Orly Gel Fx has been one of the things on my list but I was only able to get it after several months of contemplation. The first time I asked how much it costs (around late last year), it was a whooping P500. I wouldn't pay that much for nail polish, no way!
When I visited The Nail Bar near Ateneo Matina Campus, I was greeted by their rack of Orly Gel Fx nail lacquers and I was informed that it would cost me P375 for application only. The manicure will be separately billed at P120.
P375 is too much for a nail polish. But considering that this would mean getting chip-resistant nails, I took the bait. Thanks to my manicure c/o Philosophy Spa less than a week before my visit to the Nail Bar, I opted for the nail polish application only.
I narrowed my choices down to 3: Bare Rose, Rage, and Kiss the Bride. I wanted to go with nude colors but it's such a waste of money to have barely-there nail polish when you're paying a high price for it. So, with the salon attendant's suggestion, I finally chose RAGE. Rage isn't too flashy because it's base is brown, still within the "nude" range but the color still shows. The sample color on the bottle isn't actually too close to the real one: the real one has lots of glitter on it. In my opinion, the color looks elegant and sophisticated. It looks a little too glittery on the photos, which is probably because of the flash.
You've got to have patience when you're getting this done. Application involves several steps: cleaning, primer, base coat, first coat, second coat, top coat, final cleaning, and the drying in between each coat which makes use of the UV lamp.
The gel polish stayed on my nails for a week and it would have stayed longer had I not gone swimming. I'm also happy to share to you that they did not chip at all even though I was hand-washing 2 or 3 small garments daily. I tried scratching the polish off with my nails, too, but it survived. However, as much as I would like for them to stay forever on my nails, I know they can't stay there for long. My fingernails grow fast and in a week's time, the gap between my eponychium and the polish is already very obvious. On the 8th day of wearing the polish, I spent a day at the swimming pool and it actually contributed to the chipping. I peeled the polish off when it started to chip as you can see in the photo below:
They peeled off clean. I was actually thinking that time whether Orly has a solution that would take the polish off my nails. Since they're acetone-resistant, I thought that there has to be a solution stronger than acetone that could melt the gel polish. Although it was easy doing it, I did not peel all of the polish off so that I can have it removed professionally at the Nail Bar, which service is for free. Anyway, my curiosity was satisfied when the salon staff removed the polish with the use of the pusher. So, there was no special solution after all. Lol!
I love these Orly Gel Fx Nail Lacquers but I have an issue with the price. If I have slow-growing nails, this would have been a winner. I wouldn't mind paying for it again but the occasion has to be really really special that would require me to have flawless, fearless, chip-resistant nails. But for normal days, I think that this is impractical for me considering how fast my nails grow. I would definitely recommend this for would-be brides! The bride can get her manicure a day or two (or even three days!) before the wedding and she can be assured that it won't chip off on the big day even if she has a lot of handwork to do.
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