Monday, October 20, 2014

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Swatches and Full Review

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Pink Gellac by Chickettes Wear Test and Review

Hello Loves!  I have a full review of Pink Gellac by Chickettes to show you today.  I'm not going to lie, when Andrea asked me to do the wear test and review for her new Holiday Sparkle Collection, I almost told her no.  Andrea is a dear friend and I have learned that we rarely have the same results from the brands we test.  Our nails types are quite different and we tend to like different formulas.  Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about this review, but I bit the bullet and took them for a test drive.  As with all of my reviews, this is my unbiased opinion of the product based on my personal results.

The Pink Gellac by Chickettes Holiday Collection is made up of six holiday themed shades that were hand selected by Andrea from the Pink Gellac line.  Pink Gellac is European gel polish company based in Amsterdam.  The gel polishes are professional quality and were not available in the US before Andrea's brought us six through her collection.  The Chickettes branded collection is only available through the Chickettes Boutique.

Ok, enough about the history.  Let's start with the swatches.  Then I'll talk about general application, wear and removal.

Swatches


Passion Pink is a red leaning dark pink with pink shimmer.  Swatched below is two coats.  In all honesty, I should have gone with three coats as you can see it looks a bit thin at the cuticle.  This is likely an application error on my part since I do tend to use much thinner layers than the average gel user.  Most people would only need two coats.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Passion Pink Swatch

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Passion Pink Swatch

Magic Pearl is an interesting color.  This is a white base that is loaded with golden shimmer.  The shimmer almost has a frosty appearance and is unlike anything I have in my collection.  It is very subtle from some angles and pops from others.  I did find that this one needed three coats to be opaque.  You might also notice the brush strokes in the second photo - this is where the frosty finish comes in.  A fourth, super thin layer would eliminate the brush strokes.  (As a side note, if you read Andrea's announcement post for the collection, you may remember she said this one reminds her of "freshly fallen, glistening snow".  I can't in good conscious write this review without adding this PSA in response to her description:  please, don't eat the yellow snow!)
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Magic Pearl Swatch

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Magic Pearl Swatch

Velvet Purple is a beautiful blackened purple base with subtle blue and purple shimmer.  This is by far my favorite of the colors in this collection (glitters excluded).  I found this one to be opaque in two coats.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Velvet Purple Swatch

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Velvet Purple Swatch

Emerald Green is a frosty/metallic teal leaning green.  Andrea mentioned that this one needs a good shake for the best application.  I considered throwing it on my Robart Paint Shaker but decided against it since many of you will be shaking by hand.  After a vigorous shake, I found I needed three coats for full opacity.  I am happy to say that this one doesn't leave as many brush strokes as other metallic finishes I've tried.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Emerald Green Swatch

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Emerald Green Swatch

These next two are pretty exciting to me.  First up is Luxury Gold.  Luxury Gold is a clear base with gold micro glitter.  I usually have to leave my glitters upside down for a bit after shaking them to get decent coverage.  I did not leave this one upside down or shake it any more than I would shake my other gels by hand.  The coverage is quite impressive.  This is two coats and I felt it covered enough that I didn't need a third.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Luxury Gold Swatch

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Luxury Gold Swatch

Fabulous Silver is the silver counterpart to Luxury Gold.  Fabulous Silver is a clear base with silver micro glitter.  My prep for this one was the same as with Luxury Gold.  Below is two coats.  Again, I felt coverage was sufficient with two but I could see vnl from some angles (such as the second photo) so three might have been better.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Fabulous Silver Swatch

Pink Gellac by Chickettes Fabulous Silver Swatch

General Application


I found Pink Gellac to be very similar to Gelish in terms of formula, but they do seem to be a bit more pigmented than Gelish.  The brush is rounded but full and provides adequate coverage for a three stroke application.  The brushes are a bit stiffer than I prefer and I found they left trails in the gel as I applied it.  However, it levels beautifully and the trails disappeared completely by the time I finished polishing the next nail.  I had no issues with shrinking or pooling and they cured perfectly in 30 seconds in both my Harmony Gelish 18G and my Couture Espree Salon LED lamp.

Wear


This is the part of the test that I was most nervous about.  Turns out I had no reason to be nervous at all.  This is one of the few brands that my experience matched Andrea's in terms of wear.  Before I get to the photos and results of my two week wear test, let's talk about the base and top coats that I used for the review.  I wanted this test to match my usual complete system wear tests, so I used the standard Pink Gellac base and top coats.  These are NOT the base and top coats that Andrea will be carrying.

I completed my wear test with Passion Pink and the Pink Gellac base and top coat.  At the 10 day mark, I started to notice a little bit of tip wear on the corners of my nails.  This is pretty standard for me.  By the 14th day, the tip wear had not increased and the tips of my nails remained covered with no chips or lifting.  The shine did dull a little, but as I mentioned this is not the top coat Andrea will be carrying.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes 14 Day Wear Test Results

Removal


Removal is where my experience differed from Andrea's the most.  As usual, I buffed the shine from the nail before soaking with pure acetone.  I used my Nail Mate removal caps on two nails and a foil wrap on the other two (just to see if there was a difference - there wasn't).  When I checked the nails at the 10 minute mark, it was just starting to lift around the cuticle.  After 15 minutes, I felt the gel pop free from the nail.  The bottom left photo shows what the gel looked like when I removed the caps/wrap at this point.  The bottom sections of the gel were completely ready to remove.  The tips were not.  Strange, right?  Not really.  I'm growing out some damage on my wear test hand (you can see it in the bottom right photo, so it makes sense that the gel would bond a little better to those spots.  I put the caps/wrap back on for another 5 minutes and the tips also pushed off clean.  So total soak off time was 20 minutes.  Not bad at all.
Pink Gellac by Chickettes Removal

Final Thoughts


Overall, I would say that Pink Gellac passed my tests with flying colors.  I would definitely purchase more gel polishes from this brand and am looking forward to future collaborations between Chickettes and Pink Gellac.  While I found the brush trails a little odd in the application, they did level out for a perfectly smooth finish.  And while it didn't blow my socks off from the removal standpoint, 15-20 minutes is a fair enough soak off time.  What does blow my socks off are those glitters!  I have been looking for a silver just like Fabulous Silver for quite a while now so I'm happy to finally have it in my collection.

What do you think of the Pink Gellac by Chickettes Holiday Sparkle Collection?  Do you need any of these colors in your collection?  If so, you can get your very own through the Chickettes Boutique for $12.95 each (plus shipping) or you can purchase the Full Holiday Sparkle Collection for $74.95 with free shipping within the continental US. 

~Michelle

*The polishes featured in this post were provided by Chickettes for my honest review.  All commentary within this post is completely unbiased and based on my personal experience with the product.  This post uses Amazon affiliate links.  Purchases through these links generate commissions that help fund this site.  All other links are not affiliate links and are provided for your convenience.

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review; I have been looking forward to it, I love the Passion Pink and the Fabulous Silver. Although most don't like vnl, I really like it; I like to show off my real nails!!

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  2. Wow, those glitters are truly awesome!! And I also loved Magic Pearl :) Kisses**

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  3. Thank you very much for this post, your posts about your educational experience and all of your hard work!

    How did you feel about Pink Gellac in terms of sturdiness? I have very thin nails and use gel to grow them out. I have had the most success with Gelish in terms of protecting my nails from damage and the least success with Sensationail. For example, my nails tend to still be flexible while wearing 2coats of Sensationail color (even with gelish base+top). With 2coats of Gelish color I do not have this problem. Again THANK YOU!!

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    Replies
    1. I would compare it to gelish, honestly.

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    2. Thank you!
      After posting this I read your 'The Nail School Chronicle: Week 2' post and wanted to share my sympathies and send much strength your way. It is very generous of you to share all of your experiences with your readers. Your husband's crash seems horrific, terrifying and traumatic. Wishing him a full and speedy recovery and a return to normalcy as quickly as possible for you and your family. The holiday season presents gifts and trials for all. It sounds like that is being amplified for you in particular. Wishing for you also peace and support as being a caregiver can be lonely and carry so many unseen or unnoticed complications and difficulties. Thank you for sharing your experiences in nail school - your work is beautiful (especially the tree and ice skater! wow) and again for the advise re. pink gellac.

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  4. Wonderful all nail colors are awesome.. all nail colors are touch my heart.. i am a big fan of you.. i definitely try it.. your work is so nice.. Keep it up!!!

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