I love gel manicures, but I don’t always love the limited color choice available when you get one. Plus since I’m insanely obsessed with Estee Lauder’s spring Heavy Petals Nail Lacquer Collection, I’d love to be able to have that gel mani shine and longer-wear but with any color of my choosing. This is why I bought Deborah Lippmann‘s new Gel Lab. Inside the box is a nail treatment duet of the Coat of Arms Gel Lab Base Coat and the Shining Armor Gel Lab Top Coat. Application is simple enough: apply the base coat, your nail color, and then the top coat waiting one minute between each coat. My results?

I LOVED the super slick shine on my nails and did enjoy the fact that I had no chipping after about three days (which is like a miracle in regular manicure world), but after a week my nails looked like this:

Which wouldn’t be too bad had I not paid $45 for the set at Nordstrom :(

Bottom line: Gel Lab works okay, but I wish it were closer to $10 than $45. My Sally Hansen extended top coat gets me about a week worth of chip-free nails and is priced under $10.

More Deborah Lippmann…

About Danielle

New York City freelance writer, Image Consultant, Makeup Artist, Fashion and Beauty Producer for Bag Ladies Radio, and President of Urban Glamour, LLC. I'm a Hofstra University and Fashion Institute of Technology grad with a penchant for pretty and enjoy bringing out the FIERCE in everyone through personalized thorough image and makeup consultations. Think of me as your style and beauty entourage all wrapped up into one bubbly brown package :) I have had the honor and privilege of working backstage at NYC Fashion Week shows like Karen Walker, Jayson Brunsdon, Sabyaschi, Altuzarra, and Bridal Market Week for Vera Wang. You can also find me running around photo shoots doing makeup and styling. If you have a style or beauty question, contact me. Your question could be featured on the site!

View all articles by Danielle

Send Email |Website