As someone who has done her own gel nails for more than six years, I’m always looking for new ways to up my home manicure game. Over the years, it has saved me so much money compared to costly salon visits.
While I won’t claim I can achieve the incredible quality or intricate artwork you might get from a professional nail tech, I back myself to turn out a passable set of nails that last a respectable length of time before lifting or peeling. So when I learned that my go-to gel polish brand, Mylee, had released a brand new Selection Box Advent Calendar for 2024, I had to get a sneak peek.
The calendar, which features 12 gel manicure-themed gifts, from gel nail polishes to cuticle oils, costs £55 – which is around the same cost of a quality gel manicure with nail art. The obvious caveat is that to use most of the gifts in this set, you will need to have a UV lamp, which you can pick up anywhere from Boots to Amazon.
Pros:
- Full-size products
- Good selection of festive metallic gel colours
- Cuticle oil pen very convenient and easy to use
Cons:
- 12 days rather than 24
- Cateye polish took more coats to achieve desired coverage
- Magnet tool wasn’t as effective as expected
Unboxing the set, I was greeted with 12 individually wrapped gift boxes, neatly slotted in Tetris-style into a pretty keepsake tin – which will come in handy for storing my overflowing collection of gel nail paraphernalia. The overall presentation is beautiful, but it is worth noting that this is a 12-day advent calendar as opposed to the more common 24-day. You could either open one every other day or start your advent countdown 12 days later.
Inside the boxes, I found a good variety of manicure products and accessories, but I was most intrigued by the cateye magnetic gel polish and the two accompanying magnets. It’s not something I’d seen done before, so I went straight to YouTube and found an easy tutorial on Mylee’s channel.
Getting started
Having already prepped my nails, I went straight in with the Snow Globe Builder Gel – a slightly thicker consistency than normal gel which creates a stronger overlay than your regular base coat. I don’t have long nails and tend to keep them short, so I opted for just the one coat of this. I really liked the shimmer of this builder gel, it was subtle and would sit nicely under any metallic or sparkly polish.
Then came the longest process in anyone’s manicure – choosing the colour. Thankfully, I only had two to choose from if I wanted to test out the included cat eye magnets – the two magnetic polishes in the kit included a beautiful green hue (Lucky Clover) and the stunning galactic purple shade named Quartz – so I went with that.
After a couple of coats of the Quartz, I regretted not selecting a similar colour to use as a base coat before going in with the magnetic polish, as it took four coats to get the desired coverage to achieve the deep, cosmic colour promised on the lid of the bottle.
When I was happy and reached the final coat, before curing the top layer of colour, I took the star-shaped magnet and held it over each nail for about 10 seconds. This took a little trial and error to get the pattern where I wanted it, but it was easily corrected by swiping over with the applicator brush.
Once cured and sealed in with my usual top coat, the cat eye effect did appear to be rather faint, but I’m not sure if that was a case of user error, having never tried it before. It definitely catches the light in an interesting way and I keep finding myself staring at them when I should be typing, so the pattern is definitely noticeable, if subtle.
As an idea, I think the magnets are a great tool for beginners, as you don’t need to be artistic or have a particularly steady hand to produce an impressive design at home. It has inspired me to have a go with different shaped magnets, and even layering different coloured metallic polishes together.
Full contents of the Mylee Selection Box Advent Calendar
If you’d prefer a pullout packaged advent calendar, this LookFantastic one is a good option. Priced at £100, it contains £565 worth of products including goodies from brands such as Estée Lauder, Shiseido and Medik8.
Meanwhile, fans of No7 can buy this 25 Day Beauty Secrets Advent Calendar for £60 at Boots. It contains £236.65 worth of products, ranging from makeup picks to skincare products and a voucher.
