Southern Mom Loves: Couture Gel Nail Polish Review

Couture Gel Nail Polish Review

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

I won this 3 color Couture Gel Nail Polish kit through a giveaway from If You Want It Done Right. I love trying out new products, and have been dying to try gel nails, so I thought I would do a review of it and let everyone know how it goes. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.

Couture Gel Nail Polish starter kit

Let me start off by saying that I love having my nails done. That being said, I'm not that great at doing them myself, and it takes a bajillion years for them to dry, and I usually whack them on something immediately. After all that, I usually get one day of pretty nails before I start chipping them. I'm hard on my nails; they make handy tools.

So when I heard about Gel nails from my Sister-in-law a few years ago, I really wanted to try them, but true to form, I got busy and completely forgot about it...until I saw that April at If You Want It Done Right was doing a giveaway for a whole Starter Kit. And I won! I did squee, if you were wondering.

Shipping was super-fast and upon opening the box, I was so happy with all of the little extras; they thought of everything. Included was everything to do your gel nails, but also some manicure supplies in a cute little bag, samples of their polish-removal foils, and a cosmetics case to hold your supplies (it will hold everything but the lamp.) It even included a DVD to show you exactly how to do it. Which is good, because seeing all the supplies that were included made me think that I would definitely need some instruction.

Couture Gel Nail Polish starter kit
Starter Kit


I chose #29 Private Jet (a sleek granite gray)
Couture Gel Nail Polish color - Private Jet
#73 Creme de la Creme (a sheer glittery bronze)
Couture Gel Nail Polish color - Creme de la Creme

and # 20 Painfully Hip (a deep eggplant that reminded me of a Chanel color I loved a few years ago.)
Couture Gel Nail Polish color - Painfully Hip



So, I got down to it. Comfy chair? Check. Tea? Check. Futurama on Netflix? Check.

After watching the videos, I wasn't so intimidated. They were super-clear and I was as ready as I'll ever be.

1. Start with clean, dry nails. Buff the shine off with the included tool and wipe any dust off.

2. Apply a thin basecoat on the thumb first, making sure to remove any that got on the skin, and put under the light for 30 seconds.
Couture Gel Nail Polish light

Did I mention that I'm not great at doing my nails? I got a little (or a lot) under my thumbnail; I have short nails, so it's inevitable. It hardened under the light. I actually have this little cuticle tool that looks like a tiny V, and I used that to scrape it out, so I'M OK! Disaster averted. Moving on.

3. Apply a very thin coat of the color. They mean it. I used too much and it bled into my cuticle and the skin around my nail. Don't do this. The color is actually pretty thin, so do a barely there coat to set your boundaries and it will keep the color from running and bleeding on subsequent coats.

They did include a handy brush and I dipped it into polish remover and cleaned it up. I proceeded to do the rest of my nails on that hand, but by the time I got to the 4th, the 1st was messed up. I think I said somewhere that I'm crap at this, so if you're like me, you might want to do one nail at a time (which I'll be doing in future.) It sounds like it would take forever, but what took forever was me cleaning up in between each application. Also, waiting for regular nail polish to dry. That takes forever.

4. Apply a thin coat of the Topcoat and bake for 30 seconds.

5. Your nails are still tacky to the touch, so use a tissue and some of their Cleaner (included) to wipe them down and Bam: gorgeous, hard nails. I was so surprised at exactly how immediately hard they were. I kept checking them every time I accidentally smacked them on something and nothing! Not a dent. I went so far as to try to dent them in with my fingernail tips and nope! Nothing. I am sold.

Side note: The DVD tells you how to use the Cleaner they sell, but it also says you can use 90% or higher Rubbing Alcohol. Ditto the Remover; they tell you how to make your own remover foils. I love that they include this helpful information and aren't just bent on selling more of their own product. Their foils are about $15 for 100, so not bad, but if you run out and need to remove it now, you're not stuck waiting for something to ship to you. Sweet.

Couture Gel Nail Polish manicure
Ooh. Shiny.
I did 3 coats of the color I tried first, Painfully Hip, because it's so dark. Gorgeous. I love this color! It is a deep Eggplant that looks black at first take. A fantastic replacement for black polish that looks a little more grown-up.

I was waiting to see how long it would last without a chip, but after 4 days I got tired of waiting, so proceeded to try the remaining 2 colors in my toenails. Yes, you can use the lamp on your feet. Yes, I have one foot painted in each color. Oh well, it's so cold here, no one will see my feet for months. And this time, it was so fast, I only got through one episode of Futurama (22 minutes) before I was done. Cool.

Couture Gel Nail Polish light on foot

I did #29 Private Jet on my left foot and I love it! This one is a dove grey and will be perfect for Spring.

Couture Gel Nail Polish pedicure

I did #73 Creme de la Creme on my right foot and not really loving it. I don't know if it's my skin tone or what, but I don't really think it's a good one for me. It might be a great color around the holidays though, skin tone be damned. I also did 3 coats, so less would make it a bit softer.

Couture Gel Nail Polish pedicure

I also did another pic of my nails. Still perfect after 4 days. I'll update here with a day count when I get my first chip. UPDATE: 11 days before the first tiny chip!

Couture Gel Nail Polish manicure update
Ooh. Still Shiny.

Couture Gel Nail Polish logo




Has anyone else use this brand? What are some of your favorite colors? I need some recommendations!





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