Madam Glam 3 Week Update and Removal

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The day has finally come! It’s been three (loooong) weeks of wearing my Madam Glam Soak-Off Gel Polish in Bright Barbie Pink, and I have to say I am very impressed! Before I show you the 3 week update pics, let’s recap…

Madam Glam Soak off gel

madam glamafter application

Madam Glam one week updateafter 1 week

madam glam 2 week updateafter 2 weeks

madam glam 3 week update.NEFThis is what the Madam Glam Bright Barbie Pink soak-off gel looks like after 3 weeks of wear. There is very minimal tip wear (really only noticeable on my index finger) and the chip on my thumb started lifting a bit more (which after 3 weeks I couldn’t resist peeling it) but just the corner seems to have lifted and the rest of the polish was still very much adhered to the nail. I do want to revise my theory of what happened with the chip though. I originally thought the chip occurred because of the prolonged exposure to acetone when removing polish on my other hand, but I applied polish after removing this gel and had the same chip occur in under an hour (which shows how durable the gel is compared to polish). This leads me to concluded that the corner of my thumb is just very weak and was bending which separated it from the gel. If your nails have this issue I would recommend not only making sure you wrap your tips well but also put a thin layer of base and top gel on the underside of the nail (curing each layer). This will help add more strength and support to weak areas. Aside from the chip, the only other issue I had was with the split on my ring finger which needed to be re-glued at the end of every week. By week 3 the split had opened fully through the gel which is why it’s visible compared to weeks 1 and 2. I do want to point out that I have changed my polish, on my other hand, at least everyday and have also had swatch sessions which I used regular acetone remover and had no issues with lifting. I have also used acetone remover directly on the gel to remove any polish that had gotten on the nails during polish application on my other hand.

Overall: This gel holds up extremely well, if I didn’t have the split in my nail or a very weak corner there would probably be no visible wear other than the (massive) re-growth line. If you’re in the market for gel polish I would highly recommend this gel, especially if you have thin weak nails. Don’t forget to use the code YGEL30OFF at checkout to receive  30% off your order! Or shop their Black Friday special and get 40% and Free Shipping with orders over $30 with the code BLACK40.

Now on to removal…

1. Cut individual squares of aluminum foil, large enough to fully wrap around the nail.

2. Take a cotton ball and unroll it so you can pull apart individual pieces for each nail.

3.Prep the nail by taking a 180 grit file and filing off the surface shine from the nail. DO NOT file the natural nail(regrowth)! This breaks the seal of the gel and allows the acetone to penetrate into the polish.

4. Pour some pure acetone onto each of the piece of cotton (which should be placed in the center of the aluminum square), place the nail onto the acetone soaked cotton pad and wrap the foil securely around the nail.

5. Soak the nail in acetone for at least 10 minutes.

6. After 10 minutes, gently press down on the nail and use a slight twisting motion to remove the foil.

7. Using a plastic cuticle pusher and a downward motion, gently scrape away the surfaces layers of the gel. DO NOT try to pry off the gel! If it does not easily scrape off, do not force it, simply continue the soaking and scraping process until all the gel is fully removed. After the final soak use one of your other nails to scrape away and remaining gel.

8. HYDRATE. If your nails and skin look dry as a result of the acetone apply cuticle oil and keep applying until the oil no longer soaks into the skin. This will prevent any peeling or brittleness that can occur after gel/acrylic removal.

9. Apply your new manicure!

 

I hope you enjoyed this review..let me know what you think of this gel in the comments below =)

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20 Responses

  1. Casie says:

    Hello,
    Wondering if you could give some advice. Madam Glam or Gelish? I do not currently polish my nails, mostly because it chips within the day so it is not worth the little time I have with 6 little kids at home. But at home gels are appealing because they just might be worth my time. How do I decide between these 2 brands? I can see you have used both. Madam Glam has a sale right now and I can get their starter kit for 50% off. I’d appreciate any input as I am a polish newbie!

  2. val says:

    My madam glam lasted about 4 days until a couple of the nail started to lift and separate, where I had to peel off. This is my second time with the same problem, and haven’t had problems with any other Gel polish brand like Gelish and Shellac. Super disappointed in this brand.

    • elizabeth says:

      I know this is old but same here. it only lasts a few days and the entire thing peels off in one big piece. So frustrating because I bought it for the less toxic ingredients. but my old gel brand, a cheap one, lasted over 2 weeks. I prep my nails in every way possible and nothing makes the madam glam polish last 🙁

  3. Julie says:

    I’m very new to gel (at home) polish, and have been befuddled regarding getting chips relatively soon after applying. The brand I’ve been using is Jamberry’s new line of gels. Their lacquers are lovely and I can get several days without it chipping, so I was expecting even better results with the gels. Alas, not so. They do tend to chip in the same places, and I’ve gone from squoval to oval since they’ve mainly chipped at the corners. It has helped some, but still some chipping. When I take the gel off, I’m amazed that it could possible chip at all cuz it’s on so well! So, like you, I must just have some weak spots on certain nails. How do I combat this? I take a supplement for hair and nails, and use cuticle oil religiously. How can I make my nails stronger and is it possible to fix a chipped gel nail when the other nails look pristine?

    PS…I just received some Madam Glam gels. Beautiful stuff!

    • You may need a nail strengthener, keep in mind all strengtheners/hardeners will contain formaldehyde. Mavala Nail Hardener is a good one and you can apply it just to the weak area once a week.

  4. ann says:

    were they just gel polish or acrylic with gel on top?

  5. Props to you- I don’t think I would last the three weeks as lovely as the pink is!

  6. Deborah says:

    Hahahaha that meme, it made me lol :D. Congrats on lasting the full 3 weeks, and the outcome is quite impressive!

  7. Meghan says:

    Wow that’s impressive! I think something like this would appeal to me if I’m going on vacation or if there’s a period where I don’t want to change my polish. I’m thinking when I was finishing my dissertation and just couldn’t be bothered with anything polish related, but probably wouldn’t have minded a nice colour on my nails.

  8. I’m glad you got great wear out of this! As a nail tech, I have lots of clients that LOVE gel. And there are certain nail art techniques that work better with gel, which makes it fun. For myself, I wear gel every now and then, mostly for special occasions, but 95% of the time, I’m a regular polish girl! I need to be able to change it up! 🙂

  9. Emily says:

    Love how they held up after three weeks. The removal looks like a bit of a pain. I only have previous experience with CND Shellac and after barely 10 minutes of foil method my nails were completely clean and all the gel was gone, very hassle-free. I’m not sure what its like with other brands though!

  10. Liesl says:

    The removal process sounds kind of bad which is a bummer because it really does look remarkably nice after so long! Even so, like Valesha said, I might seek this out if I didn’t enjoy painting every couple days so much. Thanks for a great miniseries 🙂 🙂

  11. Julie says:

    Wow! Three weeks and such minimal chipping! I must try this stuff! LOL at the Kim K meme 😉

  12. You did such an amazingly detailed review. I loved seeing the progress. The number one reason I can’t handle gels is because of the removal. My nails have a hard time on their own and then when I wear gels, my nails hate me so much. If I didn’t swatch or change polish as much, I’d be so down for some more gels in my life!

    • francine says:

      Yea, the removal is what gets me too. I don’t have time to spend 25 minutes removing my polish! But I did like how it protected my nail! I think I’ll use the base and top coats alone just to add strength and protection =)

  1. February 2, 2015

    […] new techniques and methods when it comes to all things nails. If you remember after I removed the Madam Glam gel polish  I had a split up the center of my ring finger nail. Since I was so impressed with how that gel […]

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