Red Carpet Gel nail system - how are you getting on? I think I wish I had bought it

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I'm thinking of returning my Red Carpet set (have til Jan 25th to decide). My two peely nails: index finger left hand and middle finger right hand still chip and peel within a week and I've made sure the edges are sealed. The 3 polishes included are the most boring colours ever (imho) so I've been wearing other polishes on top. I actually enjoy painting my nails every couple of days.

Is it a complete set with lamp and different colours Ian (I know it might be too early to tell) or a repeat of the same TSV?

Jude xx
 
Akimbo said:
I'm thinking of returning my Red Carpet set (have til Jan 25th to decide). My two peely nails: index finger left hand and middle finger right hand still chip and peel within a week and I've made sure the edges are sealed. The 3 polishes included are the most boring colours ever (imho) so I've been wearing other polishes on top. I actually enjoy painting my nails every couple of days.

Is it a complete set with lamp and different colours Ian (I know it might be too early to tell) or a repeat of the same TSV?

Jude xx
Click to expand...

wouldnt have a clue but its not the same set because its a different number
 
Akimbo said:
I'm thinking of returning my Red Carpet set (have til Jan 25th to decide). My two peely nails: index finger left hand and middle finger right hand still chip and peel within a week and I've made sure the edges are sealed. The 3 polishes included are the most boring colours ever (imho) so I've been wearing other polishes on top. I actually enjoy painting my nails every couple of days.

Is it a complete set with lamp and different colours Ian (I know it might be too early to tell) or a repeat of the same TSV?




Jude xx
Click to expand...

I really regret not returning mine now, my index finger always chips no matter how much I seal the nail edge, I didn't mind the colours in the set too much, but the taupe colour is not the best colour, I am surprised Q don't sell a lot more colours. I am not convinced the lamp does your skin any good either, I may sell mine x
 
Im not convinced by it. I got it in nov but broke a couple of nails so waited for them to grow a bit before using it. I was a bit worried but found it really easy to apply and used the beige which I love, I think it has a lilac tone to it. It lasted just under 2 weeks and chipped on Christmas Day morning so mid Christmas dinner cooking I found myself with time foil fingertips. What a pain in the arse the removal process is. I had real problems getting the foils to stay on my fingers to ended up putting latex gloves on top to keep them in place. It took about 20 to soak the nails but it probably took that long again to faff about getting the foils in place to start off with. At the end of the process my nails were not in a bad way which suprised me.
My son had bought me a roo makeup case ( for my nail stuff) from Sally's and whilst he was there he noticed they were selling RCM and bought me a red/pink glitter gel polish, he said it was about £12 and they had loads of colours and all the bottles of stuff in the kit was available there too.
Anyway I left my nails about a week and decided to do them again and try out my new glitter gel, yuk yuk,yuk. I gave it 3 coats and I could still see through it. It may be ok over a red but on its own I didn't like it, so off it had to come.
Now I had put some though into this and was prepared. I cut lint free cotton pads into four and soaked it in the remover then used meditate to secure them in place on my fingers before putting the foils on top. It is much easier to remove everything from one hand before you start on the other.

I would say if you like painting your nails, stick to normal polish, with good top coats you can get a great shine. If your nails grow quickly like mine 2 weeks max is all you will get before the growth is driving you mad.

I did like how smooth my nails felt
I did like how my nails looked
I didn't have to rough my nails much at all
I did give them a really good condition when I removed the gel polish and did use an overnight nail and handcream with gloves.

I don't like the removal process
 
sharonk I brought some polish remover soakers. They are 10 little pots which you can either fill with the acetone or put the pink bit on then soak your cotton pad and attach the clearer bit over the cotton pad, then leave for 10-15 mins It all comes away very easily. I hated the removal process until I got the soakers Now I do one hand at a time and I don't get stressed like before My nails are growing again and I love being able to change my colour more often as I paint normal polish over the top of the RCM. Hope that helps x
 
Where do you buy them from Nutsville? I have just been soaking mine in a bowl of remover then pouring it back in the bottle as suggested on here earlier.
 
The Red Carpet is one of my best ever QVC purchases :nod:. I love having painted nails but just don't have the time with two small children. I'm lucky if I get 4 - 5 days out of each manicure, but then I am *very* heavy on my hands with nappy changes, hands always in water, catching them on pram/car seat, using nails as tools to undo various Lego constructions etc all the time. But the wonderous thing for me is the instant setting - I can paint them start to finish in half an hour now, and then get straight back to my life. I can find half an hour a couple of times a week to polish, I can't add a good hour after that to sit there and let them completely dry. Plus I used to *hate* it when you think they're dry then you make a brew/go to the loo or similar and instantly mark or smudge them. This happened so often to me no matter how many so-called 'quick dry' top coats I used or how thinly I painted. I haven't found any problem with removal, just wacked some remover soaked cotton wool on and shoved a bit of foil round, can't say I squished it tight either and the polish has peeled off within a few mins. Nails seem in fine condition afterwards, have to say I don't roughen my natural nail first though, might get longer out of manicure if I did but I want my natural nail to be fine on its own when not painted.

I don't like the taupe colour in the QVC kit, think I'll flog that on Fleabay (it looks like mouldering sillicone bathroom sealant to me - not really selling it am I? :grin:) I got Midnight Affair from Red Carpet direct and their service was quick and efficient. Glad to read from other forumites that Boots sell gel polishes that work too :handshake:. Obviously gel polishing is not for everyone but IMHO it's the coming thing and I think Leighton and co had better look to upping their game in this regard - I certainly won't be going back to standard polish again, and I must have spent a fortune with Leighton, OPI, Nails Inc etc in the past :nod:
 
I am wearing the taupe at the moment because I'm away on holiday without the lamp and it is neutral enough that any chips to it are not too noticeable to others. In fact one whole nail has peeled unlucky as this has only happened once before. I will keep the rest of the varnish on it strengthens my nails. I used super glue on the nail that had peeled prior to painting it as I had a small tear on it but hadn't roughed the surface so so wonder if this was why the nail peeled. Wouldn't usually use super glue but wanted to keep the length it didn't work as after the nail peeled I had to cut down the nail. On previous holidays have had no problems.
 
Nutsville said:
sharonk I brought some polish remover soakers. They are 10 little pots which you can either fill with the acetone or put the pink bit on then soak your cotton pad and attach the clearer bit over the cotton pad, then leave for 10-15 mins It all comes away very easily. I hated the removal process until I got the soakers Now I do one hand at a time and I don't get stressed like before My nails are growing again and I love being able to change my colour more often as I paint normal polish over the top of the RCM. Hope that helps x
Click to expand...
Oh where did you get them from, they sound a good idea, thanks for the advice
 
@Sharon go to eBay and type in "finger soak off" and you will see some. Currently around £10 including postage. There mat be some on amazon too.
Are you breaking down the top coat using an emery file before using the acetone remover - it is in the instructions and it makes removal a lot easier?
 
Last edited:
@Akimbo I've realised that it is my right index finger that has peeled twice (though I have been continuously using the gel since August) and I'm going to try a few things such as 2 layers of base coat and then another time 2 coats of the top coat on the troublesome finger.
And thanks for the link to the cheap finger cups - just ordered them!
 
@Akimbo I've realised that it is my right index finger that has peeled twice (though I have been continuously using the gel since August) and I'm going to try a few things such as 2 layers of base coat and then another time 2 coats of the top coat on the troublesome finger.
And thanks for the link to the cheap finger cups - just ordered them!
 
angelicannemarie said:
Where do you get the Gelish from and do you still do 45 secs per coat?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I got the Gelish colour in Sallys (or whatever they are called now) as my friend has a card because she did a nail course at college years ago, so I borrow that. You can also get the OPI gel varnishes there too. They didn't stock the RCM colours in our local store but they do sell them and have them online. I just did the normal 45 seconds or whatever the RCM lamp time is.

As for removal - I couldn't get on with the pads and foil way either (even getting hubby to do one hand as it fell off trying to wrap both together) so I bought a couple of nail soaking bowls from ebay (they are really cheap but you could use any plastic bowl if you wanted) and just put any acetone remover into them and sit with my finger tips in them for 15 minutes then it just almost falls off on its own. You must remember to buff the shiney top coat off first whichever removal method you choose otherwise it will never come off. I pour the remover back into the bottle to save waste and use several times.

I have found if I have a small break in a nail I just use the base coat to 'stick' it back together. Sometimes I put a second base coat or top coat on a broken one to give it extra strength. I broke my small finger nail about halfway down 4-5 weeks ago and it has just grown out and you would never know it was broken.

Another tip is if you get a bubble in any when you are applying just rub it down with a buffer/file till the bubble is smoothed out and then put another coat of colour on before topcoating. Looks perfect then.

I also bought a craft type magnifier which is fantastic as you can see your nails huge so makes application easier and less likely to make mistakes.

It is no more difficult to do than painting your nails - it just takes slightly more time because you have to sit with them under the lamp each coat to cure. But if you take the total length of time you would need to paint and fully dry nails normally it is actually quicker.

I love the RCM and it is one of my best purchases ever from QVC.
 
I will admit, I didn't file before soaking, but it was the getting the foils to stay in place that was causing my frustrations. I will try that this week when I have another go.
 
I put the soaked cotton pad (a quarter of a round one plus the foil) and then put a latex glove on. I only do one hand at a time and generally reuse the little cotton/foil covers that I have made. You could try cling film instead of foil. When the little finger caps arrive from HK I'll try those but one hand at a time using the quarter of a cotton pad and peeling off one layer as someone else described earlier in this thread or was it on the reviews on QVC? You must break down the top layer first otherwise it will take forever to remove the gel nail varnish and you will be tempted to scrape it away and damage your nails.
 
rosey said:
I got the Gelish colour in Sallys (or whatever they are called now) as my friend has a card because she did a nail course at college years ago, so I borrow that. You can also get the OPI gel varnishes there too. They didn't stock the RCM colours in our local store but they do sell them and have them online. I just did the normal 45 seconds or whatever the RCM lamp time is.

As for removal - I couldn't get on with the pads and foil way either (even getting hubby to do one hand as it fell off trying to wrap both together) so I bought a couple of nail soaking bowls from ebay (they are really cheap but you could use any plastic bowl if you wanted) and just put any acetone remover into them and sit with my finger tips in them for 15 minutes then it just almost falls off on its own. You must remember to buff the shiney top coat off first whichever removal method you choose otherwise it will never come off. I pour the remover back into the bottle to save waste and use several times.

I have found if I have a small break in a nail I just use the base coat to 'stick' it back together. Sometimes I put a second base coat or top coat on a broken one to give it extra strength. I broke my small finger nail about halfway down 4-5 weeks ago and it has just grown out and you would never know it was broken.

Another tip is if you get a bubble in any when you are applying just rub it down with a buffer/file till the bubble is smoothed out and then put another coat of colour on before topcoating. Looks perfect then.

I also bought a craft type magnifier which is fantastic as you can see your nails huge so makes application easier and less likely to make mistakes.

It is no more difficult to do than painting your nails - it just takes slightly more time because you have to sit with them under the lamp each coat to cure. But if you take the total length of time you would need to paint and fully dry nails normally it is actually quicker.

I love the RCM and it is one of my best purchases ever from QVC.
Click to expand...

Thanks off to have a look
 

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