Opallac - Gel Polish Kit Review + Helpful Tips!

Hellloo everyone! This is a bit of a long post but very informative I promise you! If you want to know about soak-off gels or soft gels read this post!

Today I have the Opallac U.V Gel Polish Kit* to show you! I'm very excited to show you this because it is a very affordable kit (only $99AUD available exclusively to Priceline) and the colour range is gorgeous!! As i've almost finished my cert to become a nail tech I can answer any questions anyone has about gels and some helpful tips but i've tried my best to answer some questions I thought was needed! I really enjoyed using this kit and will definitely be using it again! The product claims to last up to 14 days. By day 3 I began seeing lifting on 2 nails and 1 completely came off. By day 4 the other lifted gel completely came off. Up until this morning I still had all 8 gel nails on and they looked as good as the day I put them on but with some growth at the cuticle! The reason i'm not annoyed at my lifting was because I applied the product too thick and I did not properly dehydrate my nail plate. Read below to find out some tips and tricks with gel polish!

This product is a soft gel so it CAN be soaked off as opposed to hard gel which must be filed off. Soft gel, hard gel, acrylics, or any enhancements DO NOT damage your nail...it is how the nail technician or yourselves apply the product that determines whether there will be any damage in the end.

This kit comes with a 7 watt UV LED Lamp, 3x gel colours (Cosmolicious, Seductress & High Tea), 1 x Gel Base Coat, 1 x Gel Top Coat, 1 x 2-in-1 Shine & Soak Solution and 1 x 30 pk Remover wraps. Individual UV Gel colours are 7.5ml and are $19.95 and there are so many colours! (Check out the colours here).  The product claims to last up to 14 days and it only takes 90 seconds to cure. One thing that annoyed me was that the lamp does not have a timer so you will need either a stopwatch, timer or any phone will be useful to know when you can take your nails out. 

Just a forewarning for anyone that has never used gel before ...some gel polish (more so for hard gels) can make your nails feel warm and start to heat up.. do not freak out! This is a very normal occurrence with gel and only happens if your gel is applied to thick. If it does happen to you and you start to feel a warming sensation do not pull your hand out quickly and shake it to try to relieve the warmth, slowly pull your hand out of the lamp and place is beside the lamp (so you are still getting some light onto the nail to cure it) and once the warming has stopped put your nail back in for the remaining time you had left. It should not heat up again after that. If you keep your nail in the lamp and let it burn you, you will cause damage so remember to apply thin coats!

Here is a run down on how I applied the gel on my nails:

• Remove any existing nail polish and/or oil on the nail plate
• If you have a nail primer or dehydrater you can use this (I would probably only use this if you know you have very oil nail beds and your polish lifts quickly, regardless of what you use)
• Lightly buff the nail plate to remove any shine (just remember that shine means gel will not stick!)
• Dust away any debris
• Apply 1 thin coat of the UV Gel Base Coat - I like to really push it into the nail bed to make it stick better. Don't forget to wrap the free edge! Cure for 90 seconds.
• Apply 1 coat of the UV Gel Colour - I used all the colours I received to make a skittle. (From pinky to thumb I used; High Tea* (a very light sheer pink), Go Gaga* (a seriously bright neon fuschia which looked so cool under the UV light!), Manhattan Spark* (a very pretty rose pink with shimers in it), Cosmolicious* (a slightly darker fuschia) and Seductress* (a gorgeous fire engine red). Wrap the free edge! Cure for 90 seconds.
• If you need to, apply another coat on each nail - I skipped this step as I found it was opaque enough for me.
• Apply 1 coat of the UV Gel Top Coat and Wrap the Free Edge! Cure for 90 seconds.

• Before removing the sticky layer, if you've noticed your gel has moved around and has slid down the side of the nail, file it down slightly until you are happy with it. Then once you are happy soak a lint-free wipe with 2-in-1 soak solution to expose your freshly cured, super shiny and smooth looking gel nails! 

Do's: 

• Lightly Buff the nail plate to adhere the gel better

• Dehydrate the nail plate with primer or acetone to remove excess oils

• Wrap the free edge to avoid shrinking and visible tip wear!

• Try to always use lint-free wipes when working with gel to avoid any sort of fluff getting in the gel!

Don't:

• Apply the gel too thick otherwise it will lift and peel!

• Pick off the gel from the nail, it must be removed properly otherwise you may cause damage to your natural nail plate

• Under cure the polish otherwise it will neverrrrr dry! (Over curing is fine!).

• Try to cure all 10 fingers in the lamp at once. You cure in this order: 4 fingers, 4 fingers, 2 thumbs together. If you try to cure the thumb with the 4 fingers, because of the angle it will be at in the lamp the gel will move and gravitate downwards so avoid curing thumbs with your fingers!

Helpful Tips with Gel:

- Try not to get any gel on your skin or cuticle as this will be an area that you may find that will lift quickly and it may annoy you to the point where you are constantly picking at it and therefore causing more lifting to the gel. If you do get gel on your cuticle or down the side wall it is very easy to fix if it has already been cured! Once you remove your hand from the lamp from curing your glossy top coat you will have the sticky residue layer and this is when you should file the gel! Then once you have finished and are happy with the gel and how your nails look use the 2-in-1 shine/soak solution to remove the sticky layer and any bits of dust from filing.

 

Day 1

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 - 1 Fully Lifted and the Middle Finger has slight lifting. No change for the next 4 days.

Removal Method:

Get Your Remover Wraps & Soak Solution ready

Cut off 1 piece of wrap for each nail & soak with solution

Wrap your finger and leave on for at least 10 minutes

 

Remove wrap and the gel polish will have completely come off - if not use an orangewood stick to remove any excess

So overall I loved this product and although I like to change my nail polish every 2 days I can definitely see myself using this when I go overseas or on holidays or even to work on the weekends when I need a little more strength and thickness in my nails! I definitely recommend trying this product out! If you have any questions let me know! Thanks for reading and have a great day!