Okay, confession time. I am new to gel polish. GASP! I know, I know. I’ve drug my feet in what seems like forever looking the other way. As if to say, “no, no gels for me. I don’t have time, I change my polish too often. What if they damage my nails. I swatch all of the time. Not gonna work, no way, no how.” Well, I’ve been schooled and I have Madam Glam and a few others to thank for that! I received a sampling of what Madam Glam has to offer. And in the next month or so I’ll be treating you to just a fraction of all the wonderful gels offered by this New York based company. Today, I’ll share with you a couple of colors from two different collections, along with their basic gel base coat and top coat. Also, this week I’ll be sharing one of their amazing LED lights for Pros and home gellers alike! 😉 Let’s start off with the basics.
• Soak-Off Base Gel Excellent base for your gel manicure.
Formula & Curing time: Clear, 1 coat for a Flawless Finish, 2 minutes by UV Lamp, 30 sec by LED
• Soak-Off Top Gel Get professional salon results at home by adding this polish on top of your gel color. Your color is highly protected and stays radiant and shiny for days.
Formula & Curing time: Top coat, 1 coat for a Flawless Finish, 2 minutes by UV Lamp, 30 sec by LED (a light swipe with an alcohol pad is recommended for this top gel)
Onto the colors for today! First the Soak-Off Gel Color, Girl Power
Formula & Curing time: Creme, 1-2 coats for a Flawless Finish, 2 minutes by UV Lamp, 30 sec by LED. I applied two super easy coats after a cured base coat, then one coat of top and cured. I love this cool orchid creme, it really pops and great for any skin tone.
What a better color to symbolize girls than this perfect shade of mauve? This rich creme gel will make you feel powerful whenever you wear it. I got full coverage in 2 coats.
The Smoothie Gel Collection color I’m featuring today is Tutti Frutti. The formula can be sticky, so do be sure to roll or shake the bottle. But since this is a gel and won’t dry until it’s cured, you have plenty of time to apply, making sure you get every glitter situated before placing in the light to cure!
Formula & Curing time: Crelly: Bright Baby Blue Jelly Base with colored Glitters, 3 coats for a Flawless Finish I managed it in 2 so it depends on your application method. Apply base coat, cure, color and cure, then top coat and cure! Super glossy smooth, no bumps! 2 minutes by UV Lamp, 30 sec by LED.
Important Instructions for application and curing of the Smoothies, or when applying and curing thicker or glitter dominated gel polishes:
• To avoid an exothermic reaction. (Exothermic– the word describes a process that releases energy in the form of heat.Forming a chemical bond releases energy and therefore is an exothermic process. Exothermic reactions usually feel hot because it is giving heat to you.) It’s kind of a scientific molecule dance thing. But no worries, there are ways around that!
When gel polish cures, it creates an exothermic reaction. With a UV lamp, which cures slowly, that reaction happens slowly and is rarely noticed. With a powerful lamp the reaction happens quickly as a heat spike.
• Some people are more sensitive than others to this but the pain usually comes either from two things: either your nails are thin/damaged either the polish is too thick. In this case, the Smoothies are thick. Because of their nature, the Smoothies need to have a “thicker” consistency than regular gels, to hold the glitters all together so that when you apply them on your nails you actually do get glitters (whereas if the consistency was too liquid all the glitters would stay at the bottom of the bottle and not on the brush). Kind of like a suspension material.
Being thick though, they do cure MUCH faster than the regular gels.
Because they are already thick, to avoid any heat spike with the smoothies you need to:
1) Apply VERY thin coats ( I mean it, super thin)
2) If you are using our PRO led lamp or hi power/watt lamp, cure each layer for no more than 5 sec. You will indeed need to do more coats to achieve opacity. However as the curing time is so short it shouldn’t take you longer than with the regular gels.
** Another way to go is too use a less powerful lamp 🙂
CONCLUSION: I have been swatching and reviewing Madam Glam polishes for a long time and have always been extremely pleased with the high quality polishes and variety of colors and finishes. The formulas are fabulous. And NOW I get to brag on their amazing gels. So yeah, I’m a fan! Not gonna lie.
Gels run $19.95 ea and Madam Glam runs specials so DO get on their mailing list! New collections and colors are being added all of the time.
•• Plus take advantage of the Special (buy 12 and get 50% off at checkout!) Free worldwide shipping over $80 and Free US Exchange & returns
Madam Glam is located here: http://madamglam.com
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madamglam
On Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/Madam_Glam
On Instagram: @madam_glam or http://instagram.com/madam_glam
*These products were sent to me at no cost and I am not being paid for my review. All opinions are my own.
Lacquered Lori 