Hello lovelies,

In this second part of Evixi Gel review I'll show you a nail art manicure I did for my short visit to Czech Republic and tell you more about the experience with this brand. If you've missed the first part with the review of Evixi Gel starter kit, check out the previous post.

Firstly, I'd like to just say that I just love the Shattered Glass trend (which you probably can tell from the previous posts I did) and I wanted to wear it again and test how well it works in gel polish. Let's have a look at the final look:

For this gel polish manicure I've used Evixi Gel in Garnet, a berry red creme colour. It's my favourite if all the colours I got to try and it worked well with all my outfits for the trip. As I said earlier, I've been testing the shattered glass look again because I was very curious if it will last longer with gel polish. Well, it does but it still isn't perfect. I spiced it up a bit with few accent nails with diagonal negative spaces near the cuticles :)

I'd like to say few words about the application and formula of Evixi Gel. The base and top gel are pretty much the same as with other gel polish brands so I'll take a closer look at the colour - Garnet. Unfortunately for me, I've picked the only colour that was pigmented less than the rest but I still made it work. But I had to adapt my application a little bit. In the previous post I've said that Garnet would probably need three thin coats as opposed to two for all the other colours. That's somewhat true but I pushed it a little bit and got away with two slightly thicker coats. The disadvantage of that was that in one place the gel polish pooled and once cured it crinkled. This just confirmed to me that these gel polishes (like all the other) need think coats. The Second coat masked the crinkly place so all was well in the end. Otherwise the application was easy and the final result looked beautiful.

I've worn the manicure for total of 10 days and then I soaked it off. The cellophane pieces started to bother me after third or fourth day when little corners started to peel off and it was so hard to resist not peeling the whole thing off. The gel polish itself looked great after the 10 days apart from the growth and a little nick on the thumb (my fault for trying to open an eyeshadow with my nail) so I'm sure it would easily last whole two weeks. I took it off because the cellophane started to look awful and I peeled few pieces off by then. Here are photos of both of my hands after 7 days:

The biggest hurdle with the whole manicure was to make the pearlescent cellophane shards stick flat on my annoyingly curved nails. The ends kept sticking out so I had to use end of cuticle nippers to stick it down to the nail while curing it under lamp for it to stay flat. I was sticking the cellophane to the sticky layer after curing two coats of colour but it just wasn't always strong enough. I would definitely recommend embedding them under layer of gel for them to last nicely 2 weeks otherwise in nail and gel polish they won't last more than 5-7 days (in my experience).

Where to buy the cellophane/shattered glass? You can buy different shades in Born Pretty Store which ships worldwide. You can also use my code LUHH10 for $10 off your order. For UK customers I can also recommend www.lucysmylarandcrafts.co.uk

Here I've recorded the whole process of creating this manicure. It's not meant to be a tutorial but I thought it would be a shame to waste the footage. I've added some text direction to explain what to do but as I said, it wasn't intended like a proper tutorial. If you'd like to see a detailed gel polish application tutorial, check out my Gelish video.

The last thing you're probably wondering is about is removal. Even here Evixi Gel didn't disappoint. It removed just like any other gel polish, no extra work. I've used foil and piece of acetone saturated cotton pad and soaked my nails for about 15 minutes. Then I gently scraped off the softened gel with orange wood stick and if there was anything left I re-applied the pad and foil. In the end I didn't have damaged nails at all which made me quite happy. I think it's all about the right application and removal ;)

So there you have it - my experience with Evixi Gel products. It worked really well for me and I think the Full Starter Kit is an amazing value at current offer for £49.99. Other gel polish colours can be purchased for £9.99.

What do you think? Have you tried gel polishes yet? Have you tried Evixi gel in particular? Share your experiences with all of us, I love reading all your comments :) Have a lovely weekend! Lucie x

*Evixi Gel products sent for review

Hello lovelies,

I think it's about time I've done a review of a gel polish kit. I've decided to pause any work on Lucy's Stash PRO and focus on this blog because it turned out that I just don't have time for both. So you will see occasional gel polish reviews and nail art here. You don't mind, right? ;)

Well, today I'd like to talk about a new gel polish brand to me - Evixi Gel. Evixi Gel currently comes in 40 shades priced at £9.99 each. There is also a top coat, base coat, cleanser, remover and 2 types of gel curing lamps available. I got Evixi Gel Full Starter Kit and 4 additional colours (so 5 colours in total). Here's how the Full Starter Kit looks and what it contains:

Everything came in a sturdy black box with Evixi Gel logo on it and nicely wrapped in a hot pink tissue paper. The Starter Kit contains full-sized products: LED lamp, Cleanser, Remover, Top coat, Base coat and 1 colour of your choice. Right now, the kit is on offer for £49.99 (down from £85.94). This is an amazing value for full kit considering that just the lamp is £39.99 and also looking at other kits out there! This is basically all you need to do your own gel polish manicure.

I've prepared a list of steps for you which might help you to get a good, long-lasting gel polish manicure. Some of you might know that I've got several qualifications in gel polish, manicure and nail technology so I'll try and add some extra information to help you get the best results!

1. Make sure your hands are clean so wash them with soap and/or use hand sanitizer. This is especially important if you're doing nails on somebody else
2. File and shape the nails with nail file if needed
3. Remove the cuticles from the nail plate (I gently use metal tool to scrape the cuticles off)
4. Wipe the nails with Evixi Cleanser. This will remove oils and water from the nails
5. Apply a thin coat of Evixi Base Coat on the nails and cure for 30 seconds
6. Apply first coat of coloured gel polish and cure for 30 seconds. Always apply thin coats because thick coats might not cure properly and they can wrinkle
7. Apply second thin coat of gel polish and cure for 30 seconds. If the colour is not opaque enough, apply third coat. Otherwise continue to step 8
8. Apply a coat of Evixi Top Coat and cure for 30 seconds
9. Wipe off the inhibition (sticky) layer with Evixi Cleanser. Always put the wipe with cleanser on the nail and wipe off, don't wipe up and down because you don't want to get the sticky residue on your skin. It is best to use a new wipe on each nail or at least fold the wipe over before using on the next nail. This is to avoid allergies that could develop over time

I hope this will help you and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I've made a video tutorial for a Gelish gel polish application but same principles apply here so CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO TUTORIAL if you'd like to see it.

Next up I want to show you the colours I got. They are (L-R) Licorice (black creme), Garnet (deep burgundy creme), Amazing Amethyst (Lavender creme), Lapis Lazuli (medium blue creme) and Pacific Green (mint green creme). Each colour comes in a white opaque bottle with just a little triangle window to show the shade inside. I've swatched them here and I've used 2 coats of each shade and topcoat.

The formula was good and I didn't experience major problems applying it. It is thicker (like gel polishes can be) which on one side is good that the gel polish doesn't run but on the other side in needs to be properly worked it and applied to avoid any bald patches. I actually really like the thicker formula because it makes it ideal for nail art as well as one-colour application. All colours except Garnet had this nice thicker consistency and great pigmentation. Garnet was slightly on the thinner side and also a bit less pigmented so three thin coats might be required for this one. Base and top coat are both thinner than the gel polishes so they apply very easily but always use a thin coat. The removal was easy as well, just like any regular gel polish. I've used the foil soak off method, but more about it in the next post.

The Evixi Gel LED lamp is quite compact yet you can still fit whole hand in it. It comes in a white colour and four time settings - 30s, 60s, 90s and 120s. It worked well and cured the gel polish without any obvious issues.

All in all, my experience with Evixi products was very positive and without issues. The Full Starter Kit is very affordable and contains all the essentials for at home gel polish manicure and you can buy it at Evixi website for the offer price of £49.99. All gel polish colours cost £9.99.

So this was part 1 of my Evixi review. And what's in the part 2? Well, I have tested an Evixi gel polish nail art manicure while I was on holiday so the next post will be all about it. Stay tuned and have a lovely day! Lucie x

*Products in this post were PR samples