Glamour tips: Red Carpet Manicure

Title \\It’s crazy to think about how far technology has gotten when it comes to beauty products.  I feel like most services that you would go to get done professionally you can now do at home.

I have a couple at-home gel manicure kits already but am always excited to try out new ones.  Trust me when I say this — they are not all the same.  I’ve tried good ones and bad ones, and now you don’t even need the LED light to have gel-like nails.  I blogged recently about Sally Hansen’s new Miracle Gel polish, which gives you gel nails without the curing and removal process, which is the most annoying part.  Although it didn’t give me the same hardness and longevity that gel can often give you, it proves that nails have come a long way.

If you like your gels “old-school” I would still stick with an at-home gel kit.  Sally Hansen has one, Sensationail has one, and there are numerous other brands that have them as well.  I was recently introduced to a new brand (well, to me) at the London Drugs Beauty Event in Vancouver, Red Carpet Manicure.  Just like other brands, you buy the kit which includes an LED light for curing, the prep polish, the base and top coat, and a colour of your choice.  I ended up getting a manicure at their booth and they were gracious enough to send me one of the kits and a ton of colours.

Cure Pink

I got the Red Carpet Manicure Pro Kit ($79.99), which includes:

  • Professional LED Light – LED Gel-Curing Light (AC Power Cord Adapter Included).
  • Prep – MAX ADHESION PREP
  • Structure – BASE COAT GEL
  • Brilliance – SEAL & SHINE TOP COAT GEL
  • Revitalize – NOURISHING CUTICLE OIL
  • Red Carpet Reddy – LED Gel Polish
  • Purify – PRE & POST APPLICATION CLEANSER
  • Erase – GEL NAIL POLISH REMOVER
  • RCM Instructions Card

The kit includes lots of stuff for just a manicure, but when you do gel, it’s quite a process.  For the most part, any kit you get will require the same number of steps.  Instead of writing out the process, just take a look at the video below, it’s much more interesting than if I were to write it.

I was sent a ton of colours to try out, including the hot pink shade I chose at the LD Beauty event (Star Power).  The other shades are brand-new, as part of their Sweet Indulgence collection, as well as their glitter set (includes three tins of loose glitter, a silver polish, a glitter polish, crystals and appliqués).   I actually went on a business trip to B.C. last week so I thought it was the perfect time to try this out.  I chose the colour Peach Chiffon, a nude peachy shade and did a glitter ombre on my ring finger.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the colour since they pretty much all peeled off two days into my trip (and the colour ended up turning more into a yellow than a peach).  I love the shine and hardness that gel gives you, and for the most part, gel doesn’t chip, but I do have to say that peeling is an issue with a couple of the at-home kits I have tried.

I took the kit over to my bestie’s house and we did the manicure on her and two other friends and one of her nails started chipping pretty much right away (she sent me a photo the next morning with a chip on her thumb).  Honestly, I was a bit surprised that our manicures turned out the way they did as I’ve heard many great things about Red Carpet Manicure and my initial manicure that I got in Vancouver lasted a week before I took it off.  Maybe we were applying the polish too thick?  It does say to apply gel polish thin and because we are so used to regular polish which you paint on thicker, that may have been the issue.

Hands

Overall, I think that this kit isn’t bad, I have definitely tried worse ones, but this isn’t the best at-home kit I have in my collection.  I also want to mention that when I cured the colour (and my friends found this too) I could feel my nails burning, which is something that I have never come across with the other kits I have tried.  The burning doesn’t last long, maybe a couple seconds, but still, it was very odd.

The best thing about Red Carpet Manicure though, in my opinion, is their colour and accessories collection.  Compared to other brands, I think that RCM is the best for colours as they have everything, not just “boring” colours.  I like playing up my nails and I hardly ever wear red, so for me, this brand offers the best choices in shade selection.  They actually have over 100 shades, so there is something for everyone.

Have you tried Red Carpet Manicure?  What were your thoughts?

Also, don’t forget to enter the 30-pan MAC palette giveaway, hosted by a ton of us beauty bloggers.

Please note, I was sent this product from PR.  All opinions are my own.

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