Product Review--Nutra Nail No UV Gel Kit

  There are two things in this world that make my day--a good shade of purple nail polish, and a polish that doesn't chip, period. When I saw this kit staring back at me at my local Meijer store, I assumed the best. I'd been hearing about gel polishes and how long they stay on. How, despite all the roll and tumble, they stayed on for weeks as opposed to the possible handful of days the average nail polish provides. I wanted a taste of this good life.

  So I carried the kit home, dreaming of days with shiny, fierce purple nails that would put any Disney Villainess to shame. On my long-ish nails, things were about to get ultra sleek. Matching my second class ring, things were about to get classy in a shade called Torenia.

No wait. Lemme fix that.

  Torenia is this deep kinda purple that shimmers and lets you know these nails mean sophisticated business. This lady is sipping wine, dressing classy, and probably has on some fine perfume. Her hair is done, and her smoky eye is deep and fierce. We're on the sleek and elegant tip, thank you. The downside--diva lasts for a week. One. Week.

Friday/Saturday-- While watching one of my old favorites from Tumblr talk about tribulations of life on Ustream, I painted my nails. it was supposed to be an easy application that goes Activator--> Polish -->

Activator --> Polish. Let it dry, then apply the final layer. Every five nails, switch brushes and use the cleaner. This all went rather smoothly, except for mistakes with the activator. If you don't apply carefully, you get those messy sides. If you don't push back your cuticles....it's all a mess. Nevertheless, Saturday evening nails came out flawlessly with only a few tiny chips.

Sunday-- Chipped and chipped like nobody's business. I had two SGI meetings to go to that day. The first was the usual meeting to chant and discuss the lecture. The second was my first chapter meeting with the Young Women's Division. Now, on the way there, my nails were chipping a bit. By the time I went to my meeting and came back, they were GONE. Big chipped chunks popped off, especially around the cuticles. I decided to re-apply.

Monday-- Not much chipping until I actually had to do some work, take a shower. You know...live? So, I kinda gave up after that point. As the week went on, I reapplied a few more times before just giving up and letting the chips fall. It was kinda...fun watching them pop off. Some parts cracked and popped off on their own. Others stuck to my nail until my scraping and scratches got the rest off. Believe me, I wasn't pleased and didn't have the right remover to get 'em off cleanly.

Final Thoughts: Unless you are a dainty-fingered creature who sips tea and eats grapes all day long, this Gel Perfect stuff is gonna chip off like crazy. Applying the activator takes a steady, precise hand. If you go off the nail by just a bit, it messes everything up. Once it's time to apply the polish, you can literally see it bleeding everywhere you've applied the activator. The activator sorta drips a bit, and has a flowing mind of its own.

  Everything dries beautifully and looks like a shimmering dream until that first moment of hand-to-object contact. Once you begin to bump around, the chips and cracks go crazy. This is definitely a temporary polish. Where I tried to save a buck, I should have just gone ahead and went to a shop to get them done, or found an authentic kit and learned to do it myself.

You live, you chip, you learn.