With all the hype around long-lasting gel nails, more and more nail polish brands are creating their own manicure systems that promise to provide the same lasting color only with an easier removal process. For example, Sally Hansen now sells a Miracle gel polish system involving an easy 2-step process, and more recently I learned that SpaRitual (one of my favorite polish brands) has also released their own 2-step process, called the SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Color System. They were kind enough to send me the little kit you see here, which I’ve decided to review for you, as well as provide some swatches of the shade ‘Last Tango‘.
About the SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Color System
According to SpaRitual’s website:
“SpaRitual GOLD delivers technology that fuses Flexible Color with our Flexible Topcoat creating a long-wearing, smudge resistant, high-shine finish that doubles the wear of your manicure. No lamp drying needed. No intense removal needed – just relaxing GOLD manicures.”
The GOLD range offers 24 polish shades, including pretty pink and green pastels, dark reds and violets, and silvery shimmers.
SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Color System claims to:
- double the wear of your regular manicure, when used as a 2-step system
- easy on application and easy off removal – applies 75% faster and removes 85% faster than gels
- smudge repairing technology
- dries in less than 8 minutes – 60% faster than a traditional manicure
- provide high shine
- smudge-repairing technology that is self-leveling and correcting
- applies faster and removes quicker than gels
How to Use
The process is pretty simple, and works just how you’d normally apply regular polish and a top coat.
Step 1: Cleanse the nail with alcohol to remove oils and residue and apply SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Color.
Step 2: Apply a second coat.
Step 3: Apply SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Topcoat.
DONE! They also recommend reapplying the Flexible Topcoat after three days to further extend your manicure.
My SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Color System Review
Application – I love how quick and easy these polishes apply. The formula glides on so smoothly, and levels itself perfectly on the nails. It’s one of those polishes that you can paint on real fast, with even a shaky hand, and still have it turn out looking great – ‘foolproof’ you might call it! The brush is also fairly large and covers a lot of the nail, which really helps to speed up the application process.
Drying time – SpaRitual claims the drying time is less than 8 minutes and I’d have to agree – I’d even say it’s significantly less than 8 minutes. My first couple coats dried in about 3-4, and my topcoat, even faster.
Smudge-Repairing Technology – This technology is completely new to me – I’ve never seen this type of ‘feature’ in a polish before! You can watch the video here to see how it works.
Basically, if you accidentally smudge or ding the polish, the formula ‘bounces back’ and fixes itself. I inadvertently tested this out by bumping my nail on my camera. I just knew I’d have to go back and re-do it, but when I took a look at it a few seconds later – the polish still looked perfect!
Longevity – This is one area where the SpaRitual GOLD Flexible Color System falls short for me, especially when compared to other long wearing systems like the Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gels (review here). With normal everyday wear, the color + top coat lasts about 2-3 days on me before I’ll start to notice small chips. I guess that’s where the recommended second top coat comes in. But considering the price of the top coat bottle alone ($18), the cost per manicure can really start to add up. Overall, I wouldn’t say the Flexible Color System ‘doubled the wear of my regular manicure’ – it just didn’t give me the 5-7 days of wear that I expected.
Here I’m wearing the shade ‘Last Tango‘, which is a bright cherry red with orange undertones. I applied about three coats to get full, opaque coverage. If the coats were thicker though, two would have been fine. As you can see, the topcoat provides a nice shine to the nails, and an almost gel-like finish. The initial end result is quite pretty!
Have you tried the SpaRitual Gold Flexible Color System
What’s your favorite long-wearing nail polish?
