Review | B-Pro Systems Hybrid Gel Polish 122

A few weeks ago I posted a picture on my Instagram with a new kind of gel polish - hybrid gel polish to be exact which is produced locally by

B-Pro Systems.

I was sent the shade 122 which is a gorgeous Italian Pink that is very apt for the summer months and began testing it right away. What makes B-Pro Systems Hybrid Gel Polish different from other gel polishes? Well, you just apply the colour and cure! No base and top coat needed!

So, let's start with the basics...B-Pro Systems Hybrid Gel Polishes come in 8ml bottles just like regular nail polishes and I really like the size and shape of the brush as it fits my nail bed perfectly. Being a gel polish, the formula is obviously on the thicker side but it is very easy to work with.

What I did was prep my nails to remove surface oils so that the gel adheres to the nails, apply the first coat of colour, cure under UV or LED light, and repeat with a second coat and I was done! No base coat, no top coat, no nail cleanser! And i was left with a super glossy manicure in a little over 5 minutes!

How did it perform? I must say I was really impressed with the staying power of this gel polish especially when keeping in min that I did not apply a base and top coat. I started seeing the first signs of tip wear after about a little over a week and then by the second week, I had a really huge chip on one of my middle fingers which is going through a 'soft' phase at the moment and it bends easily so I guess that is what caused the chipping.

As for removal, I used acetone and wrapped my nails in soaked cotton discs for just 10 minutes and it was all gone without causing any damage to the nails. 

The B-Pro Systems Hybrid Gel Polishes are only available for sale to professional nail technicians from Beautica in Paola and they currently come in 24 shades but they keep adding new shades every so often so keep your eyes peeled for more shades.

I look forward to purchasing some shades in due course and introduce this service to my clients who sometimes just want a quick polish!

PR Sample

Review | Essence Gel Nails At Home Clear Gel Top Coat

A while back, Essence has launched the Gel Nails At Home system which comprises everything you need to have your nails done by yourself and still have that gel finish as in salons. I was intrigued to try the Clear Gel Top Coat as I had been looking for a good gel top coat at the time.

 

Gel top coats that work with regular nail polish are extremely hard to find but this one does just that! It is designed to work with any Essence nail polish (no gel polish needed) but you do need a UV lamp to cure it. You can also opt to buy the range's own LED lamp. Anyways, back to the Top Coat.

 

It is supplied in a coated brown glass bottle that holds 7ml of product and it also comes neatly packaged in a small carton box.

 

 



The consistency of this top coat is rather thick so always be careful not to overload the brush as if the gel top coat leaks onto the cuticles and nail wall, it results in the polish just peeling off after a couple of days. However, despite the consistency being thick, it easy to work with and doesn't end up thick on the nails. Furthermore, the brush is a good size too even for my narrow nail bed.

 

 

This top coat imparts a high shine look to any manicure and it stays like that throughout the time of wear, which on my natural nails is a week. After that, you can opt to peel off the manicure especially if you have used the peelable base coat; I prefer to remove the manicure with a gel polish remover though.

 

 

I have tested the top coat with various brands of polish and it still works brilliantly. All you have to do after curing it for 1 minute under the LED lamp (2 minutes under UV), is cleanse your nails with the nail cleaner to remove the tacky layer. Alternatively, you may opt to use alcohol instead.

I highly recommend this top coat and with its price tag of just €4 you won't break the bank for sure!

For a list of outlets stocking the Essence Gel Nails At Home system, check out the Essence Cosmetics Malta Facebook page.

NOTW | Pink Flowers for the Birthday Girl

Hey all :) I am posting this week's nail art tutorial quite late because I was working all day today. So tomorrow is my birthday and I wanted a special manicure that totally agrees with my personality. I chose to have a deep French manicure (always elegant) and I opted for a combination of pink (very girly) and black (timeless and goes with everything). It took me some time to complete but in the end, the results were well worth it for I really like how it turned out and I got a lot of compliments for it.

 

Here is the step-by-step tutorial!

 

1. Prep nails with a base coat and proceed to apply a deep welled French tip with black polish. I used Orly Gel FX Liquid Vinyl so I had to cure it under UV light. The French tip should cover up to half of your nail tip.

 

2. When dry, apply a light pink polish to the clear part of the tip so that your French manicure looks like the ones in the photos. I used Orly Gel FX Catch The Bouquet.

 

3. Subsequently, apply an iridescent glitter polish over the pink part. I used Essence Colour and Go 105 Party Princess.

 

4. Define the pink-black borders with a pink crème polish such as China Glaze Second Hand Silk and apply a pink rhinestone in the spot where the borders intersect.

 

5. With the same pink crème polish, paint little flower petals around the rhinestone on the ring fingers on the black part only.

 

6. Apply top coat to seal in your design and you're done :)

 

 

Review | Pupa Milano Lasting Color Gel 015 Tropical Escape

I'm sure everyone has heard of the revolutionary gel polish but not everyone has the time or money to go to the salon every so often.

 

Thanks to Pupa Milano, now you can have durable nail polish with a glass-like shine at a fraction of the price and without the need of a UV lamp, thanks to their Lasting Color Gel nail polish range! I was given the opportunity to try one of the colours myself and I was sent the shade 015 Tropical Escape, a deep claret red with pink undertones. It is a crème polish with no shimmer whatsoever.
 

 

Packaging wise, the bottle is the same for all Pupa Milano nail polishes, i.e. a transparent glass bottle that holds 5mL of nail varnish and a round bullet shaped cap with the Pupa logo. This time however, the cap has a mirror effect gunmetal colour.

 

 

Pupa Milano claim that the brush is made up of 440 round-end bristles for the perfect pick-up and release of colour. I like that the brush is actually maxi-flat type of applicator as it guarantees a perfect result in just one stroke (in my case because I have narrow nails. If you have a wider nail bed, the brush still guarantees a perfect result in the usual three strokes recommended to apply nail polish).

 

The formula is a dream to work with even though it is more on the 'jellier' side. Here it is important to mention that Pupa Milano Lasting Color Gel is free from Toluene, Formaldehyde, DBP (dibutyl phthalate) and Camphor. 

 

Right from the very first application, the pigmentation of this polish is amazing; however, it is recommended that you always apply two coats for maximum opacity over a Pupa base coat and finish off with the Pupa Gel Top Coat. I didn't have neither the base coat nor the top coat as the former is not marketed locally and the latter is currently sold-out so I used of the base coats and top coats in my stash instead.
 

 

Left ~ with flash, no topcoat...look at that glossy finish!

Right ~ no flash, with top coat

 

The polish dries fairly quickly to a glass-like finish which makes the nail bed look fuller and smoother. The scent is essentially the same as for other varnishes and is not very overpowering.

 

My manicure lasted for 6 days before I could see some tip-wear and I can say I am pretty pleased with the long-lastingness of the polish. The only thing I have to complain about is that the polish did stain my nails a little but then again, the majority of dark colours do.

 

The Pupa Milano Lasting Color Gel range comprises 47 beautiful glossy shades and is available for sale at leading pharmacies and outlets around Malta and Gozo at just €6 for 5mL.

Check out all the shades on the Pupa Milano website and stay up-to-date by liking the Pupa Milano in Malta Facebook page.

 

PR Sample

Review: Born Pretty Store AODL UV Gel Top Coat

If you recall this review about one of Born Pretty Store's soak off gels, I had mentioned that I would have liked it more if the range had a top coat to go with it, so you can imagine my joy when I logged on the Born Pretty Store website to choose the next products to review and saw this gel top coat as part of the new nail art arrivals!! So let's have a look at the packaging first.  Basically the gel top coat comes in a white painted brown glass bottle (due to UV light sensitivity) and it has the basic polish brush applicator. I found that the brush is the ideal size as you only need a couple of swipes to cover the whole nail.

The consistency is thick but still very easy to work with, just be careful not to load the brush too much otherwise, the gel will slide onto the nail wall (skin surrounding the nails) and cause the polish to lift. Also, make sure to cap the free edge of the nail to ensure maximum wear. The topcoat does have a strong scent but it goes away once it is cured for 4 minutes under UV light.  It can be used on gel nails, acrylics and even natural nails! That means that now you can wear your favourite nail polish longer...two weeks to be exact as that is how long nail polish lasted on me with this top coat. After a week I started noticing a little tip wear on some nails but on the second week it was more evident so I took off my manicure.

Freshly applied polish with AODL UV Gel Top Coat

Tip-wear after 1 week

I also tried this to coat over glitter polish and it really smooths it out and removes that gritty glitter feeling. Moreover, rhinestones and other nail art embellishments last until you take them off yourself.

Glitter polish with AODL UV Gel Top Coat

It is important to cleanse nails with some nail cleaner to remove the sticky residue that the gel top coat leaves and also, make sure that the nail polish underneath is fully dry before applying the top coat as otherwise the nail polish will end up wrinkled. To remove, simply soak nails in some nail polish remover or else, you can use the foil removal method where you wrap a cotton pad soaked in polish remover around your nails and hold it in place with some aluminium foil and take everything off after a few minutes.

Overall I am really pleased with the results this top coat delivers and would definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't have that much time on their hands to change nail polish regularly as well as anyone wanting a high shine finish to their manicure!

AODL UV Gel Top Coat retails for $10.10 from the Born Pretty Store website.

Get 10% off your order when quoting the code EBABK31 at checkout!

PR Sample

Review: Born Pretty Store Soak Off Gel Polish in #BC01

Soak-Off Gel Polish is the latest product to take the nail industry by storm and I like the concept of a polish that lasts three weeks without chipping especially when you have busy days ahead and you have no time to touch up or go with a new manicure.

I was sent one of the Soak-Off Gel Polishes from Born Pretty Store to try out and review for you guys.  I chose the shade BC01 which is a glittery gold number with flecks of red glitter thrown in.  The polish is supplied in a cardboard box and the polish itself comes in a brown glass bottle which is painted white (due to UV light sensitivity).

The brush is just the perfect size to work with as it covers all of the nail in just one swipe and only two coats are needed for maximum opaqueness.

Since this is a gel polish, you will need a UV lamp to cure it otherwise it won't dry. Nail preparation is a little different in that you have to buff the whole surface your nails prior to applying the polish to remove oils from your nail bed that will otherwise prevent the gel polish to adhere to the nail. Remember to push back your cuticles as well.  Then, you apply one coat and cure it under the lamp for 3 minutes and repeat for the second coat.

One coat of gel polish

Two coats

An important point here is not to apply any base coat on your nails as it will cause the gel polish to peel off after a couple of days.  When it comes to top coat, you can apply anyone if you so desire but there is no need as this gel polish is not sticky when dry (unlike colour gels used by gel nail technicians) and the glitter does not feel gritty.

Now for lastingness of this gel-polish. Born Pretty Store claim that this polish will last for three weeks. I say that on me, it lasted for one and a half/two weeks as I use latex gloves in my profession and apparently it is not a good combination as the polish peeled off.  I think it would be great if Born Pretty Store stocked soak-off gel base coats and top coats as I'm sure it would help the manicure to last for the whole three weeks.

The polish can either be removed by soaking the nails in acetone polish remover (acetone-free remover will do nothing) and scraping it off with some aluminium foil or else, you can gently buff it away.

I will consider getting more soak-off polishes from Born Pretty Store if they included the base and top coats to the range.  Other than that, this is a good product that I would recommend to anyone leading a busy lifestyle as it is a long-lasting product.  The only requirement is a UV lamp and the whole procedure shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes!


Soak off gels are available in an extensive colour range and you can get yours for 10% off when quoting the code EBABK31 at checkout (normal retail price $10.10).  You can also use this code site wide for all your nail art and cosmetic needs; and remember, shipping is free worldwide with no minimum spend!


PR Sample