the same fingers. That’s why the tape – it keeps the foil wraps in shape for replacement and keeps them tight against the nail. This saves money!

   My nails show no damage from the soak off process using Erase. All the layers just lift off using Erase – no hard scraping, filing, gouging, or anything like that. Beautiful! And this really helps to keep my nails in good condition unlike the acetone process. And finally, Erase is much quicker than soaking off with acetone.

   Anyway, these are my experiences. Hope this is helpful to someone.

6. 

   sheepishChough9

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   I’m sooo disappointed with the yellowing that occurs with the lighter colors, and my attempts to get answers go unrecognized. I’ll be looking for a new brand.

7. 

   mercifulStork8

   Reply

   I love Gelish in Desert Sands, a neutral with shimmer. I’ve tried Shellac, OPI gel, Japanese brands, Essie gel, etc. The only one that stays for any amount of time (10-14 days) is Gelish. Price point is in line with the other brands. For someone whose nails chip in 2-3 days using regular polish, this stuff is a lifesaver! Not to mention that it’s dry once color is applied and dried under the UV light, so no mess while waiting for it to dry.

8. 

   boredWasp2

   Reply

   I love Gelish! I’ve been doing my own at home gel manis for years now. I’ve always been obsessed with doing my own nails, but got super tired of putting a bunch of work into them and then *gasp* chipping the very next day! I found Gelish at Sally’s Beauty Supply several years back when of couple girls at work started getting their nails shallaced and I was interested in the lasting power they claimed it had. I bought the entire kit, which is pricey, but totally worth it, and I’ve never looked back. It’s totally worth the investment considering how much they charge to do it in a salon, and from my experience, Gelish lasts much longer than anything comparable on the market. Here are my tips and advice for the Gelish system.

   1. Do NOT buy all that crap to remove and set the gel! What a waste of money! Get some 100% pure acetone to remove and get some 70% alcohol from the drug store to set your mani. NO NEED to waste money on the fancy stuff, it’s WAY overpriced. The acetone and alcohol in large size bottles will cost less than 10 bucks and last for months upon months. The Ph Bond is also useless. You need to “rough” up your nail bed and clean it with alcohol, that’s all. All the Ph Bond does is dehydrate the nail bed, you can do this for pennies versus 14 bucks for a tiny bottle of useless-ness.

   2. Some of the colors aren’t that great, when I’m looking for a new color I steer clear of the ultra creamy pastels, for some reason they do not layer onto the nail well and are just, in general, super hard to work with. Also, some of the colors change after several days, so be aware of that. Most aren’t that noticeable or that big of a deal, but I’ve noticed that the lighter pinks are really bad for turning yellowish after a week or so.

   3. If you are doing them yourself, be patient! It takes FOREVER! But hey! It lasts for 3 weeks! and if you do a simple color without any frills, you can totally get away with doing just a fill once or *maybe* twice…it depends, all you gotta do though is take a buffing block and buff the natural nail and smooth down the re-growth line and then apply the whole process as usual, base-color-top.~~ It may take you once or twice to get it down also, it is slightly different than slapping on some polish. I like to do one entire hand from start to finish before I do the other, it makes you less accident prone, and believe me, you don’t wanna screw up this stuff after you set it with the light and before you set it with the top coat, you will have to soak it off and start over.

   4. I highly recommend the LED light, the UV lights are obviously unhealthy. The LED also dries your nails WAY faster. The actual at home Gelish LED lamp cost somewhere around 50 bucks, but I’ve have mine for going on 3 years and it still works like a champ, it has most def paid for itself since I don’t over pay some person to do something I can do better at home.

   5. Bottom line- If you love to do your own nails, and spend a lot of time on them, Gelish is your new bestest-best-ever-friend. Invest and you won’t regret, I promise!

9. 

   insecurePup5

   Reply

   I absolutely love this stuff. Got a gel manicure with this….and the color last and lasts. I got the “holiday party blues” color and it’s amazing. The gel manicures I got with Shellac and Opi chipped much faster than with Gelish. I will only use the Gelish from now on…truly great quality. I’m very hard on my nails and type for a living, so for polish to last this long on me is nothing short of a miracle.

10. 

    adoringTacos8

    Reply

    I had little patience for manicured nails, and I am super hard on my hands. My husband loves colored nails so I searched for the strongest, longest-lasting polishes I could find. I use Gelish colors with the LED lamp, and they last up to 3 weeks on my hands, and at least a month on my toes! Gelish has a beautiful range of fun colors, so I don’t get bored with the same old look. I can’t imagine why I’d ever use anything else on my nails.