French Starter Kit Complete Dip Manicure Set

Not too proud to say that I am vain, and REALLY wanted to keep my dip nails up through this Corona virus crisis, so I took matters into my own hands and bought this kit (I will go back to the nail salon when this is over, because let’s face it, a lot of small businesses are really going to need our support). Back to the kit- overall, it’s awesome. It’s professional quality and it has all full size bottles and powders. While I have had the dip done at the salon many times, I had never done them myself. Overall, I found this kit super easy to use — though here’s a tip, google Kiara Sky videos and follow them. They make it very easy and if you take your time, you can easily get this right on the first try (the kit has written instructions too, but the videos are better in my opinion). This French Kit comes with full size bottles of bond, base, seal protect, top coat, oil and brush saver. It has 5 powders (natural, white and 3 shades of pink - all sheer). The kit also comes with the dip case and a pack of brush replacements. I was hoping the pinks were a little more opaque but what can you do. My dip is pretty thin, the way I like it! If you want to do this right, I recommend getting a package of medium grit nail files and buffers and maybe a fluffy brush for the dust. If you want to go crazy, you can also get the drill/eFile for shaping (there is a $20ish dollar one on Amazon that works well), but honestly, if you follow the videos, you can get good results with a hand file. I’ll put the links to the accessories I bought below. One more important tip - put a lot of paper towels or old towels underneath your hands! No matter how neat you think you are, this powder is very fine and you will have some on the table. Hope that helps! Here are the links to the accessories I bought: Buffers/Files: Nail Files and Buffer, TsMADDTs Professional Manicure Tools Kit Rectangular Art Care Buffer Block Tools 100/180 Grit 12Pcs/Pa https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQMXB55/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_HAACEbENFH949 Fluffy dust brush: RUITASA Soft Nail Art Dust Remover Powder Brush Cleaner For Acrylic & UV Nail Gel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PX1DVRC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_aBACEbMWDNEQT Drill/eFile: MelodySusie Portable Electric Nail Drill, Professional Efile Nail Drills for Acrylic Nails，Nail E File Nail Kit for Gel Nails, Manicure Pedicure Polishing Shape Tools Design for Home Salon Use, Purple https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H05EDK0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_RzACEbK5NG54V

I have been trying to find an at-home nail product that will last more than a few days and still look good. I am a working mom, wife and grad student so finding the time to go to a salon is nearly impossible. The dip system is amazing! There is a bit of a learning curve, but I find even when I rush it they turn out nice. I bought the kit, the clear powder, and a few colors - now I’m obsessed. The directions that come with the box are very easy to follow and it takes me maybe an hour, start to finish. I find the clear coat really does help keep the color from fading when you are filing and buffing. I’ve noticed the better the buff, the shinier your top coat will look. You can soak them to take them off, or after about 2-3 weeks they start popping off. I haven’t noticed any damage to my nails, in fact they are much stronger than when I take off gel or acrylics from a salon. They last roughly 2-3 weeks, but I’m ready to change around the 2 week mark anyway because they grow out with your nails. I highly recommend the dip powders, you will get your moneys worth compared to going to a salon.

I am new to using the dip powder system but already love it. Although there is a learning curve to using it, it's MUCH easier than using the acrylic nail system with brushes. I'm posting photos below to show what the nails looked like after 2 weeks of my first use with the product (with gel polish rather than dipping powder color) and then after I did my fill (with dipping powder color). I still need practice as filling the nails is not as easy as I would have thought and the product ended up being somewhat thicker than I would have liked. Since I used dipping powder product for color this time, I was afraid that too much filing would take the color off and I wasn't sure how to fix that if I went too far. Regardless, I am super happy with this product. I had absolutely zero lifting which was a huge problem for me with the acrylics. I was not extra gentle with my nails and not one of them was even close to breaking in two weeks. Using the acrylics I had constant breakage (I think because I don't know how to build the nail that well) and was constantly fixing them. Other than minor filing with the dipping powder set, the upkeep was minimal. The process is also much shorter (for me) than using the acrylics. It used to take at least half a day to do acrylics (fill or new set) and with this dipping powder system I'm done in an hour and a half (start to finish). You can't beat that. I did have a problem this time with the brushes detaching from the handle, but I just screwed the handle back on and pressed down as I was unscrewing and that seemed to work. There is a set of extra brushes that comes with the kit but I'm trying to hold off from using them for now (after all, it's only my second time using them!). There is also minimal odor! This kit does not have the same noxious odor as the acrylics do. At the most it might just smell like nail polish. This is a great system and I would only say that it gets better with practice. Knowing how to file is also a huge help! But all-in-all I highly recommend this product and cannot wait to try new colors.