Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Nail polish

This product promises gel-like hard shiny nails, but without the buffing or harmful removal process. So, I picked up a beige color (640 Totem-ly yours) and the gel topcoat (total $20).

The color was nice. Not my favorite beigey nude (that is still Daiso!) but not bad either. The polish dries quickly. The gel topcoat gives a good shine. If you get a little on your skin, it doesn't turn into concrete and easily washes off.

However, it doesn't last any longer than normal polish. On to the next product!

Daiso's nail polish: Espoleur

I've been trying to trim down my beauty budget, and one way has been to do my own manicures/pedicures. To not feel completely impoverished, I treat myself to a new 100 yen nail polish (almost) each time.

The other day I stumbled upon Daiso's new nail polish line. I have to say, it's pretty great. There are many colors to choose from - from wild and crazy to my new favorite beige (#2 light nude ライトヌード). The first coat goes on very sheer, but the color builds nicely. It dries quickly with no gumming.

Gel nails: Gelish starter kit

I love the long lasting indestructible-ness of gel nails, but I hate the price of a gel manicure and don't want to ruin my nails and hands with the gel-off process. So, I took a little plunge into the world of at-home gel nails.

I got a basic starter kit (different than the one above) at Tokyu Hands for 4500 yen. A bottle of color gel polish was about 1000 yen.

The first try was a bit of a disaster. I found I'm not a very good manicurist, and it is EXTREMELY important to not get any polish on your skin, as it really just turns into superglue. In addition, I got some weird bubbles on a few nails. I had to take it off immediately since it looked pretty bad. I soaked off in acetone for about 30 minutes total. Not optimal.

For my second try I decided to do a gel nail top-coat over regular polish. According to this article in Allure, this method is possible if you allow your regular polish to dry for 24 hours. This is perfect for me, since I love my Jin Soon nostalgia color, and have 24 hours to clean up any polish that is on my cuticles or skin. After drying the topcoat and wiping with the cleanser, I got that great gel nail shine!

I usually get about 5-6 days of chip free nails with a regular manicure. I get 2 weeks with a good gel manicure (and could even go longer if I could stand that "grow-out" portion at the base of the nail.) I will update on how long the gel topcoat over regular manicure lasts!

UPDATE: the experiment failed. the regular polish chipped and peeled off within a day of the gel top coat. : (

Nail polish: Jin Soon's Nostalgia

All of the nail salons here do gel nails, and while I like how beautiful and long lasting they are, I always feel a little cheated. I don't get wild colors because the grow out "gap" is too noticeable. And, paying to have the nails taken off makes a $50 manicure a $70 manicure. (I don't like to do gel nails back to back, too harsh on my nails.)

In the meantime, I'm always on the prowl for the perfect beigey pink that can be a "clean look" go-to. I've failed many times and have countless bottles of "almost" perfect nail polish cluttering the fridge.

But then, there was Jin Soon's Nostalgia. It's perfect. It's expensive, but it's perfect. You can buy a bottle online.

Manicure: Marie Nails

A Marie Nails opened up in my neighborhood, so I decided to give it a try. It was rather American in style - a row of manicurists and chatty customers. I got a french gel manicure for a little over 5000 yen. There was no massage and the entire process was clinical rather than spa-like. There was no English spoken (but the Japanese language gossip was worth it!).

About one week after my manicure I've started to chip. I'm not sure if this is because I was rather hard on my hands (I did do Osoji...) or if it is the quality of the manicure.

A menu, coupons, and reservations are available online (in Japanese).

Salon Nail nail polish (#19 大人ベージュ)

While performing the luxurious task of picking up garbage bags at the 100 yen store, I treated myself to a bottle of salon nail nail polish. This brand is rated very high on cosme (the art series), but I never saw a color I liked, so I never bought a bottle (108 yen).

However, I came across this sparkly beige and thought it might be nice for an event I have coming up later this week. While it is definitely lighter in color than the bottle (this is 2 coats), I like it. It is very unassuming, but, when you notice it, the shine and color look like well-cared-for nails. I'll be sporting it out and about this week!