Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit Review
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What I like most about their polishes besides their cute, aesthetic bottles and kit designs, are the formulas.
When you use Le Mini Macaron products, whether it’s nail lacquer or gel polish, rest assured you’re doing the right thing in terms of selecting the best ingredients to put on your body.
Today, we’re going to be reviewing Le Mini Macaron gel polishes and specifically the gel manicure kits so let’s dive in.
A few pros of Le Mini Macaron gel polishes -
1 step gel color is a 3-in-1 formula that includes the base and top coat, so you don’t need any extra bottles besides the color, simplifying the process and reducing your cost.
Color variety. There are over 100 shades available so plenty for you to choose from and find something perfect in every season.
Color coded aesthetic - the bottle colors match the color inside. When you get a gel manicure kit, the lamp and tools match your color aesthetic.
Compact bottle sizes offer a full size formula but don’t take up a lot of space.
Gel polishes are shrink wrapped so you can be sure each polish you open is fresh, never opened.
BIG polish names (on the cap + top!) - making your exact shade easy to spot in drawers.
Classy, family-friendly names. No cringey names you can’t use in your content due to advertiser preferences or say around children.
Single finger lamp. This compact 30 second lamp allows you to set your gel polish with greater precision and less UV exposure. These smaller lamps are portable and come with a USB cord.
Le Mini Macaron gel polishes are true gel polishes - they are not simply advertised as “gel-like.”
You need a lamp to cure them, but thankfully every starter kit comes with a kit exclusive single finger lamp.
If you are concerned about whether all your fingers and toes will fit in the single finger lamp’s opening, don’t be - the lamp top easily slides off base so you can hover it over even your big toe for a pedi!
As a thoughtful touch, the USB power cord comes pre-labeled with a “Le Mini Macaron” cord label, so you don’t have to worry about losing it amongst your sea of cords.
Now let’s talk about the Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit.
You can get the kit in a variety of color shades and the included 3-in-1 gel polish is full size. It’s the same size as the gel polishes you can buy individually.
The kit is all-in-one.
It comes with everything you need to create a gel manicure with their system and compared to what else is on the market, it’s a very affordable price point making it an easy to adopt investment.
What’s included in the Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit:
1-step gel polish (you choose your color)
30s LED single finger UV lamp
Nail file
Cuticle stick
2 manicure prep pads
10 removal wraps
2 instruction pamphlets
If you’re been shopping around for a gel manicure kit, you’ll know that starter kits can easily run above the $100 mark, which can make them cost prohibitive.
What I love about it is that you can get this kit when you’re travelling and because it’s so compact, you can take it home with you in your carry on bag.
It’s also perfect for small space living, for example, if you live in a city apartment, RV or tiny home and only have so much room to store more things.
Plus, as mentioned above, everything in the starter kit aesthetically matches your selected shade. So if you like to color code your nail station, Le Mini Macaron pays attention to this detail even down to the file.
Walk through a manicure with me:
Prep your nails
Begin by prepping your nails to encourage more grip with the gel polish for better adhesion.
Use the cuticle stick to push back your cuticles. Use the included nail file to lightly buff the nail’s surface to remove the shine and shape the nail tips.
Finish by wiping the nails with the included manicure prep pads to cleanse the nail of any oils or dust.
Apply a very thin layer as your first coat
Work one nail at a time.
Your first color coat will act as your base coat.
For best results, apply a very thin layer of color to the nail as your first coat.
This coat should be translucent and can be achieved with very little polish on the brush.
Each nail will take 60-90 seconds to fully cure
Put your nail in the lamp and turn it on. The single finger lamp runs for 30 seconds automatically, but you can cure it for 5-10 seconds longer for extra adhesion if you’d like.
Repeat for 1-2 more coats until you reach your desired opacity.
Once you have finished 1 nail, repeat with all other nails.
Finished!
Celebrate your finished manicure
Once you finish your nails, follow with any hand moisturizing treatments you have around.
You always want to save your moisturizing until the end of your manicure for improved manicure longevity.
Removal Wraps
When you are ready to remove your manicure, take off your gels with the included removal wraps (there are 10 in the kit).
These wraps are presoaked with remover. Simply rip off the top, slip your fingertips inside and wrap the packet around your fingertip.
How long do Le Mini Macaron Gels last?
You can get up to 2-3 weeks of wear, but if you’re anything like me, it will take practice to get to that point.
The 3-in-1 color is designed to last up to 2 weeks.
Le Mini Macaron recommends practicing a few times for the longest lasting results and practice does help you improve, in my experience.
My first attempt in application took me 2 hours, though I was documenting and taking photos the whole time. That first manicure lasted about a week.
For me, even getting a week of wear on the first try is good - a lot of my first trials have resulted in gel manicures that last less than a day. So I was already impressed during the first round.
By my second attempt, my application time was cut in half to under an hour and that manicure is now going beyond a week in wear.
My goal is by my 3rd practice session, I will cut down my application time again to 30 minutes and I’m looking forward to improving my wear time to closer to the 2 week mark.
Since I’m already seeing progress with the second attempt, I’m confident I’ll get there.
If you’re trying the gel manicure kit for the first time, and you’re not pausing to document, give yourself about an hour for application and anticipate that with future sessions your manicure time will speed up and your wear time will extend.
In other words, don’t give up after your first application!
The colors are fresh, fun and the kits are a great value with a thoughtful design. Definitely worth trying!
If you were to pick up one of these kits, which color would you go with?
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