Shellac Polish - Home Edition

WendyToo · January 2012

So I am a huge fan of the shellac polish. For Christmas I asked for (and received) a UV lamp gelish polish kit. I tried it out for the first time tonight.

First, I assembled the goods.

Then I spent like half an hour trying to get my last set of polish off. This stuff doesn't budge.

This is what my nails looked like after removal. I totally have old lady hands.

I started by applying a pH bond and then a 'foundation' coat. After the foundation comes the first stay under the lamp.

Overall, I felt like my nails were still sticky after this step so I put them back in for another round.

Then I tried my hand at the french manicure, but I quickly abandoned that due to my lack of skill, and went about applying the top-coat and double-baking again. After that, the next step is to clean your nails with what I think is basically rubbing alcohol. Finally, there's a nourishing cuticle oil to finish things off. This was the final product.

Overall, I think with a little practice, I may be able to do this with a solid color. My nails don't feel as smooth or neat as I'd like, so in general I think I'm in the 'leave it to the pros' camp.

tbvenable · January 2012

I think they turned out great. My nail lady told me that when she went to training on the shellec process that they told her each time you take your hand out of the light you need to go over the nail with rubbing alchol and that will help get rid of the stickyness.

gingerfeathers · January 2012

Looks good! I love gel polish. Won't get any other kind of manicure now. It's the only manicure that will actually withstand how hard I am on my nails.