Sally Hansen Miracle Gel: Review

by | Sep 16, 2014 | beauty, Loves | 24 comments

OVERVIEW:
I picked up the set (the miracle gel topcoat and the miracle gel shade in grefitti) from Walgreens.  $7.99 each.  You can also pick up a box set for around $14.99, but not all of the shades are available in a box set.  You can find these at any drugstore or big box store.  There are about 47 shades to choose from.

HOW IT APPLIED: 
The base coat is “built in,” but you know me.  I used my regular base coat.  I don’t mess around with that.  But the color applied beautifully.  The formula was streaky on the first coat but opaque on the second.  It wasn’t overly gloopy and I allowed each coat to mostly dry in between coats and the top coat.  The first coat dried in about 3 minutes.  Second in about 10.  Top coat, which wasn’t particularly thick, dried in about 25 minutes.  I was extra cautious about dents though.  Once the system dried, it was shiny and felt like it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

**click photos to see larger images**

HOW IT WORE:
Let’s be clear.  The claim is that it lasts 14 days.
By day three, there was some minimal wear and tear on the tips, but nothing outrageous.  I’m going to say this–I change my polish every two days usually.  And usually by then I have a few tiny chips in standard polish.  On the 7th day, I had some chips though small.  I also had some cracking in the topcoat (see pointer in the final series of pictures–middle picture).  I think for a drugstore polish that doesn’t require a light, they still looked pretty dang good on the 7th day.  I would have kept it on, but I can’t commit 14 days to a polish.  Would this have lasted 14 days?  Yes.  Would it have looked perfect on the 14th day? No.  I was perfectly happy with the 7 days of wear I got out of it.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
My personal experiment with this set was to find out if this was a product that I could use if I were going on some kind of week long trip.  And the answer is yes.  I would be okay painting my nails with this the night before I left for a trip and be confident that it would still look good (enough) on my way home.  I love the color selection, and the topcoat is definitely some kind of gel like polish (unlike the revlon trickery).  Now that I have the topcoat, $7.99 for an individual polish doesn’t seem outrageous at all to me, especially for how it wears.  I’d recommend it and repurchase it.

THE VERDICT: 
two polished thumbs up.

**this is not a sponsored post.  I purchased this kit with my own money and all opinions are my own.

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24 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing! I'll take a week for sure 🙂 Sounds like it's pretty similar to the CND ones, about the same price too!

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  2. Whoa! I think those look GREAT for 7 days of wear! Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep my eye out.

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  3. That's such a great color– I will look out for this line for sure!

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  4. Very pretty color, love grey polish. It also sounds like a great drugstore gem! 🙂

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  5. I think the day 7 pictures look great! I hardly ever paint my nails because they always chip right away and I kind of hate the process of actually painting them. I might have to give this polish a try though.

    xo Julie
    julieupstairs.wordpress.com

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  6. I've been wanting to try this, glad to hear it works pretty well! My nails seem to chip like crazy no matter I do, so maybe this will be the answer for me!

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  7. Sally has been killing it lately! I might have to jump and try this gel set since you give it a thumbs up! I love that color!

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  8. Wow, I'm impressed that they lasted that long! 7 days is pretty good! I love that color, too – I think gray is my favorite nail color for fall. I just wish nail polish didn't absolutely ruin my nails, I'd have them painted all the time!

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  9. I thought of you when I saw that at Walgreens I was like "I wonder if Joey has tried this before!?" Same question as Steph how did your nails feel afterwards and did regular nail polish remover take it off easily? I love the color!

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  10. Ohhhh, I love the color of this polish!! Thanks for the review 🙂

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  11. I've been VERY curious about this polish! I'm glad to know that it lasts at least 7 days! I might have to try it now.

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  12. I've been eyeing this and wondering about it! Glad you reviewed it… I'm definitely gonna give it a shot now!

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  13. Love that colour! I won't lie, to find your blog today I actually wrote "Joey" into google- and the first suggested page was your book!! Probably because I read about it on Good Reads creepy often!

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  14. I love the color. I tend to not wear polish since it chips too early, but i could totally do 7 days.

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  15. I'm loving this review. I'm so impressed that you change your nail polish out so often… but me? I'm all about stretching it out to seven or more days if that's possible. I'll probably grab some of this next time I'm at the store! Love the color, too!

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  16. Interesting! I'm going to have to try this! xo

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  17. Great review!! For that price, I'd totally give this a go. Maybe not in this grey, as it's a little too blue for me, but seven days with minimal chipping cracking is awesome for a vacation. You know, if I decide not to take other polish with me, which I may have done in the past. 😉

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  18. Bought this in lavender about a month ago – love it! Great review!

    Reply
  19. Mine lasted over seven days as well, even without a base coat! wiped off easily and nails felt fine after! Nice review

    Reply

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