DITCH THE UV: LOREAL GEL LACQUE IN RADIANT ORCHID

Orchid Gel Color (Miss Luster-ess)

2014 is off to a great start- including the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year: Radiant Orchid. Purple has always been a go to color in my makeup bag, and you'll often find me wearing my favorite purple tang eyeliner 90% of the time. I've even begun wearing shades of purple on my lips so I feel like I am completely on par with this years' it-color.

But, if you read my blog regularly you know that nail polish & Megan don't mix. Not because I don't love the way it looks of course, but because it just isn't practical with my day to day job at the salon. My hands are in water all day, and therefor polish has no chance of survival. DOA, if you will.

When I am feeling the need to decorate my digits, I usually go for decals or gel so I get a few more days of wear out them. And while I do have a UV gel lamp at home, I wanted to test out the latest in gel... the non UV version.

Loreal has recently introduced a three step gel system called Extraordinaire Gel Lacque 1-2-3. I picked mine up at Target but the starter kit with the 1-3 polish can be hard to find so you can also buy online. The system has three parts: a primer, a gel color, and a glaze overlay.

I tested the system two ways. First without pre-buffing the nail, and then again with buffing before application. And just like I have experienced with ALL gels... if you don't pre buff to roughen up the nail bed and give it some added grip, the gel will peel off too easily (about 2 days). I think this is because the gels are much thicker on the nail when dry, and because of that there is often a discernible edge near the cuticle that can easily catch and then lift off the gel in one large sheet.

colors available

So learn from my mistake and use a fine particle nail file or buffer to slough off the sheen of your nail, then cleanse well with a little rubbing alcohol before beginning the painting process.

The layers go on very easily and surprisingly cure very quickly. So even though you're using three layers, I didn't feeling like my waiting time was any longer than with traditional polish, if fact I think it was quicker! Your left with a brilliant shine and the thickness of a gel that is great for protecting the nail and for longer wear. I got about 6 days out of mine, so it's definitely longer lasting than traditional polish, but not quite as long as a salon gel manicure.

I will be adding more of the Gel Lacque colors to my collection for sure, and I will experiment with the thickness of each coat to see if I can stretch the staying power a little longer. Have you tried any non-UV gels that I need to know about? Let me know in the comments below- and be sure to sign up for email on the left side bar, so that you never miss a snoop!