Etude House Enamel+ing (at-home gel manicure system)

At first, I thought that the small Etude House Enamel+ing kits that were given to Etude House VIP's before, were just small limited edition gifts that can't be bought in stores, like the air balloon eyeshadow palette. But today, I found out that there is actually a whole range of Etude House Enamel+ing nail polishes. I am not sure if it is a " + "or a "t", but it seems to make more sense if it is a "+". Unlike the earlier released, Innisfree gel nail polishes and the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail polishes, they are not no-light gel nail polishes. Besides the Etude House Enamel+ing gel nails color nail polishes (5,500 won), you also need to purchase the Etude House Enamel+ling base gel and top gel (6,000 won each) and the LED light (60,000 won!). Luckily, there's also a small Etude House Enamel+ing Gel Start Kit with the contents that you can see in the picture underneath, selling for 49,000 won (estimated worth of 98,000 won).  




It contains a flat, portable LED-light (that looks like a game console ^_^), one bottle of gel nail remover (60ml), an Etude House Enamel+ing top gel and base gel, and 5 full-size gel nail colors. I kind of expected a black and a white nail polish (as they are two basic colors), but in this kit, the black is replaces by a dark navy color. The three other colors (pink, peach and mint green) are probably the three best-selling nail polish colors that every girl should like.

Based on the pictures that is provided on the Etude House website, you need to put your nails under the LED-light for 45 seconds after each of the three coats that you need to apply on your nails (base gel + color + top gel). To remove the gel from your nails, you need to use a nail file to file most of the color off first. Then, drench some cotton pads in nail polish remover, place one on each nail, and cover it with aluminum foil. Basically, it is the same way as the "how to quickly remove glitter nail polish" tutorials that you can find on beauty blogs and YouTube. Since the special Etude House gel nail remover that is in the starter kit, can't be bought separately, I assume that a normal nail polish remover should do the trick too.

A few days later, Etude House introduced the Etude House Gel Nail Cleanser and the Etude House Enamel+ing Gel Nail remover (both 60 ml; 3,500 won). I checked the ingredients on the Etude House website and they both contain acetone, not being much different from a normal nail polish remover. The Etude House Gel Nail Cleanser is used to remove the stickiness on the nails, before applying the base coat, after hardening of the base coat under the LED light, and after hardening of the top coat. The Etude House Gel Nail Remover is naturally used to removed the gel nails. After 10-15 minutes of soaking in it with the before mentioned "remove glitter nail polish with aluminium foil" method, you should be able to peel the gel nail coats off.

The original Etude House LED light is a lot bulkier and in the shape of a rectangular box, but I actually prefer the smaller LED light that you get in this starter kit, as it takes up less space and can be taken along easier. However, I am not sure if it works as good as the lighted up area is smaller.

There are 35 Etude House Enamel+ing gel nail polish colors. I actually like the color range more than the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail polishes. Maybe I am starting to get a Korean taste as a result of using so many Korean beauty products. ^_^


 Click to enlarge


Update: 


Before tiggles from the blog Beauty Challenged mentioned it to me in the comments, I didn't know that there were risks involved with getting gel nails. I went to look for some more information online. I discovered that being exposed to too much UV radiation could increase the chances of getting skin cancer and the skin on your hands to age faster. Your eyes could also get harmed by the UV light, so wearing sunglasses, sunblock, and/or special anti-UV gloves with the nail areas cut out, would be wise (but the application of the nail polish might become trickier ^_^).

However, the exposure to the Etude House LED light is relatively short compared to some other brands that I found (only 45 seconds) and with pauses in between, giving your skin a bit of time to recover instead of being underneath it for a long, extended period. LED light is also a safer alternative to an actual UV light, as it emits a smaller amount of UV that is less likely to be harmful. Not much is known about repeated and frequent exposure though.

Also, you need to soak your nails in nail polish remover (containing acetone) for quite a long time, when you want to remove them, and wearing the gel nails for too long (I read someone even managed to wear them for three months straight!) can block the oxygen from getting to your nails. So, you need to plan some rest for your nails once in a while. Also, try to have less than 10 nail salon visits/gel nail treatments per year, just to be on the safe side.

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