Shellac will Change Your Life! 
I’m ‘nail OCD’ and I love love love love Shellac. If I was on a desert island and allowed one item, I’d take this fabulous nail varnish!!!
Hopefully you’ve already discovered this great product launched in 2010 and exploding in popularity in 2011 after it was featured in Oprah magazine in the US. I discovered it on a trip to New York last spring and was hooked. When I took my son on a SCUBA dive trip to Gozo this summer my dark red Shellac manicure survived six dives unscathed – a huge accomplishment as my nails are usually shattered after a dive trip.
I’m the ideal Shellac client:
- I keep my nails short (Shellac won’t protect long nails)
- I’m impatient – Shellac is done in 30 mins with no dry-time – you can get your keys from your bag without a smudge!!
- I don’t like gels or other ‘fake’ nails that are thick
- I’m seriously obsessed about having unchipped, perfectly manicured nails at all times. If I have a chip, I’m in the salon getting my nails re-done.
- I’m on a budget! Cost-per-day Shellac is a bargain for perfect looking nails.
Flawless, shiny nails that last for 14 days – can you imagine!?!
Top Tips for Shellac:
1 – Want to make it last longer? Choose a neutral colour because the grow-out isn’t obvious. Also make sure the manicurist really works on your cuticles so they’re pushed back completely and gets as close as possible without flooding the cuticle. This will give you longer grow-out time and every day counts. Also use CND’s Solar Oil every night to keep your cuticles soft and nails conditioned.
2 – Mix it up! With Shellac, you need to trust the manicurist to recommend the colour because the bottles don’t match the polish. Also, they’re coming out with more colours every season, but because they’re expensive a lot of smaller salons don’t stock them all. So, the solution is to layer! Layering Shellac is a great way to find your perfect colour and experiment.
Coni’s favourite ‘nude’ = Cocoa + Beau
Coni’s favourite ‘dark’ = Fedora + Dark Ruby
Shellac has now changed their palette to have colours and shimmer effects – so look for the colours in your salon to change in coming months.
3 – Think about your wardrobe and events over the two weeks. If I have important client interviews/meetings, I go with a nude. If I have some evening events or more fashion-oriented activities, I’ll choose a dramatic colour. Coni’s least favourite experiment = Asphalt (two weeks is a long time to wear nails that look like they belong on a cadaver, so choose wisely!
4 – Remember you can re-do! If you need a quick change, you can layer another colour of regular polish over Shellac and then remove it with non-acetone remover without affecting your Shellac manicure.
5 – Try the Shellac pedicure, too. I can get 21 days out of a Shellac pedicure and look flawless – it’s amazing.
Downsides to Shellac: Nothing is perfect, however, so some things to watch out for when you use Shellac…
1 – ‘Scarring’ – My nails are very fragile and wimpy, so maybe others don’t have this problem, but when I took off Shellac the first time there were white ‘scars’ on my nails. I was in Slovenia and mentioned this to the local CND distributor and he told me to use Solar Oil. My nails are almost back to normal with the growout – but it’s taken a looooong time. So, use your Solar Oil!
Solar Oil Helps Nails Resist Shellac Damage
2 – Beware of fakes. Go to www.cnd.com will give you details to find a salon near you – but watch out for pretenders! Look at the bottles yourself to see they are labeled CND with the logo. ‘Fake’ Shellac disaster stories abound – ‘ruined nails’, ‘couldn’t get it off’, etc.
3 – I don’t like the ‘soaking off’ stage. It takes a long time, costs extra and annoys me. My solution is to peel it off myself the night before my manicure and do a ‘soak’ in Solar Oil to recondition. This may be against the rules, but I haven’t noticed any negative effects and, actually, I think the soaking and scraping may be more damaging than peeling.
All in all – love this product and hope you do too!
Enjoy! Xx – C
