So, TOTALLY in the interest of science, I went to Venetian Nail Spa at the Summit to try the OPI Axxium gel nail color. Just to compare it to Gelish and see how it stood up. See, right after I took the picture in the previous post, my nail broke and my polish chipped. I finally peeled it off on Friday. That's when I went to Veneitan to try the competition.


Venetian doesn't have the 20 second LED lights that L'Amour has. They use the 2 minute UV version, thus the manicure took about 45 minutes. Somedays, I wouldn't mind lazing around in a nail salon for an hour, but today I was kind of in a hurry. The painting process took alot longer too. I think the color I chose (Black Cherry Chutney) was about out and she was kind of scraping the bottom of the jar for it - so that could have been part of the problem. Another drawback, the fancy Venetian treatment was $15 more than the L'Amour mani. For me, this is a great deal of money to spend on something so frivolous. That is a HUGE strike against it.

Now for the upside. This picture was taken today (Tuesday) and there is nary a chip or even any wearing to this manicure. In fact, I don't think a nuclear missile will remove this stuff. The tips of my nails would wear within a couple of days with Gelish (which I just chalked up to the laws of physics), but this mani looks EXACTLY like it did when I left the salon. The only exception is the grow out at the bottom. No chips. No rub off. I am amazed. What is in this stuff?

The verdict? Still out. The price is an issue for me. However, if this mani REALLY lasts 3 weeks instead of the nearly two from Gelish, it could be worth it.