Tuesday 13 December 2011

Shellac

I love Shellac.

Ive been doing Shellac as a treatment now since August and I must say its fantastic.
One of the most important things about Shellac is the aftercare that you carry out at home.
Aftercare is really important to get the most out of your treatment and extend the life of your manicure.
When you are wearing Shellac you should introduce yourself to CND Solar Oil - you can usually purchase this where you have your Shellac nails done.
The one thing I will say is that it does annoy me when you have a treatment at a Salon and you think they are trying to sell you everything in sight but when it comes to Shellac, Solar Oil will be your new best friend, you should use it twice a day to help keep your Shellac in tip top condition.

Creative Nail Design SolarOil Cuticle Oil

Shellac will last around 14 days and is pretty indestructible with normal wear and tear, which means you have to add a little protection to your nails if doing tough jobs like household cleaning and gardening and hobbies which might be rough on your hands.
Something you have to watch for with Shellac is if you are on holiday you have to be careful when using sun tan oils or insect repellent solutions -  many of these products contain solvent oils which will cause major damage to the Shellac colour coat. Some of the more delicate Shellac colours can fade somewhat if your hands are in chlorinated water followed by excessive sun (remember that chlorine is a bleach and sun  intensifies the bleaching action). Dry your hands and nails after swimming and before sunbathing to minimize any colour fading. Shellac is designed to be applied to healthy natural nails so if you are usually a fan of acrylic or gel nails then its probably advisable to wait a couple of weeks after you have your false nails removed till you have Shellac applied to your own nails otherwise you may find the Shellac peels off.
I did my own Shellac on Saturday and its a lovely little cocktail of Strawberry Smoothie and Zillionaire - its really subtle but really pretty. I also wanted to keep it quite light as my nails are really short just now. The other great thing about Shellac is you can paint over it - so if you went for a nice neutral mani then you could use your usual polish over it at the weekend - just make sure you use an acetone free remover to take off the nail polish or you could end up removing your Shellac.


 I achieved this look with two coats of Strawberry Smoothie all over the nail and then two coats of Zillionaire all over the nail. The pictures dont really do this justice - Zillionaire gives the pink a lovely sparkley sheen  and makes your nails twinkle.


With Love
Lipstick Fridays
xx

4 comments:

  1. Hey Girl!
    I LOVE Shellac just as much, I've been using for a while now and it's amazing !
    I was thinking of posting a shellac tutorial :D... What do you think?

    http://daisylva1.blogspot.com
    xoxo ❀✿ Daisy ✿❀

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    1. Hey xx I thinks amazing too xx a shellac tutorial would be brill - go for it would love to see it xx

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  2. I wanted to buy some cnd shellac like this one on ebay but everytime that I visited a beauty parlor and had my nails done the shellac-type varnish wouldn't come out! so they ended up filing my nails which made them look pink, they hurt and cracked a lot.. so you having used that, does it come off with pure acetone? Is it the original one or a shellac-similar product? there are so many out there, I'm confused! xo xo

    beautyfulladdict.blogspot.gr

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    1. It is very confusing !!! Shellac is a power polish which will last up to two weeks on your nails. If your nails are dry and dehydrated then it probably wont last as long - Shellac is not to be confused with gel polish like bio sculpture or calgel which will last up to three weeks on your fingernails - CND Shellac should be soaked off with the correct removal method - I use a product by Caratin called d solve which contains acetone - this can be soaked in cotton wool then wrapped with foil for 15 mins. There are lots of copies of shellac which you will find on ebay but I cant give you an opinion on those as I have never tried them - If you go to a reputable salon they should be using CND SHELLAC if they are advertising it as shellac. I definitely wouldnt be going back to a salon which has caused your nails some damage hon xx If you need anymore advice about this then feel free to email me xxx

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