Cruise Nails

[TamieH]

Just sharing for those that may be interested....

Our pre-cruise tradition is a "girls day" with my DD15 & DD10 where we get real pedicures. It's the only time a year when I pay this kind of money for this service, so its special treat for us. Before our cruise last May on the Dream, I had just heard about Shellac (sp?) gell nails. My nails actually looked pretty good at that moment with all the nails about the same length, so I decided to have a manicure for the 1st time too. I LOVED my french tipped Shellac nails. I liked that they were my own nails. They looked awesome for our Disney World week and the 5 night cruise. I was able to keep them looking nice for about 3 weeks by touching up the cuticle area with regular clear polish to keep the high shine on new growth. Anyway, due to cost ($40 including service & tip), this was just going to be another pre-cruise tradition.

I did just discover in several magazines a product where you can do this yourself at home. It's called Red Carpet Manicure Professional Kit. It's sold through Ulta and Drugstore . com. I'm not sure if there are other options. I purchased mine via Drugstore and bought the "Pro" kit that has an upgraded LED curing light vs the portable/lower quality light. It cost $80 for everything you need and you can buy replacement component alacart. I did my nails a week ago with the red polish included in the kit and they still look fabulous. I'm going to see how long this lasts. I get compliments everyday on these nails. Once I need to remove, I will try the french manicure that I prefer and will want to wear on my May Fantasy cruise.

As an FYI - I researched other similar home products on line that were going to costs close to $200. I was really excited when I saw this in one of my fashion magazines as a top new product. I'm also going to try using my own OPI polish after using their base product and then followed by their really high gloss top coat to see if it works since I have a ton of our own polish. This is supposed to work for toes too, but haven't tried it yet.

Hope this helps someone else....

 

[KristenL]

Thanks for the tip! I hate worrying about my nails when I'm on vacation.

 

[mmouse37]

I love the shellac nails.....I always do that before a vacay....not having to worry about my nails for over 2 weeks is great!!! I had shellac nails all through the holidays as well and will have it taken off and let my nails "heal" until our June cruise. It does reek some havoc on your nails and I like to keep my nails free of polish for awhile after a shellac stint.

MJ

 

[mmouse37]

Look at these nails.....so cute!



MJ

 

[Alexander]

Look at these nails.....so cute!



MJ

I am a self-proclaimed addict to having my nails done every two weeks. I started shortly after my youngest was born and I haven't looked back, he is almost 6. I have to say that those Minnie nails are AWESOME! I am going to print the picture and take it to "my Josh" and have him do those for me before my March cruise.

 

[Ariel224]

Just sharing for those that may be interested....

Our pre-cruise tradition is a "girls day" with my DD15 & DD10 where we get real pedicures. It's the only time a year when I pay this kind of money for this service, so its special treat for us. Before our cruise last May on the Dream, I had just heard about Shellac (sp?) gell nails. My nails actually looked pretty good at that moment with all the nails about the same length, so I decided to have a manicure for the 1st time too. I LOVED my french tipped Shellac nails. I liked that they were my own nails. They looked awesome for our Disney World week and the 5 night cruise. I was able to keep them looking nice for about 3 weeks by touching up the cuticle area with regular clear polish to keep the high shine on new growth. Anyway, due to cost ($40 including service & tip), this was just going to be another pre-cruise tradition.

I did just discover in several magazines a product where you can do this yourself at home. It's called Red Carpet Manicure Professional Kit. It's sold through Ulta and Drugstore . com. I'm not sure if there are other options. I purchased mine via Drugstore and bought the "Pro" kit that has an upgraded LED curing light vs the portable/lower quality light. It cost $80 for everything you need and you can buy replacement component alacart. I did my nails a week ago with the red polish included in the kit and they still look fabulous. I'm going to see how long this lasts. I get compliments everyday on these nails. Once I need to remove, I will try the french manicure that I prefer and will want to wear on my May Fantasy cruise.

As an FYI - I researched other similar home products on line that were going to costs close to $200. I was really excited when I saw this in one of my fashion magazines as a top new product. I'm also going to try using my own OPI polish after using their base product and then followed by their really high gloss top coat to see if it works since I have a ton of our own polish. This is supposed to work for toes too, but haven't tried it yet.

Hope this helps someone else....

I've been using RCM on and off since October (like MJ, I have to take a break once in awhile, because the system tends to wreck my natural nails). I've experimented with layering regular nail polish between the gel base & topcoat (often referred to as a "gelly sandwich"), with mixed results. First, you must be sure each coat of regular polish is completely dry and hardened. Second, the bond between the layers won't be as strong, so don't expect to get the full 3 weeks that you experienced with Shellac. At most, I've gotten a full week before the layers start to peel apart and chip. OPI did seem to give better results than cheaper brands. That's still much better than the 2-3 days I get out of a regular manicure, but for my upcoming cruise, I will definitely be going all gel. HTH.

 

[PrincessSophiesMom]

I was a nail tech for half of college and got to experiment with opi and creative gels. I will only use creative nail design gels on my nails. They do not wreak havoc. The difference is that opi removes like acrylics. With CND Shellac you can remove them with next to no damage. I don't let the salon take it off. I use a buffer to remove the top coat of gel and then I soak my finger tips in pure acetone. I use an orange wood stick to gradually scrape away the dissolved gel. It takes longer but there is barely any damage underneath. A lot of the times, they rush at the salon (thus damaging). It is pretty tough to ever get the opi gels off with litte damage. I just came back from our cruise and my nails are still perfect.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

My mom got me hooked on Shellac! It was too expensive for me to go to the salon to get it done, so I bought the products off of Amazon and do it myself. I love it.

 

[ThePhantomsGirl]

I love shellac or gel polish. But I will NOT let my salon remove the polish as they use the drill they use for removing acrylic nails.

It still needs to be applied correctly (i.e. dried well) or it won't last either. The guy in the salon I usually go to did mine before my 3 night cruise. The woman I usually go to is on vacation. They didn't even last the 3 days, so I know he did it wrong. I used to be able to cashier in a major retail store and they'd last 3 weeks without chipping.

 

[csidisney]

Just sharing for those that may be interested....

Our pre-cruise tradition is a "girls day" with my DD15 & DD10 where we get real pedicures. It's the only time a year when I pay this kind of money for this service, so its special treat for us. Before our cruise last May on the Dream, I had just heard about Shellac (sp?) gell nails. My nails actually looked pretty good at that moment with all the nails about the same length, so I decided to have a manicure for the 1st time too. I LOVED my french tipped Shellac nails. I liked that they were my own nails. They looked awesome for our Disney World week and the 5 night cruise. I was able to keep them looking nice for about 3 weeks by touching up the cuticle area with regular clear polish to keep the high shine on new growth. Anyway, due to cost ($40 including service & tip), this was just going to be another pre-cruise tradition.

I did just discover in several magazines a product where you can do this yourself at home. It's called Red Carpet Manicure Professional Kit. It's sold through Ulta and Drugstore . com. I'm not sure if there are other options. I purchased mine via Drugstore and bought the "Pro" kit that has an upgraded LED curing light vs the portable/lower quality light. It cost $80 for everything you need and you can buy replacement component alacart. I did my nails a week ago with the red polish included in the kit and they still look fabulous. I'm going to see how long this lasts. I get compliments everyday on these nails. Once I need to remove, I will try the french manicure that I prefer and will want to wear on my May Fantasy cruise.

As an FYI - I researched other similar home products on line that were going to costs close to $200. I was really excited when I saw this in one of my fashion magazines as a top new product. I'm also going to try using my own OPI polish after using their base product and then followed by their really high gloss top coat to see if it works since I have a ton of our own polish. This is supposed to work for toes too, but haven't tried it yet.

Hope this helps someone else....

Oh thanks!!! I am off to research this! How many manicures can you get out of the $80?

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Does anyone have an opinion on the red carpet nail colors to purchase if I wanted to do a french manicure (so I guess I'm trying to figure out the light pink color and then either with bright white or the american style of the more muted white up at the top of the nail?) And what is the best deep red color polish in that brand of products? I don't really like the glitter effect so that glitterazi one probably wouldn't work for me.

TIA!

 

[mmouse37]

I was a nail tech for half of college and got to experiment with opi and creative gels. I will only use creative nail design gels on my nails. They do not wreak havoc. The difference is that opi removes like acrylics. With CND Shellac you can remove them with next to no damage. I don't let the salon take it off. I use a buffer to remove the top coat of gel and then I soak my finger tips in pure acetone. I use an orange wood stick to gradually scrape away the dissolved gel. It takes longer but there is barely any damage underneath. A lot of the times, they rush at the salon (thus damaging). It is pretty tough to ever get the opi gels off with litte damage. I just came back from our cruise and my nails are still perfect.

thanks...never crossed my mind to take it off at home....I will definitely try that!!!

MJ

 

[dylan'smom]

I had my "gels" redone on the Wonder in Dec. The tech removed with acetone & an orange stick & was careful to not damage the nails, then used CND products - cost was just $25 plus tip. It was not a manicure, just their cost for shellac.

You can stop by the salon desk & book it.

I used to do a spa mani/pedi on board as my one big indulgence, but since using shellacs, I've found getting the polish done works for me.

.

 

[TamieH]

Does anyone have an opinion on the red carpet nail colors to purchase if I wanted to do a french manicure (so I guess I'm trying to figure out the light pink color and then either with bright white or the american style of the more muted white up at the top of the nail?) And what is the best deep red color polish in that brand of products? I don't really like the glitter effect so that glitterazi one probably wouldn't work for me.

TIA!

Yes - I had emailed RCM to get instructions for how to do french manicures, regular and how to safely remove. Here is the section on color choices for french. If anyone wants the two Word files they sent me on the processes, just PM your email address and I will forward.

-For a regular French manicure you should use one of the following LED polishes:
-Candid Moment (milky baby pink)
-Camera Shy (milky white pink)
-Nervous with Anticipation (clear pink)

-For a wild French manicure these two LED polishes are great to use:
-My Favorite Designer (sheer pink shimmer)
-Tre Chic (sheer pink glitter)


For the white tip part of the application you will want to use the following LED polish:

-White Hot

 

[Patrickprincess]

Yes - I had emailed RCM to get instructions for how to do french manicures, regular and how to safely remove. Here is the section on color choices for french. If anyone wants the two Word files they sent me on the processes, just PM your email address and I will forward.

-For a regular French manicure you should use one of the following LED polishes:
-Candid Moment (milky baby pink)
-Camera Shy (milky white pink)
-Nervous with Anticipation (clear pink)

-For a wild French manicure these two LED polishes are great to use:
-My Favorite Designer (sheer pink shimmer)
-Tre Chic (sheer pink glitter)


For the white tip part of the application you will want to use the following LED polish:

-White Hot

My nails are short and are a mess. i had nail tips put on last year and it was a miskate that will not reperated. They are slowly growning out i would like get my nails done before my september cruise. I haven't found any minnie mouse nail art so i will just get a mancure and then have one coat of minnie mouse pink or red and then the white dots mabey if my nails grow long enough i have the red and white bow thanks for brining this up

 

[TamieH]

Oh thanks!!! I am off to research this! How many manicures can you get out of the $80?

I don't know, but I would guess quite a few considering you use very little of it each step. That was the biggest, repeated reminder in the materials I read that came with it, on reviews, on the facebook thread and in the emails they sent me was "use very thin, thin, thin coats" since this is where most people messup when first learning. I read somewhere that it is recommended to wait 1-2 weeks in between applications to let you nails rest, but I haven't gotten there yet. 7 days and they still look great. I can already tell that growth will be a bigger issue this first time than chips/peeling since I used the dark red that I'm not used to wearing.

I did my DD15 last night in French (just clear base with white tips) and they looked great too.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

My mom got me hooked on Shellac! It was too expensive for me to go to the salon to get it done, so I bought the products off of Amazon and do it myself. I love it.

Sure, blame me why don't you.....

thanks...never crossed my mind to take it off at home....I will definitely try that!!!

MJ

MJ, remember it has to be pure acetone. I loved the Minnie nails you posted. I wonder if my nail tech could do the bow. I will have to print it out. Thanks!

 

[Ariel224]

Does anyone have an opinion on the red carpet nail colors to purchase if I wanted to do a french manicure (so I guess I'm trying to figure out the light pink color and then either with bright white or the american style of the more muted white up at the top of the nail?) And what is the best deep red color polish in that brand of products? I don't really like the glitter effect so that glitterazi one probably wouldn't work for me.

TIA!

Red Carpet Ready is probably your best bet for a classic red. Glitz & Glamorous is a nice deep red, but it has some shimmer (not glitter) to it. Glitterattzi isn't a red at all, but a clear glitter to be layered over other colors.

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Red Carpet Ready is probably your best bet for a classic red. Glitz & Glamorous is a nice deep red, but it has some shimmer (not glitter) to it. Glitterattzi isn't a red at all, but a clear glitter to be layered over other colors.

Thanks for the information ladies! I just ordered the kit and the polishes. Happy ❤ Day!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Sure, blame me why don't you.....

It's always your fault!