Sunday, February 16, 2014

Gelaze by China Glaze: Review and Wear Test

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Hello Loves.  I don't know about you, but I have been seriously excited about the new soak off gel line called Gelaze from China Glaze.  After reading on their site that it will be available at Sally Beauty Supply, I have been stalking my local Sally for months.  It still hasn't shown up on their website, but I walked in a few weeks ago and my favorite sales associated came running out with the Gelaze Necessities Kit that had just arrived on the truck that day.  Whoo Hoo!  Needless to say, I bought it on the spot.  Keep reading for my full review - from basic application to wear and removal!
Gelaze Soak Off Gel Polish Full Review
Gelaze is another all-in-one formula that doesn't require a base coat.  The Necessities Kit comes with one bottle of Gelaze Gel-in-Base color (Ruby Pumps), one bottle of Gelaze Top Coat, a file, an orange wood stick, and a container of Pre-Soaked Gel Cleanser Pads.  The pads are really handy!
Gelaze Pre-Soaked Gel Cleanser Pads

Application is pretty standard for soak off gel polish.  Lightly buff the nail to remove the shine.  Cleanse the nail.  Apply 1 thin coat of Gelaze Gel-in-Base color, cure for 30 seconds LED or 2 minutes UV.  Apply a second thin coat of Gel-in-Base color.  Cure for 30 seconds LED or 2 minutes UV.  Apply a thin layer of top coat.  Cure for 30 seconds LED or 2 minutes UV.  Remove the tacky layer with a Pre-Soaked Gel Cleanser Pad.  And you're done.  The instructions did note that if the gel seems a bit runny, leave it in a cool, dry place for a bit.  That is a little different as many gels work better when warm.  But cooling this one down definitely helps with application.

Ok, so application.  I'm actually quite pleased.  Application was easy enough.  No major pooling or streaking.  The top coat is medium thickness and also easy to apply with a nice shine.  As I noted previously, the Gel-in-Base color that came with my kit is the ever popular Ruby Pumps.  Want to see it?
Gelaze by China Glaze Soak Off Gel Polish Ruby Pumps Swatch
 Gelaze by China Glaze Soak Off Gel Polish Ruby Pumps Swatch
Note: The tips are well covered.  The light bouncing off of the edges gives the illusion of shrink back, but I did not have a problem with tip coverage once I let the gel cool a bit.

If you are a fan of the China Glaze Nail Polish in Ruby Pumps, you're probably wondering how the Gelaze version compares.  No worries, I have you covered.  ;)  They are similar, but not exact.  The Gelaze version is a little lighter and loses a bit of the lit-from-within quality on the clear swatch stick.  But as you can tell from the photos above, it is still there and you likely wouldn't notice the difference on the nail unless you compare them side by side.
Gelaze Ruby Pumps vs China Glaze Ruby Pumps

So, how about wear?  I tested this one on my "Cinderella hand" aka my right hand.  I am notoriously hard on my right hand and baby my left hand.  If a polish is going to chip, it will be on my right hand.  I apologize for not having a picture of "Day 1" of the test.  My little man knocked over my camera and broke a piece off, so that had to be repaired before I could get pictures again.  But I don't think there would be much difference between Day 1 and Day 3 other than a little growth.
Gelaze by China Glaze 10 Day Wear Test Results
By the way, it is amazingly difficult to photograph your right hand when you're right handed.  Day 6 whooped my butt, so the picture is a little blurry.  Sorry about that.  Anyway, I wore this one for 10.5 days before removing it.  As you can see, it looks as good on Day 10 as it did on Day 3 except for the growth.  I did notice a small amount of tip wear starting around day 8, but that is standard for SOG on my abused right hand.  In my experience, if it stays put for 10 days, it will stay put for a full 2 weeks or more.  Well done, China Glaze!

Moving on to removal.  Many built-in base coat gels have a reputation of being difficult to remove, so I was a little nervous about this one.  Turns out I had no reason to worry.  I buffed the shine off of the top coat, saturated the pad of a remover wrap with acetone, and wrapped each finger.  Exactly 10 minutes later, I pulled the wraps off and this is what I found.  I was able to gently push all of the remaining gel off of my nails with the thumb nail on my other hand.
Gelaze by China Glaze after 10 minutes of soaking off

So, here are my closing thoughts:  Gelaze completely surpassed my expectations!  Here's how I rank Gelaze overall on a scale of 1-5 stars:

Application: 4 stars
Wear: 5 stars
Removal: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars

I will definitely be picking up some of the other colors when they are avaliable at my local Sally Beauty Supply.  How about you?

Update:  I have swatched and reviewed many other Gelaze colors since writing this review.  Check out my Gelaze Swatch Gallery to see the other colors and posts.

~Michelle

*This post uses Amazon Associate links.

28 comments:

  1. Great review! I would totally try this if it came to Sally's in the UK

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  2. I have several Sally's in my area, I guess I'll be checking them out.

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  3. Aghhhh! I've been WAITING on these since I first heard about them in August. Thanks for the heads up and the great review!!

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  4. Great! I've been waiting so long time to see Gelaze on the market. I hope, it will be soon available on ebay too. Thank you for the great review!

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  5. Glad they work so well! Wonder if they'll put other colours out, and if they'll work as well. (And if we'll see these in Canada - fingers crossed!)

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    1. They are releasing 36 of the most popular China Glaze shades in the line. I hope to have more colors to show soon :)

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    2. I just picked up two colors at my local Sally's. So they are in Canada now, or at least Edmonton. lol

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  6. Wow, this looks amazing! I'm looking forward to be able to buy it in Europe ;)

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  7. Do you know if they will be selling full size bottles at Licensed Retailers (Cosmoprof, Armstrong, etc.) or just exclusive to Sally's. My salon is all about matching and it has become our niche. Im so excited cause OPI has very nice colors and cool shades that tie in with movies, celebs etc. in polish and Gelcolor but the colors are limited in the bright factor. Orly has been successful for us too in matching and nice colors available in GelFx, but we will be happy to finally have "Flip Flop Fantasy, etc." too!

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    1. Yes, I believe they will. I noticed Beauty West has a section for it now on their site and there is mention on the Gelaze site of full size bottles.

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  8. Great review! Your site came up in a google search for "gelaze review" and am happily adding to my NP blog list :) I have 700+ regular NPs but I am now a die-hard gel polish fan. Glad to find a blog written by someone who loves gel polish.
    @mntrinemo

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    1. I'm glad you found me :) I have a small RNP collection to go with my gels, but no where close to your 700. I do love combining gel and RNP though :)

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  9. I am in Massachusetts, USA, and my local Sallys ad has these now for $11.99, buy one, get one free! Going to get tomorrow ~ excited to eliminate a step!

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  10. I actually just purchased this product and I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the application of the polish. It was so runny, I had to remove it before I could finish the entire application. I had cured one coat and by the time I was going to cure my other hand, it had run down into the sides of my nails. I'm hoping your suggestion to keep it in a cool place will help. If not, its definitely going back to Sallys.

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    1. I applied another Gelaze this past weekend and noticed it shrinking from the tips with the first coat. I stuck it in the freezer for about 5 minutes and it improved the application dramatically. I'm still really shocked that this one performs better cool when most gels perform better warm, but cooling it down really does fix the problem. At least, it did for me. :)

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    2. I applied Spontaneous for the first time today, and the shrink-back was AWFUL. I didn't remember your tip about cooling it down (darn), and it ended up taking me twice as long to finish the mani b/c I had to keep re-capping the edges (and the tips *still* look pretty bare). I emailed the company & asked if it was a problem with all the colors or just Spontaneous, so we'll see what they say.

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    3. I am BRAND NEW to gel polish (literally, after doing a load of research and buying a lamp, this is the very first gel polish I'm using) so my lack of expertise might play a role, but I bought For Audrey and couldn't finish applying. After two coats/two cures, there was SO MUCH tip shrinkage it was ridiculous and totally unacceptable. Going to try the freezer tip! I hope it works, because I was incredibly excited about this and got so discouraged

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    4. I swatched For Audrey last night. 5 minutes in the freezer and it applied flawlessly :)

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    5. I had the exact same problem. Made me so mad and because I could not properly cap the tips they ended up lifting within a day. Maybe will try this freezer technique and see if that helps. Silly that you would need to do that. The general user should not have to search for ways to prevent shrinkage.

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  11. Thank you for the review! I'm super excited about these gel polishes but since I live in Europe I can't get my hands on them...Why isn't anyone selling them on Ebay??

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    1. They are still very new and the mini size for DIYers is only avaliable through Sally Beauty Supply at this point. Once the full size are avaliable for professionals, I imagine they will be easier to find.

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  12. Thanks so much for this thorough review, and I'm glad to get the tips about making the polishes cold before I use them! Great review!!

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  13. I have done a few applications of this product since buying it two weeks ago. I am new to applying gel myself. I am very familiar with having gel mani's. My girl uses Red Carpet and it was always a good product. I moved away from her, I got her UV lamp but had not yet bought any polish. I stumbled upon Gelaze and could not pass up the deal. So being new to doing my own gels, and having not used any other product personally, I was pleased with Gelaze. Love the colors, love the two step process. I have gotten tons of compliments on the colors and have been asked if it was professional.
    I did use the Shocking Pink color on my toes and found it to be very runny and thin. The other colors I have not had a problem with. I will try the freezer tip.

    I thought I read someone where that you can use regular China Glaze polish and just use the top coat gel. Has anyone else hear this? This opens up so many new doors if I can get my hands on any color with CG instead of waiting for Gelaze to release more colors.

    Glad I stumbled on this blog.

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    1. Hi Katie. You can use regular polish with gel polish. It is a method known as the RNP Sandwich. However, it does require a separate base gel for the best results. I recently wrote a post on pairing Girly Bits Lacquer with gel polish. Take a peek at that one. The process is the same for China Glaze polishes too :)

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  14. I have been using gel polish for a year now just bought ge laze today, I have one concern though. I have always used a base coat to prevent my nails from dis coloring and was wondering if anyone has noticed nail discoloration with this product. Also I do not buff my natural nail and all other gels have stayed on for the 14 plus days, do you have to buff with ge laze since there is not a ph bond?

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  15. Thank you so much for your review, it was SUPER helpful! I am a Gelish ADDICT, and just saw this new line whenI went to Sally's yesterday to pick up a few more Gelish colors. The salesperson REALLY hyped this line up, but I was nervous to try it when I have been using Gelish regularly for over a year now. I picked up two bottles of Gelase-- Ruby Pumps and Lubu Heels, which definitively has the Christian Louboutin feel with the rich suede color and red sparkles!-- but was nervous to try it (to the point I told the salesperson that I felt like I was cheating on Gelish. After reading this review, I can't wait to try it out!

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  16. I have been having problems when I remove the polish. Nails have been very thin and peeling. I'very been thinking about buying a base coat to use before I apply the gelaze color. Anyone done this? Also, I notice that they shrinking alot at the cuticle. I have used the method to cool the polish before using it, that helps with the runny polish but not shrinkage.

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  17. By the way - Gel polishes will be clumpy if left in sun or near lamp when using, they begin to cure.

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