The gel that was available at the end of the applicator quickly wore down, and that was it, neither I nor the store 'beauty consultant' could figure out how to get more gel from it. We twisted the cap at the bottom, assuming that it was like a propelling pencil, and would raise the gel in the pencil, but apart from turning, nothing happened. We removed it, but couldn't see any way to access the gel. The gel is too soft to be sharpened, so I was only able to use the tip of the gel that was visible when I bought it. If it could be made to work it may be worth it, but it proved to be an expensive pencil for me.