I am an Accountant and I use my hands all day, usually chipping regular nail polish regardless of brand after at least the 3rd day of wearing it. In addition to being a ridiculously “rough handed” I am also a mother of a 9 year old with a very busy dance life of her own, oh and did I mention I am a wife to a super supportive man that runs his own business? Anyway, like most women, my time is one of the most important & precious things to me. An hour alone for some pampering is like gold, so I try my best to get as much done in that hour as possible. When I saw the Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel Nail Polish & Top coat, I gotta say I was ultra excited about an affordable product that claimed to give me the same shine and no chip longevity of a Gel Nail Polish application without the curing lamp. All I could think was, maybe I could do my toes and hands in the same hour!
After using the product I can see there are certainly pros & cons! Unfortunately, I found that the cons outweighed the pros.
Pros-
I really liked that the series starts with decent color selection including luminous finishes.
- The recommended 2 Layers of polish and 1 layer of top coat dried pretty quickly. However, as with regular polishes you have to be extra careful while applying coats to each hand as to not accidentally dent or scrape a nail.
- The shine was strong. My nails looked quite glossy and that part lasted for several days. Although, not exactly 2 weeks. I am sure some color would have stayed on my nails for 2 weeks, but I cannot take chipped polish. It is against my religion!
- Removal was super simple. It comes of with Acetone.
- It was pretty water resistant and did not immediately chip after a long bath!
Cons-
- The polish did not cover well, after the recommended 2 coats of color & 1 layer of Top coat, I could see streaks in the tips of my nails, when I held them up to the light.
- I have pretty thin nails, so strengthening & breakage protection is huge for me. After using this polish, I could literally bend the tips of my nails. I at least expected the same strength as the Hard As Nails polish.
- Even after capping my nails with the polish color and top coat, only after 1 day of my rigorous Accounting lifestyle the tips of my nails were exposed.
Conclusion: To be completely honest, the product Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel Nail Polish & Top coat doesn’t live up the implied claim to be “like a Gel Polish, with No Lamp”. True no lamp is required, true you will get a shine, however, the most important parts of Gel polish is the NO CHIPPING and the LONGER WEAR. You can get the same shine, but better strength/protection out of some of Sally Hansen’s more popular lines. For now I will stick with my LED lamp & Sensationail at home Gel Polishes. This product, however, is a very quick alternative to regular nail polish in the event you have to go to a water park and don’t make it to Studio Day Spa or have time to at home gel application.
