Gel II Gel Polish Wear & Removal

When I posted swatches of Gel II‘s new Carousel Collection a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to conduct a wear test to see how the polish holds up and removes. Well, I’m back with my findings!

I conducted the test using the color Peppermint Pony, a gorgeous minty teal green. Below is what Peppermint Pony looks like when it’s freshly applied. Application was great – it had a very nice formula and provided full coverage with just two coats! Gel II is a two-step gel that doesn’t require a base coat, so I applied the color directly onto my prepped nails.  I used the Gel II No Cleanse Top Coat which has a tack-free finish.  Gel II polishes and top coat require a 60 second LED cure.

I conducted the test on my right hand, which is my dominant hand. I forgot to take a before picture (the pic above is of my left hand), but below you’ll see what it looked like after 10 days of wear. It was still perfectly in-tact with very minimal tip wear, and it still had a decent shine. Keep in mind that this is also after working on clients’ nails and using acetone repeatedly, so I’m impressed!

For removal, I roughed up the surface of my nails with a file and then used my new Steam-Off removal system (I’ve been using this more and more – love it!).  I pulled my hand out at the 5 minute mark to see if there were any visible changes and this is what I saw:

After 5 minutes, the top coat was flaking off and some of the colored polish was also starting to lift.  After 5 more minutes (10 minutes total) I pulled my hand out again.  I could see that the polish had loosened a little more and I began pushing with an orangewood stick.  You can see in the photo below what my index finger looked like after pushing – the polish was almost completely gone, but there was a tiny bit of residue.  The polish didn’t come off in large flakes, but it came off in tiny little chalky bits like most one and two-step gel polishes do.  I’ve also learned over time that one and two-steps tend to hold on pretty well and that last little bit of remaining residue usually has to be buffed off.

So after just 10 minutes of soaking (or steaming), and then a little pushing, the polish was mostly gone.  I took a fine grit buffer and gently buffed on the remaining residue, cleansed the nails and applied some hand lotion.  This was the end result…

I’m extremely pleased all around with the application, wear and removal of Gel II!  Please feel free to share your experience with this brand in the comments.  I’d love to hear what you think!