UR Sugar Builder Gel in a Bottle

I've noticed a bit of a trend popping up of builder gels in a bottle - there are quite a few brands that make them, and I know ORLY is making a big deal out of one they are releasing later in the year. But seeing as I have the worst addiction to Aliexpress in the world, I thought I'd grab these ones from UR Sugar to try out. So here are my thoughts. 

First off, I think the idea of builder gel in a bottle is great - especially for anyone who isn't a tech but wants to try doing their own nail extensions or even for a tech who wants to speed up their service. 

The first thing I noticed when I got these is that the consistency is in between a traditional builder gel and gel polish. This made it easy to apply, however because it is quite self levelling I found it almost impossible to build any actual structure to the nail. It isn't too thin at least so I put on 2 thin coats for the overall effect. 

So for my swatches I tried 2 different colours - the clear and nude. 2 of the nails I used forms and the other 2 I used tips. You can see that before I took my photos one of the form nails had already broken! I just couldn't build up the nail enough in the stress points to give them decent structure.  However the tip nails are totally solid. If you look at my thumb swatch further down I kept that nail on for over a week with no problems or lifting.

My biggest complaint - you will notice on the bottle that it says Soak Off. Well it is all lies! I tried soaking for over 20 min and it did not budge one little bit. The tips underneath disintergrated and the gel was still solid. So I had I had to file them all off which I was unhappy about. 

So all that said, if you are someone who has never touched acrylic before and wants a short extension - these will do the job so long as you use it over tips and are happy to file off. It is very easy to apply, it goes on just like polish and the clear is a really lovely crystal clear. 

However if you are a tech - just don't bother. But if you know of another brand that is better, please let me know! I love the concept but need to keep testing them out. 

Check out the product on Aliexpress here.