Pssst, did you hear? Sally Hansen has reformulated their Miracle Gel topcoat and released some new colours to go with it.

I was fortunate to try out Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel line before it launched last year, which is billed as “gel without the light”.  This two-step process (the colour and the topcoat) promises up to 14 days of colour and shine, with an easy removal process. Best of all, unlike its legit gel buddies, these guys don’t need the LED light to set the colour.

A bunch of brands have come out with their own versions of the two-step, no-light-needed gel polish.  This isn’t a true gel manicure, since you need that special machine to set the colour, but I’ve been impressed with some lines, and others not so much. Unfortunately Sally Hansen was one of them.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the colours, in fact, I’ve always been a huge fan of Sally Hansen’s polishes in general, since the array of shades is vast and I love the brush (probably one of the best nail polish brushes there is). My issue is that the Miracle Gel line only stays probably two days max on my nails before it starts to chip.  Sure, I can say that maybe it’s my nails, which of course may be the issue, however, when I try other “faux gel” lines, like Revlon or OPI, I have no issue with longevity.

And thus, this is why I was excited to try out their new topcoat. I first saw it at the London Drugs Fall beauty preview this past June in Vancouver and even told the ladies at the Sally Hansen/Revlon booth my qualms with the product.  This new 2X top coat promises two-times the volume and shine on your nails. Shine I get, but volume?  Shouldn’t it be wear time?  I guess the idea behind volume is that is creates a thicker nail, like a true gel manicure.  One of the reasons I love gel manis (with the light) is that my nails feel thicker.

I tried out a bunch of their new colours from the Gel Boho Chic and Tribal Vibe collections, and although I loved the shine, I have to say that this new topcoat didn’t deliver… at least for me. I didn’t get more volume, although I do have to say that my nails did look very shiny, more shinier than the original topcoat hands down.  As for chipping?  Yes, my nails still chipped a day after I applied most of the polishes (le sigh…). Note, I also applied these colours without a base coat as I wanted to try them out as they are supposed to worn.

Maybe one day this line will work for me, but in the meantime that won’t stop me from wearing the polishes.  Regardless of the colour you choose, you don’t have to use the matching topcoat.  In fact, I’m curious to try a different “gel” topcoat from another brand to see if the colours last longer on me, or even a polish from a different line to see if the topcoat lasts longer with those shades.  Who knows, it may not even be the topcoat…

Have you tried Sally Hansen Miracle Gel? What were your thoughts?

Please note, polishes provided by PR. All opinions are my own.

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