Swatches & review: Fuse Gelnamel starter kit

Hi everyone! Today, I have a review of Fuse Gelnamel Starter Kit. Fuse is a new-to-me brand which has recently launched in Australia. What makes Fuse stand out amongst the other gel nail polish brands in the market is the travel friendly LED lamp and the idea of having a base coat, colour and top coat all in one bottle. The lack of need to apply base and top coats definitely cuts down on the application time and would appeal to many busy women today.

As with most gel nail polishes, Fuse offers a starter kit which includes a Fuse Gelnamel, LED lamp, 12 lint free wipes, manicure stick, double sided nail buffer and cleanser.

The LED lamp comes with a long USB cord, allowing the user to easily connect it to a computer or USB adapter.

Before I began my application, I made sure to read the instruction booklet in the starter kit. I was instructed to take a lint free wipe and swipe my first nail with the cleanser to ensure all oil is removed off the nail surface. I then applied one coat of the gel nail polish Gone Fission, wrapping my tips in the process. I stuck my finger into the LED light, hit the top button and waited for it to turn off automatically 30 seconds later. I then swiped my nail with the lint free wipe soaked in cleanser to remove the top layer of sticky residue.

Because this is a pure glitter gel polish, I had to apply a second coat to get a decently opaque coverage. Repeat the application, curing and cleaning process and voilà, my first nail was completed. Fuse instructs to complete one nail at a time due to natural oil being present on the nail, which is cleaned with the cleanser right before the gel polish application.Complete the above steps for the rest of your nails and then you'll have a complete gel nail polish manicure.

A couple of things I noticed when using the starter kit:

• The gel polish bottles are not clear, but instead show an image of the nail polish inside. In the case of Gone Fission, I found it a little misleading as I thought I had a glitter polish in a tinted base.
• The caps of the bottles can be removed to reveal a smaller, round handle. This is much easier to grip when applying than the initial square cap.

I had planned to keep my nails for the promised 7 days of wear. However, by my fourth day, I found the gel nail polish had completely fallen off one of my nails. I decided to remove the entire manicure and out of curiosity, tried to lift the gel polish off my other fingers. Most of them came off with ease in one or two pieces.

On the one hand, this saved me the trouble of the longer 'buff & soak off' removal process. But on the other hand, this manicure did not last me the full 7 days promised.

To be fair, I believe this may have to do with my nail chemistry with gel nail polishes as my previous experiences with different brands have also led to the same result - the gel polish would lift and be easily pulled off. I have given my mum a gel nail polish manicure before with a different brand and she had to go through with the normal removal process. And so my quest continues as I try to find a gel nail polish which works with my nail chemistry!

Fuse starter kits retail at $49.99 and each individual gel polish can be purchased at $14.99. You can find them online at fusegelnamel.com.au or in stores at Priceline and Big W.

Have you tried gel nail polish before? What is your experience with it?

Thanks for reading.
~Sharon

Product provided for consideration.