Easy Manicures At Home …
Featuring Manucurist Green Flash
I’ll start this article off by saying I’ve never been one to go to a nail salon and have my nails done professionally on the regular.
In fact, I think the only time I really had professional a mani/pedi done was for my wedding.
That being said, I always loved doing my nails growing up.
I can remember bringing nail polish on family vacations and changing multiple times during one 7 night trip!
Fast forward to somewhere around 2015 when I had bought a kit with a curing lamp to do my nails at home.
I remember loving how shiny my nails looked and that I never had to deal with the ultra-annoying smudging that happens with traditional polish even though you could have sworn that they were totally dry.
The worst is when you smudge them doing something like twisting the cap back on a bottle of polish. UGH. Is that not so annoying!?
At any rate, I dug this photo out of the archives of one of my past diy gel-type manicures.
Fast forward again and life did it’s thing.
For one reason or another I stopped doing my nails and eventually I gave away my kit ahead of an international move.
These days in Portugal the manicure game is strong.
I always admire the ladies with their freshly manicured and polished nails — what dedication!
Still I can’t seem to bear to take the time, endure the conversation, not to mention the financial hit of maintaining a standing nail appointment.
But I love the idea of carving out some screen-free time for self care.
Yes, I love the idea of an easy manicure at home.
Enter Manucurist.
My Manucurist Green Flash Collaboration
I had the opportunity to collaborate with Manucurist to try their Green Flash semi-permanent nail polish system.
The Manucurist LED Gel Polish Starter Kit includes a home LED curing lamp, an LED base coat and top coat as well as nail polishes.
I selected five shades that I felt particularly drawn to and will be testing them over the coming weeks.
The package has just arrived so it’s the perfect time to do an unboxing!
Disclosure: Manucurist provided the products featured in this article for me to try. I am also a Manucurist affiliate, which means I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through my links (and you get a manucurist discount! yay!). As always, my opinions and experiences are my own.
Unboxing My First Manucurist Order
The package took less than 1 week to arrive from placing the order, to getting the shipping notification, and finally receiving the package.
After cutting the tape, I opened the shipping box to discover a very cute, bright red interior package design featuring a nail polish brush covered in red polish sweeping across the lid.
Every item was well packaged inside this branded shipping box and negative space was filled with cute, light pink packing paper.
The Polishes
The polishes come inside these white boxes with Manucurist branding subtly embossed — classy.
The boxes are narrow in depth, just the right thickness to hold up to 3 Manucurist polishes, as seen below.
The Base Coat
The Starter Kit comes with the appropriate base coat, an essential step to ensuring a long lasting LED gel manicure.
Shop Manucurist Green Flash Vitaminized Base Coat — extra 15% Off ->
The Top Coat
You can also choose if you want the classic LED Gel Top Coat or an extra long lasting one called Xtrem Flash.
I chose the standard green flash top coat.
Shop Manucurist Green Flash Top Coat — extra 15% Off ->
Manucurist Gel Polish Remover
The acetone-free Green Flash Gel Polish Remover is also included in the starter kit. It comes in a glass bottle.
Shop Manucurist Gel Polish Remover — extra 15% Off ->
How to Use Manucurist Green Flash Gel Polish Remover
To use the polish remover you soak a cotton pad and put it on the fingernail with the included nail clips. For the regular top coat like I got, you only need to leave it on for around 1 minute and the polish should come off your fingernail without any scraping at all.
The Removal Clips
The removal clips, set of 5, come in the starter kit and the packaging is nice because it acts like a little drawer you can pull out and push back in to store the clips between uses.
Shop Manucurist Green Flash Remover Clips— extra 15% Off ->
The LED Lamp
The Manucurist Green Flash LED Lamp is 36W and on the back has the easy 3-step application instructions.
- Base Coat — Cure for 60 seconds
- Two thin coats of polish — Cure each for 60 seconds
- Top Coat — Cure for 120 seconds
After sliding the sleeve off, I opened the cardboard box to see the cables wrapped in bubble wrap and the led lamp in a nice protective sleeve.
At the bottom of the box was a user manual, a booklet called “Green Flash Guide Manicure Protocol” and some decals in case you want to put them on your lamp!
Shop Manucurist Green Flash LED Lamp — extra 15% Off ->
Green Zippered Bag
The last thing in the box was a green zippered pouch. The quality is really nice — the fabric seems very durable with a zipper that extends halfway down either side and tasteful branding to finish.
What fits inside the Manucurist Green Zipper Bag?
I was surprised that I could easily fit the LED lamp, plug, remover clips, remover, three narrow boxes with the 5 nail colors plus top and bottom coat and all the paperwork.
Shop Manucurist Bags — extra 15% off ->
The Manucurist Green Flash Colors I Chose
Groove
Groove is a shimmery metallic green nail color, part of the new electric feel collection, and I was drawn to it simply because I love the color green. 🙂
This is a unique shade and I am eager to see how wearable I find it.
Shop Manucurist Green Flash LED Polish in Groove — extra 15% Off ->
Also Available in Natural Nail Polish ->
Ultramarine
Speaking of wearable (or maybe you’re thinking not-so-wearable) shades, my second choice was Ultramarine, a bold, electric blue shade.
This is a color I really enjoy wearing, seeing in art, and every day life like Portugal’s famous azulejos.
Shop Manucurist Green Flash LED Polish in Ultramarine — extra 15% Off ->
Also Available in Natural Nail Polish ->
Pale Rose
Pale rose is a sheer pastel pink nail polish, one of Manucurist’s best sellers in fact.
I wanted a very natural “your nails but better” shade that would work well for French manicures and some other ideas I have, and so I landed on Pale Rose!
Shop Manucurist Green Flash LED Polish in Pale Rose — extra 15% Off ->
Also Available in Natural Nail Polish ->
Neon Pink
Neon pink was a must for an end of summer fun pop of color. This shade also screams Caribbean cruise to me, how about you?
Shop Manucurist Green Flash LED Polish in Neon Pink — extra 15% Off ->
Also Available in Natural Nail Polish ->
Red Cherry
For my last shade I went with Red Cherry.
Few things are as timeless as a classic red manicure. The question is: Is Red Cherry the perfect red!?
Time will tell. 😉
Shop Manucurist Green Flash LED Polish in Red Cherry— extra 15% Off ->
Also Available in Natural Nail Polish ->
Top Coat & Base Coat
And of course the Green Flash Vitaminized LED Base Coat and LED Gel Top Coat which come automatically with the Green Flash Starter Kit.
What Do The Numbers Mean on Manucurist Green Flash Bottles?
As I was unboxing the polishes, I noticed that each bottle was labeled with a 1, 2, or 3 sticker on the top.
I thought this was really clever.
- Base Coat
- Polish Color
- Top Coat
This is actually an example of good attention to detail. Since the LED Gel Polish bottles are all the same, this way you can easily know what you’re grabbing when looking from the top down.
When you want your base coat you look for a 1.
When you want your top coat you look for a 3.
When you want your polish shade you look for a 2 along with the color you want to apply.
Okay! So that officially concludes the unboxing portion of this in-depth Manucurist Green Flash Review and I thought it was so sweet that at the bottom of the box, once you have taken everything out, you’re left with the cutest little hearts and the word Merci — French for “thanks”.
Such a cute touch imo.
What I’m Testing With Manucurist Green Flash
The Manucurist Green Flash line is “the 1st HEMA free & Methacrylate free LED polish that removes in 1 min without acetone” according to the brand.
I will be testing over time:
- ease of application
- curing
- wear time
- chipping
- removal
- how the colors look in different lighting
- how the system holds up during travel
- which shades become favorites
My First Impressions of Manucurist Green Flash
Very First Impressions (arrival day & unboxing):
So far my impression can only be on interactions with the brand, their website, and the packaging.
I found Manucurist customer service to be very responsive via email and socials.
The website is beautiful, well organized, and even has a fun virtual try-on feature. I like that on many of the nail polish product pages there is an image showing comparison swatches for other shades in the same color family. This is really helpful when you are deliberating between shades.
My order was well packaged within the branded shipping box. The remover liquid bottle is made of glass and was wrapped in protective cardboard. It felt like each item’s box was carefully designed to protect the item while simultaneously producing minimal waste, a real sustainable initiative.
Where to Buy Manucurist Green Flash
Want to try Manucurist Green Flash? The Green Flash Starter Kit is a convenient way to get started with the system and a few different shades.
Shop the Green Flash Starter Kit — 15% Off ->
Shop All Green Flash Products — 15% Off ->
Shop All Nail Care Products — 15% Off ->
How to Use Manucurist Green Flash LED Gel Polish: First Manicure
I was excited to try this kit, but by the time I finished everything I had to do it was around 10pm when I started my first at-home gel manicure in years.
I gathered everything I thought I would need to get started and realized I probably should have gotten the nail prep kit as well, but oh well!
I was able to round up up some nail tools I thought I might need.
I first did some basic prep like trimming and filing my nails and pushing back the cuticle gently.
The directions said to use some of the remover over each nail to remove any surface oils etc and promote better adhesion of the gel polish.
Following that, I applied the base coat and cured under the lamp for 1 minute.
For my first wear test I went with the popular Red Cherry shade. After applying 2 thin coats and curing each for 1 minute, I proceeded to apply the top coat and cure for the final 2 minutes.
Ta da!
What do you think of the results?
Not too shabby, right?
I did add a drop of pure argan oil to my cuticles at the end.
Before and After
I did have a small incident, though, on the right hand.
After the final curing I was putting everything back into my zipper pouch and when I pulled the zipper, the cardboard hang tag that I hadn’t removed yet (lol) left a gash in my right thumb.
Whoops.
I very most likely applied the polish too thick on this nail, it was the very last nail I did. And thats why a chunk like this could be taken out of it.
This is a great learning experience!
I decided to “repair” it the following day when I did the Manucurist pedicure. Originally I was going to try to repair only that spot, but as it’s on my dominant hand, it was difficult for me to be so precise.
So I more or less did the whole nail and I was happy with how it turned out!
How to fix a damaged nail with at home gel polish
- Apply base coat to the damaged area
- Cure under the led lamp
- Apply 1 coat of color and cure
- Apply coat 2 of color and cure
- Apply top coat and cure
First Impressions on Application Process:
I think the application is very user friendly. Of course I have used a similar system in the past, albeit years ago, and that definitely helped.
I didn’t need to spend so much time reviewing the booklet because it was familiar to me.
The biggest tips, I think, are to take your time, apply thin coats so they cure properly, and remove any polish from your skin before you cure.
Anyone who does a neat-ish job with traditional nail polish can master the led gel if it appeals to them to do so.
On the other hand if someone has a terrible time painting their own nails with traditional polish, this probably won’t make a huge difference for them to be completely honest.
If your biggest challenge is smudging your nails, usually you’re applying too thick of a coat (so, so guilty) and thats why it’s prone to smudging — even if it seems dry on top, underneath isn’t really dry and stable. That’s how I understand it anyways.
So if that’s the case and you try doing lighter coats successfully, then you’ll do great with this home gel nails kit and it could be a game changer for you!!
But if you’re usually getting polish all over your cuticles and hands and generally having a hard and frustrating time then it might be better to save up and enjoy a treat from a professional every now and again. =)
Wear Testing Manucurist LED Gel Polish
I want to see how this polish performs in real life so you can see if its a good fit for your lifestyle.
Day 1 Check In:
I tried to get some photos from different angles and in different lighting.
Keep in mind I did the initial manicure at 10pm and immediately went to bed after I finished.
(How many times have you done this with traditional polish and been absolutely destroyed in the morning to see the result?!)
A funny thing I noticed during this check in was that on my right hand (the one I did second) I actually cured a fuzzy from my cotton round right into the polish. lol!
So really, really watch for any debris before curing under the led lamp.
Day 3 Check In:
After assembling a new petite-friendly ergonomic office chair, here’s how the mani is looking:
Basically you can see some imperfections in the finish, but overall I think this is a fantastic result after assembling a piece of furniture!
Up Next: Day 7 Check In & Removal
Day 7 Check In:
Hang tight for a few more days 😉
My Tips for Applying Manucurist Green Flash at Home
- Choose a well-lit location
- Apply thin coats to ensure successful curing
- Cap the ends of your nails if possible for best results
- Have fun!
Is Manucurist Green Flash Worth It?
I’m only on day 4 of my first manicure wear test at time of publishing, so infer what you will from the article you just read and check back to see my final verdict. ;]
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