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    1. Beauty

    Le Mini Macaron is here to give you a flawless (and affordable) at-home gel manicure

    In 15 minutes, no less

    Lucy Abbersteen's avatar
    By Lucy Abbersteen
    Published 1 October 2017 In Features

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    In 15 minutes, no less

    There's nothing quite like a gel polish manicure; it withstands all aspects of day-to-day life, from washing your hands to doing the dishes, all while maintaining a super glossy, wet-look shine.

    The downside to gel nails? The time and money you spend getting them done.

    Newly launched brand, Le Mini Macaron is here to change that, making DIY gel nails easy, affordable and hassle-free. In our opinion, it's already one of the best nail polish formulas on the market.

    With ten shades available, in the box comes a gel polish, cuticle stick, nail file and nail polish remover pads and the hero piece, a mini LED lamp in the shape of a macaron (hence the name). The lamp is powered with a USB, so you just plug it into your laptop.

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    The nail painting process is simple: using the cuticle stick, push back your cuticles and then file the edges and surfaces of your nails to ensure the polish sticks. Then apply the first thin layer of gel polish.

    Once you've painted a thin – and we mean thin – layer of the gel polish onto your nail, you pop it under the LED lamp, press the on button and let it dry for 30 seconds. The macaron will turn itself off once the time is up.

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    Repeat the process so you've got two coats of polish on. That's it. Easy as pie.

    Shop now: Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit for £25.97 from leminimacaron.com

    Possibly the best bit is, when you're done with your mani, you don't have to stress over how to remove your own gel nail polish or booking a salon appointment. The remover pads in the box make light work of taking it all off.

    What to read next
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    Don't believe it's that easy? Watch us put it to the test ourselves below using the Midnight Blueberry kit.

    'Our ambition is to change the way women do nails,' says Le Mini Macaron's co-creator Christina Kao.

    'Gel polish has been a revolution for the nail category and it should be affordable, accessible, easy to do and fun for everyone.'

    It definitely ticks all those boxes.

    Lucy Abbersteen
    Lucy Abbersteen
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    Beauty Contributor

    Lucy is a freelance beauty editor and contributor at Marie Claire, and has also written for titles including Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Glamour and woman&home. She was previously Marie Claire’s junior beauty editor. During her career, she’s covered everything from backstage beauty at fashion week to interviews with famous faces like Drag Race royalty and Little Mix. As for her beauty ethos, she’s a big advocate for not having to spend a fortune on beauty products to get good results. When she’s not got beauty on the brain you’ll probably find her reading or Netflix-ing.

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