Red Carpet Manicure Fortify & Protect Gel Polish Pro Kit Review

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, Lots of Lacquer and its partners may earn a commission or other compensation, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Red Carpet Manicure is one of the leading brands producing gel polish for the mainstream markets. They offer three main gel polish lines - LED Gel Polish, Fortify & Protect Gel Polish and Cream Gels. All of them need an LED UV lamp to cure.

If you’re new to Red Carpet Manicure, they offer Starter Kits, which contain everything you need to start your gel polish journey. These Starter Kits make it easy to get going with at home, salon quality gel color manicures.

Starter Kits are available for both the LED Gel Polish and Fortify & Protect Gel Polish lines, both of which are compatible with the Cream Gels.

The main way that the LED Gel Polishes and Fortify & Protect Gel Polishes differ is that the Fortify & Protect Gels also contain Vitamin A and Biotin and they have a slightly higher price point.

Since gel polishes can have a reputation for weakening nails from poor removal techniques, and I have lazily peeled off my gel nails which contributes to that issue, I decided to go with the added strength collection.

So I picked up the Fortify & Protect Gel Polish Pro Starter Kit to use with the Soft Girl Essentials Cream Gel Palette.

Let’s look at a few photos of what’s inside this kit:

This kit includes:

• Pro30 LED Light - it cures in 30 seconds!

• Fortify & Protect Base Coat

• Fortify & Protect Top Coat

• Prep Max Adhesion (0.3 oz)

• Revitalize Cuticle Oil (0.3 oz)

• Erase Gel Polish Remover (2.0 oz)

• Purify Pre & Post Application Cleanser (2.0 oz)

• Take Two Gel Polish (0.3 oz) - a cool light pink

• 20 Remover Foils

• 20 Lint Free Nail Wipes

• 5 Orangewood Sticks

• Buffing Stick & 2 Buffing Tabs

• Emery Board

• Instruction Booklet

It has everything you need to start doing gel manicures at home. 

Given the current costs of a salon manicure, it’s a great value - it pays for itself after just one manicure.

I purchased this kit because I was travelling and needed some of the extra supplies it contains. I also was curious about several of the items inside.

It’s Expertly Packaged

I love how tightly packed everything is. All the parts of this kit are nestled into each other so none of the contents are going anywhere. 

When taking everything out of the box, make sure to look underneath other items and deconstruct it. Things are stacked on top of each other and you don’t want to miss anything that’s inside.

While this whole kit is perfect, below are a few items inside I really loved…

Mini USB Lamp

The lamp is a palm sized mini that’s powered by a USB cable. 

This is a compact four finger lamp - my thumbs don’t fit, I have to cure them separately, though thankfully, all my toes fit for my pedicures. 

This is OK because sometimes thumbs won’t cure evenly when they go in with all your other fingers, due to the thumb resting on its side as the hand lays flat during the curing process.

Its small size makes it travel friendly and space saving, plus the USB cable means it still works if your power goes out.

Simply plug the USB cord into your phone or laptop charging port and do your nails while you wait for the electric company to figure things out.

Buffing Stick with Pads

This neat little tool was a pleasant surprise to me. 

It’s a mini buffing stick with replaceable buffing pads. Compared to the standard buffing blocks, it allows you to get very close to the cuticle for a more fine-tuned nail buffing process. 

When you use it, you’ll notice that gone are the days when you accidentally buff your skin. Since it’s a precise wand, you can buff your nail exactly where it is needed and nowhere else. This buffing stick uplevels the nail prep process more than I anticipated.

Foil Gel Removal Wraps

I really like these.

You can use them alone or with gel polish removal nail clips. They are useful because they conserve your acetone, since you only put acetone on the cotton pads in the foil.

Compared to soaking your nails in a bowl filled with acetone, these really come in handy when you want to be mindful of how much acetone you’re using or when you’re staying in a hotel and you don’t have random bowls around for soaking.

All in all, this kit is the perfect solution for starting your journey into at home gel manicures.

Includes the complete system you need to begin - the prep dehydrator, the base, top coat, cleanser and remover, a complimentary color to start, a cuticle oil, an LED lamp, plus a few helpful extras. 

If you have some of the extra manicure supplies already, you may be fine going with the Gel Polish Essential Kit, which costs less and omits the cuticle oil, remover, extra gel color polish, foils, buffing stick and emery board. But if you could use some of the extras and want to try the polish, I highly recommend the Fortify & Protect Gel Polish Pro Starter Kit. Get this Red Carpet Manicure Starter Kit at Ulta or on Amazon

Other Articles You May Enjoy:

• How To Remove Gel Polish At Home

• How To Get Better Gel Polish Adhesion

• The Differences Between Nail Polish And Gel Polish

• Red Carpet Manicure Solid Cream Gel Polish Palette Review

As an Ulta Affiliate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. As a Beyond Polish Brand Ambassador, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Use coupon code LOTSOFLACQUER for 10% OFF at Beyond Polish!