When time is an essence, a kit like Kiss Gradation Polishes would make a lot of sense. Check out Exposure, the Gold kit I received for review.

If you haven’t guessed already, the kit contains 3 polishes (0.2oz/ 6ml each) in the same family colour, with different opacity and finishes to create a gradation effect on your nails with less guess work.

I follow the instruction included in the back of the box, and in the booklet inside.

This is the first step – Apply 2 coats of “Step 1” polish, let it dry. This off-white shade with gold shimmers is quite sheer, meant to give your nails some definition but not much colour, a good base for other shades to go on after.

Step 2: Apply 1 coat of “Step 2” polish on only the tip (about 1/3) of the nails. This shade, a shimmery gold, has much better coverage. It is opaque in one coat.

Since Step 3 directly follows Step 2 without allowing the polish to dry, I did not stop to take pics.

Here is what I got after Step 3 – Apply 1 coat of “Step 3” polish on the top half of the nails, let it dry completely. Then repeat the steps on the other hand.

This shade is a glittery full house, jazzes up the mani with good amount of darker gold shimmers and glitter pieces. As always, dabbing motion offers good glitter density on the nails.

I found myself liking this look more than I thought I would. While the concept is not new, like I said, a kit saves time, also convenient to travel with. The shades do what they are intended for quite well and look good together.

The little booklet inside the box is not really necessary, other than being a reference source for non English speakers (the steps are printed in another 11 languages).

If gold is not your thing, there are 3 other Gradation kits made by Kiss – Film Noir (black), Big Break (sky blue) and Freeze Frame (pink), retail around $10.97 each.