sally hansen gel strips : review

yesterday, in the mists of running errands, grabbing last minute things i stopped over at tjmaxx (aka the best store on earth) and picked up a sally hansen mini gel nail kit. this purchase was something i debated on for about 30 minutes, but it being half off, i just went for it. 

when i got home i immedatley  unpacked everything and organized it on my desk. not going to lie i absolutely love the concept, but i did not like the color i purchased. okay it looks like such a beautiful color, just about comparable to essie ballet flats, but alas i was wrong. i put a strip on and noticed its sheer pink color, i just shrugged it off and thought the color would become more intense after the backlight. so i applied the strip on my thumb and as the directions said, i removed all the access strip and fit it to my nail. after this i applied the gel polish, a light coat and plugged in the backlight and hit the center button and waited thirty seconds until it shut off. i pulled out my nail and it was even more opaque! i knew i needed my nails done for tonight and it took too long to have regular nail polish. so i went to the store and purchased a new color. (of corse) 

i purchased quite the opposite color, bat on the black; this color is very much comparable to essie's wicked, but even better, opi's lincoln park after dark (my fall favorite!). this color is amazing, but the only thing is it looks like a purplish tint in some lights (which is what i wanted) and black in others. now honestly i dont know wether to call this color black or intense violet, i know the name is pat on the black, but it could be either or. also on the package it displays a purplish shine to it. another thing that dissapointed me is that the color on the package is not identical to the color of the actual strips.  but overall i absolutely loved it, loved how fast it was and how they last up to two weeks.

items included :  a charger/plug for your blacklight dryer, a mini blacklight dryer, two packs of sixteen nail strips, a filer and a cuticle stick, two nail cleanser pads & a gel topcoat.