Sally Hansen Salon Gel Polish Starter Kit

Most Helpful Positive Review

A worthwhile splurge!

I recently graduated from college & am working a summer cashier job. In school, I could easily paint my nails with regular polish & have them last weeks & weeks, because I rarely did anything more strenuous than open some books & write some notes. Working a job where I'm handling money & cash drawer...s, opening boxes, stocking shelves, etc., has been a totally different story though. I struggled to keep fresh polish on for more than a day or two, so I decided I would splurge on this [the Gel Polish, not Strips] kit! I would say a minimum requirement of this product would have to be that you are especially adept at painting your own nails. It's crucial that you don't get polish on your cuticles or the skin around your fingers because the polish lifts off the skin & then pulls it off your nails in the process. For me, this kit was a snap because I've gotten quite good at painting my own nails perfectly the first time around, & didn't deal with any frustration surrounding that. I also think it's important to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. So many people are leaving poor reviews because they blatantly didn't read the instructions & then had a bad experience due to their own ignorance. The polish peels up if you get it on your cuticles or skin - it says that in the instructions. It also says that the polish will feel tacky until you wipe it with the alcohol swabs at the very end [I usually make sure to also wash my hands well with soap & water]. The instructions tell you how best to remove the polish, which I KNOW works really well without ruining your nails because I've done it. I soaked a cotton ball in the remover SH included, put it on my nail, wrapped my fingers up in aluminum foil & then played some games on my cell phone for 20 minutes. I didn't even have to put work into scraping off the polish - the polish just falls right off the nail! I was surprised because the first time I removed this gel polish I skipped the included remover & used pure acetone instead because I assumed it would work better. It did work, but there was definitely scraping & ugliness involved there. & if you struggle once with a product [ANY product, not just this one], give it another try. How often can you do things perfectly the first time? You normally can't, so it's silly to think this product or any other is 'terrible' after you've only used it once. ESPECIALLY if you don't follow the instructions properly, like many reviewers here. I had a less-than-stellar experience my first try with this kit because I decided I wanted to do a French mani for my first one [YIKES], & I used the SensatioNail French gel kit that includes white polish stickers for the French tips. That was a complete nightmare for me because I had never used polish stickers before - but with a little patience & an ability to laugh off the uneven tips, I got it finished & it looked pretty good for a few days before I got sick of it's imperfections. Regardless, no matter how much I disliked that process, I'll probably still try it again at least once - maybe looking up some tips online beforehand. If it still sucks as much as it did the first time, THEN I think it's fair to say that product either isn't that great, or I'm just not that great at using it. My point is, TRY, TRY AGAIN. Don't give up the first try! Ultimately, I really like this product, though I do agree with those saying they wish there were more colors - I've already tried SensatioNail gel polish & know it works with this kit & they have a slightly larger selection, so that's an option, but I'd like to use SH if I could.