We tried it:The Shellac Manicure

Posted by Alexandra C. | Wednesday November 2, 2011

Think of everything you hate about painting your nails- the chipping that occurs two days later, the thick, goopy mess that happens with one too many coats, waiting for what seems like a million years for it to dry. It's enough to stop painting them all together! Now- let me introduce you the shellac manicure.

As part of the Beautylicious event, where you can get great deals on almost any beauty service, I was treated to a shellac manicure courtesy of Sitamaa Spa- check my review over here. Shellac manicures are the remedy to everything you hate about painting your nails and promise to last two weeks with no chips (let me repeat that- two weeks!). They immediately dry under a UV lamp (no smudges!) and have a gorgeous glossy finish (lasting for the entire wear!).

Here is my 'Before' picture... pre-shellac!

First, the (amazing, by the way) manicurist cleans up my hideous nail beds and rightly scolds me for biting them and I hang my head in shame. She softens my cuticles and files my nails. The shellac manicure doesn't react well to oils or wet ingredients so this part of the process is all dry.

After this, the next few steps are basically rinse & repeat. There are three colour polish layers painted, a base and top coat and in between, your hands are put under the UV lamp. You can alter the colours of your polishes, by layering on different shades or tones. I chose to go with a deep red for my first layer and over top of this a shimmery magenta to give my red a bit of shine, shimmer and a pink hue. It may seem like your nails are now loaded on with shellac but here's the best part- they don't feel that way! Unlike some polishes that feel heavy on your nail, the shellac feels like your natural nail.

A bit of advice about your manicure: I developed a bit of a love/hate relationship with my shellac into my second week because I wanted to change up my colour so you'll definitely have to chose your colours carefully. Like a tattoo- make sure you love the colour because you'll be stuck looking at it for a while.

What I didn't love was when my nails started to grow out, there is a small gap between your polish and your nail- much like gel nails. As well, you need to soak your nails in pure acetone to remove the shellac. This isn't too difficult, it was more inconvenient for me to go purchase the acetone and soak it for about 5-10 minutes for each hand. It is advised to go to the spa/salon to replace your polish there instead.

Overall, the shellac mani is definitely a 'must-try', especially for the holidays. With it's long lasting shine, when you're running around busy a shellac mani just takes that one extra thing off your mind.

Here is my 'After' picture... post shellac!

At Sitamaa Spa- this manicure is $50.00- well worth it when you consider a regular manicure at a similar nail bar or boutique would cost about $25 and lasts a fraction of the time. Beautylicious runs until November 6th.

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15 Comments

	on November 13, 2011 LadyChick234234 3,701 said: one of the BEST beauty things EVER. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.
	on November 11, 2011 Lonelyshoez 688 said: lolve this product... do it all the time and find it so worth as i am the type to do my paint my nails weekly.. when i found shelllac polish its now saving me money as i only do my nails once every 3 weeks... Works great.....
	on November 11, 2011 Quinn 977 said: I recently stopped (finally) biting my nails...which I've been doing for as long as I can remember. A friend who is an ex-biter suggested I try shellac since it helped grow out her nails and was very difficult to bite through. I was sold. I tried it and man did it ever help! Not only were my nails actually growing but they looked...dare I say...pretty! The good thing about shellac is also it's downfall though...it stays on forever. It peels off some nails while stays on forever on others. You pretty much have to go back and pay to get it removed.
	on November 10, 2011 careforyou 1,607 said: I would love to try this out! I get so frustrated when my normal nail polish chips after a day or two.
	on November 10, 2011 Lynn hall 3,007 said: Looks great! love the shine!
	on November 08, 2011 takanikki 2,265 said: Hmm, I might try it out, but I love doing my nail art...
	on November 07, 2011 GlamGal 2,378 said: Very festive!!
	on November 02, 2011 curlysue10 7,326 said: @AlexJC, that's a good question. I don't know, I think that's a bit too hard core for me. I mean, I do my nails at home regularly but getting your own UV light is a whole new level of dedication I think. It might be one of those things that if you were committed to doing the shellac manicure you may as well go all the way and get it done, as opposed to doing it yourself. What do you think?
	on November 02, 2011 mamaluv STAFF said: According to our Style Collective friend Beauty Editor, you can paint over shellac nails with any regular polish and even remove that other polish with regular remover without damaging your shellac mani! Fun way to change things up on the fly. That's one of the major benefits of OPI Axxium (a comparable treatment) - they sell the same shade in Axxium and regular so you can paint in the regrowth and the patch job should not be noticeable. I don't believe Shellac sells the same shades in regular, but you should be able to come darn close.
	on November 02, 2011 AlexJC 50 said: @curlysue10 would you or would anyone else here ever consider getting their very own UV lamp?