Shellac Me!

I'm sure you have heard all the fuss about this new, amazing nail polish called Shellac, by CND. It's is a revolutionary break through in the Manicure world. A polish that claims to last 14 fulls days without any chips dullness, and you are dries almost instantly. Say what?! Now, back in January I had a similar polish applied called Gelish. It claims all the same things, but I found it was a lot thicker of a polish and looked more like a "fake" polish acrylic nail. None the less it lasted 10 days and then I began picking at it....

Here is my first Shellac manicure:

Shellac Fedora-Day 1

So how does it work? The process begins with a normal manicure: clipping, shaping, buffing, cutical remover, and arm massage (ah, relaxing). The nail tech will remove your cuticles a little more than normal as you do not want this polish to stick to them or your skin. It is not easy to get back off. Next, the nail bed is cleaned one more time with nail polish remover to ensure the base coats attaches itself nicely. First, the base coat of Shellac is applied and then is cured with a UV light. Second, the nail tech will apply two color coats (there are not a lot of colors to chose from...only down fall), again cured under a UV light between each coat. Lastly, the Shellac top coat is applied and then again cured under a UV light for a bit longer than the previous applications. Finally the nail tech will clean the top coat with alcohol...it's very odd, because the nail comes out of the UV light sticky and then wa-la it is smooth and shiny once rubbed with alcohol.

To remove...I do not recommend peeling it off like I did last time as it will rip off the top layer of your nail. The nail salon should remove it. They apply these cotton balls soaked in polish remover and cover them with nail tips. 10 minutes later you are Shellac free and ready for a new color. Here in Lexington this can run you anywhere from $23-$35ish. It can also be used for a pedicure as long as the salon has the UV foot machine.

Hold tight and we'll see if Shellac holds up to the 14 day challenge!

UPDATE: How's the Shellac holding up? See for yourself:

Day 4 Shellac Fedora

Looks exactly the same as day 1! Minus my pale crusty skin.

UPDATE DAY #10: Still looking shiny and in tact (no chips). The growth is starting to show...but who really can keep any polish on for 10 days! and it still look this good. I will say the grow out of the Shellac is way better than the grow out of the Gelish as it was so thick I wanted to pick at it (and I did...picked every nail off which ruined my nails.)

Day 10 Shellac Fedora