What? A nail polish review?? From a DIYer and home decor enthusiast no less! The thing is, I really do love a fresh new mani and pedi. It makes me feel pampered and more put together. I can be a DIYer with pretty nails, can’t I? My problem is that I seldom paint my nails, because they have usually chipped within the first 2 days and who has time for that? Cue Sorbet Pro Gel Effect nail polish 🙂

When I saw the Sorbet Pro Gel Effect nail polish at Clicks recently, I remembered that I had had pedi done with it earlier in the year at one of the Sorbet salons. It had held up really well, so I thought that I would give it a go on my hands as well. The only catch was that I couldn’t just buy the colour, I had to buy the top coat as well – I hemmed and hawed about it for a bit because of the cost, but decided to just go for it. And, to be honest, I’m glad that I did. Go for it, that is.

The first time I used it, it lasted over a week. I stretched this out even further by just removing the nail polish and redoing it on my nails as they eventually started to chip. This extended the wear to about 2 weeks. I was hooked.

When I redid my nails, in the colour “Minted”, I decided to track the progress and do a full review on it.

This is what I documented over the 7 day period:

Note: This is a review on the polish on not my nail-painting skills. There is some room for improvement there!

We then have a weekend where I have just realised that I didn’t take any planned, detailed photos. Such a good blogger and reviewer I am 🤦🏼‍♀️! I can tell you though that it was jam packed with birthday parties, family time and fun which was all hard on the nails 😁 I did manage to get a shot in on Day 6. Completely unplanned of course!

That’s it! 7 days of wear testing the Sorbet Pro Gel Effect nail polish.

I can summarize my findings as follows:

• The finish is durable – if I can play my steel string guitar without it being scraped of, I consider it a win.
• It reduced the chances of my nails splitting, which they tend to do the minute they start growing in earnest.
• The top coat seals everything well and gives a nice, glossy shine to the nail.
• They do take a bit longer to cure. I have found that, on occasion, I go to bed thinking that they are dry, but wake up to find that there are a few impressions left on them from the pillow or duvet. My guess is that the increased curing time is what is creating the super-durable finish.
• It is not the cheapest option out there at R 110.00 per bottle. Clicks however seem to run regular specials where you can buy 2 colours and get a 3rd free. So far that special has unfortunately excluded the top coat. The price however doesn’t put me off, because I’m saving time.

*I’m now rerunning the test, but with short nails. I’ll let you know how it goes 😉

If you haven’t read my post on my blogging journey, this post may come across as completely offside for my blog. Nevertheless, as I said in the beginning of this post, I love to feel pampered. Manis and pedis are expensive, so if I can DIY them I can keep the costs down and still feel pampered – it works for me! And after all, DIY and budget are what this blog is all about, right? 😉

I hope that you have found this post helpful; I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a comment below or a DM on Instagram and let’s chat 😀