Shellac Nails – What’s the big deal?
Shellac nails are the creation of Creative Nail Design after 5 years of research to create the greatest nail polish. Shellac nails are a hybrid nail, incorporating the best of two worlds, nail polish and gel nail polish.
The thing that makes shellac nails so exciting is that they have been designed to be super strong so that they do not chip while remaining thin.
Shellac nails are applied the same way nail polish is but is cured the same way gel nail polish is (with a UV light). This means that shellac nails last longer, have greater flexibility, durability and a gloss finish like gel nails making the super attractive. They are applied like normal nail polish and cured under UV light for a couple of minutes after which they fully harden.
After that these babies are ready to go so no more need of someone to fish out your car keys or phone out of your handbag for you or worrying about bumping into things with your hands. The most important thing about shellac nails though is that they are designed not to damage your natural nail. Finally a nail polish that does not give you weak, paper thin nails after removal.
How to apply Shellac Nails
It is always recommended that you go to your local nail salon to have your shellac nail polish applied. A set costs between $30 – $40 dollars depending on the nail salon. Before heading to the nail salon make sure to call them and find out whether they offer shellac nails since it is still a relatively new invention and will still take some time to catch on. If you don’t wish to fork over your hard earned money you can opt-out to apply your shellac nails at home. If you suffer from weak, thin or chipping nails you need to first head on to the nail salon and see if they can fix you up before applying shellac nail polish. You cannot apply the shellac nail polish if your nails are in too weak of a condition, doing so can lead to serious health hazards and all sorts of nastiness. So make sure to wait for your nails to heal or have them strengthened at the nail parlor before applying anything to them. Anyway let us get down to business.
Things you will need:
Scrub Fresh: Top and Base Coat: Nail Polish:
1. Before applying any sort manicure one must first prep your nails undergoing the manicure. Remove old nail polish, push back cuticles and shape your nails with a file to your desired form. This will be a dry prep so no need to soak your nails.
2. Rub scrub fresh on your nails to clean and purify them and prepare them for the shellac nail polish. No shine removal necessary.
3. Apply a thin layer of shellac UV base coat on your nails and cure your nails for 10 seconds in the UV dryer. You might want to use sunscreen to protect your hands from the harmful UV.
4. Next apply the first coat of colored shellac nail polish on to your nails. You need to than cure this for 2 minutes under the UV dryer before moving on to the next step.
5. Then apply the second thin coat of colored shellac nail polish. Cure this again for a last two minutes.
6. Next wipe the surfaces of your nails with 99% Isopropyl alcohol with a cotton ball to remove the top layer to give your new shellac nails their shine and gloss.
7. Apply a drop of solar oil on each nail.
8. Enjoy your new shellac nails.
This will last at least for 14 days. It could technically last a lot longer but noticeable nail growth occurs every 14 days therefore requiring a refill. No maintenance required with shellac nails.
How to remove Shellac Nail Polish
Click here to find out how to remove shellac nail polish so you can renew your shellac nail polish.
For more information on shellac nails click here or here.
I hope you found this article helpful. Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Don’t forget to share and like this page. Thank you!
Two of my nails have split below the quick since using shellac Manicure. My nail person applied “powder” to repair the crack, then reapplied the Shellac to the mended nail. Good as new!! No need to cut the nail. She recommended having the “powder” strengthener applied to all of my nails at my next appointment, to prevent further splitting. She said the mend would not need to be reapplied at each manicure: only when it grows out.
Your manicure is amazing, by far the best i’ve ever seen . Unfortunately i’m based in Sydney Australia, but i was wondering what all the colours you were wearing in those photos, i love them all but can’t seem to convey those colours to my technician when i get my nails done! Here is the best difference between shellac vs Gel manicure
Thanks!
Can you use a LED light instead of a UV light to cure the shellac?
what powder are you talking about? my nails have split also since using shellac..