I Love having pretty nails on the regular. However, I don’t always have time to spend at the nail salon. So when I saw Dashing Diva’s Semi-cured gel nail strips I thought I would give them a try.

Supplies!

First you need to purchase the semi cured gel stripes and an LED lamp. You can find semi cured gel strips on Amazon and Dashing Diva’s website but I got these from Walgreens for $13. The lamps are about $7 on Amazon or $12 from Dashing Diva. The gel strips come with:

• Instructions
• Nail file
• Cuticle stick
• Prep pads 
• Enough gel strips to do your manicure on both hands twice.

The LED lamp comes with a cord but you will need something to plug it into the wall.

Additional supplies I used were:

• Nail clippers
• Metal cuticle pusher
• 2 different cuticle tools
• nails file 
• padded nail buffer

Nail Prep!

Before you apply the gel strips you will need to prep your nails; file and shape nails, push back and trim cuticles. This is where I used the additional tools. Once that is done, open the nail prep pads and clean your nail beds. I think it’s basically an alcohol swab. This helps the semi cured gel strips to adhere better to your nails.

Pick Your Size!

Once your nails are all prepped, you can pick out the right size of gel strip for each nail. This kit I purchased had different accent colors to choose from which I really liked. Because this is Semi cured gel it’s a little tacky and pliable. You want to avoid touching the gel strips with your fingers as much as possible. I used the cuticle stick to remove the gel strip from the plastic and place it on the corresponding nail. I stretched it a bit to cover the nail and used the stick to push it in place and smooth out any bubbles. Make sure that you press it down over the edge of the nail so that it sticks really well.

Trim and Shape!

Then I used the nail clippers to trip the gel strip to the right size and shaped it a bit with a nail file.

When I had all the nails covered I placed my hand under the mini LED lamp for 2-3 min. I’ve noticed that each lamp differs a little in strength so you have to leave them under the lamp until they no longer feel tacky.

Repeat!

Repeat on the other hand and you have yourself a nice gel manicure! This took me 36 minutes from start to finish. 

Longevity!

The package claims they last 14 days, but they lasted 9 days on me. I am a hairdresser though so my hands are constantly exposed to water and shampoo all day every day, so I was impressed they lasted that long. I can see them lasting longer on someone else with a different job.

10/10 would recommend!