Shellac? How have your results been.

[vbnet]

For those of you who have tried it, how are your nails after you have it removed? Were you able to remove it yourself?

I go for manicures for awhile, then I get too busy, or have other $$ priorities, so then what? I think shellac will last longer so it will help me out there, but what about if I want to stop for awhile.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

I just had it done for the second time. I have gotten French manicures with it both times. I am impressed with how long it takes to chip.

The first time, it looked perfect for about a week and then I got anxious and peeled it all off! (What a waste of money!) I'm a newly reformed nail-biter, so now when I'm anxious I pick at my nail polish instead of biting. There were still traces of the shellac on my nails when I went in for my second manicure, so the tech soaked it off. It only took a few minutes and did not seem to be harsh on my nails. (I think she was just using nail polish remover or something similar.)

I just went for my second shellac manicure on Friday. I'll keep you posted on how long it lasts! (The tech who did my nails told me she had been wearing hers for 3 weeks...but I read somewhere you shouldn't keep it on longer than 2 weeks because it bonds too much to your nail and is hard to remove or something like that...?)

 

[Autumnovember]

I'll be totally honest here...

I do a lot of with my hands so I was really hoping to find something that lasted. It stayed on well for my best friend...but not so much for me.

The first time I got it...it lasted about 10 days and then I peeled it off (without any damage to the nails) because I was annoyed at looking at the small chips in it.

Then I got it the second time, and it lasted even less. I had cracks and chips in it after the 3rd day. I called the salon because I was pretty unhappy about that and they told me to come in so they could redo it free of charge. I never ended up going in and I decided I'd only be getting shellac if I was going on a vacation or for some kind of special occasion.

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I had Shellac done the day before my 7/3/10 wedding. I went to a cosmetology school. I love the idea of Shellac. I would NOT recommend having a student do your nails unless you like having an unprofessional-looking manicure that lasts for two weeks.

After our wedding, we went to Bora Bora for our honeymoon. As I was packing on the last day, I noticed the polish just peeled right off one of my nails. So I just took it off the other nine nails. Easy peasy. There was some left over residue on my nails but I just got home and used some nail polish remover and it seemed to come right off.

We were in the ocean a lot during the honeymoon and I was not easy on my nails but the polish stayed on for 13 days. I'm sure to anyone just glancing at my nails they looked fine, but to me, seeing the poor job the girl did on them, made me pretty upset every time I looked at them.

I plan to try it again soon and go to a professional nail tech. I would definitely recommend it. Especially if you're trying to grow out your nails. Mine were super long by the time the polish came off.

 

[Amethyste]

it's been so good for me... I do a lot with my hands too -
i can get about 3+ weeks for my own nails and a lot of my clients are in te same boat...

 

[AprilBaby]

Tell me what is shellac and can it be done at home?

 

[Hera]

Tell me what is shellac and can it be done at home?

It's this great product that is sort of like a gel nail polish that goes on natural nails and lasts for two weeks. It is only at salons for now BUT I found out on while researching that some people have found successful results at home and I plan on trying it.

 

[ericad]

I'm completely hooked on Shellac. I've been doing it at home myself, for about 3 months now, and it's great. I get 2 good weeks of wear and only have to change because of the new growth. I haven't had any problems with it at all. I've found through experience that the most important step is to wipe down your nails with acetone before applying the basecoat. I skipped this step accidentally once and my Shellac started peeling right away. The other really important thing is making sure you are very thorough with the base and top coats - if you miss a spot that nail will be vulnerable to chips.

Otherwise I've found Shellac to be practically bulletpoof! I've done heavy gardening with no scratches or chips at all, and removal is easy, you just have to be patient and soak it all off then lightly buff to get the last traces of base coat off (my mom was convinced that the shellac ruined her nailbeds, but turned out she hadn't removed all of the basecoat, so it gave the illusion of ridges and rough surface.) I personally love their remover wraps - a little extra cost but keeps the process easy and tidy.

 

[bebe]

I've been very curious about this process but a bit concerned about damage to my nails. I have weak nails that split and break, but would the shellac cause further damage ??

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I've been very curious about this process but a bit concerned about damage to my nails. I have weak nails that split and break, but would the shellac cause further damage ??

I feel like my nails were able to grow much longer with Shellac. I normally can't go but a few days before one of my nails breaks, but with Shellac, there was no chipping or breaking for the two weeks I had the polish on. There was no damage to my natural nail when I peeled it off, just a little leftover top-coat that came off easily with polish remover. I can imagine my nails would get incredibly long if I were to do back to back Shellac applications.

 

[Upgradable]

I'm completely hooked on Shellac. I've been doing it at home myself, for about 3 months now, and it's great. I get 2 good weeks of wear and only have to change because of the new growth. I haven't had any problems with it at all. I've found through experience that the most important step is to wipe down your nails with acetone before applying the basecoat. I skipped this step accidentally once and my Shellac started peeling right away. The other really important thing is making sure you are very thorough with the base and top coats - if you miss a spot that nail will be vulnerable to chips.

Otherwise I've found Shellac to be practically bulletpoof! I've done heavy gardening with no scratches or chips at all, and removal is easy, you just have to be patient and soak it all off then lightly buff to get the last traces of base coat off (my mom was convinced that the shellac ruined her nailbeds, but turned out she hadn't removed all of the basecoat, so it gave the illusion of ridges and rough surface.) I personally love their remover wraps - a little extra cost but keeps the process easy and tidy.

How do you get these things to work well??? It is a comedy of errors trying to get them on my fingers! I need a third hand!! I've defaulted to using an acetone soaked cotton ball on my nail, and then I wrap the end of the finger in tin foil. I look ridiculous, but it seems to work best for me.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

I saw the Shellac starter kit somewhere and was tempted to buy it, but it was VERY expensive (at least where I saw it, and I can't remember where that was). I've also seen a similar kit that OPI has, which seems to be a little more reasonably priced. Hmmm . . . maybe I need to make an addition to my Christmas list???

 

[bebe]

I wonder if Ulta carries this ?

 

[vbnet]

When I researched it b4 my vacation, the shellac website said Ulta carried it but when I went to Ulta (late June) & checked their website they didn't. BUT, the did have a salon near me that supposedly sold it.

I was going to have it done at a salon, but balancing cost against the possiblity it wouldn't be good (it was new at the salon & I wanted them to have experience so it would last) I decided against it. I'm thinking of going in today or tomorrow to give it a try. If I do, I'll post back. I was most worried about trashing my nails but that doesn't seem to be a problem so THANKS everyone!

 

[MsP]

My results have only been mediocre... I paint my nails a lot and have gone through several combinations of brands, polishes, techniques to find a system that gives me decent results. I don't think most people do this. For example, if I put a normal OPI base, two coats of polish, and their top coat I can get *maybe* three days. Essie doesn't love my chemistry either. The sequence I've been using for a while now that will give me about a week of wear is this... lightly buff nail, wipe down with pure acetone, one coat of "Starting Over After Artificials", one coat of "Instant Artificials"(both by Salon Sciences), two coats of whatever polish (typically China Glaze, Orly, or OPI), and finish things off with Seche Vite top coat.

I have gotten the shellac twice--once at two different salons. I don't do french manicures... typically deep reds or pinks...and I think the Shellac really works best for french's. The color selection isn't that great either. An issue with colors, not so with french. With regular polish things tend to fail due to peeling on the edges for me. With Shellac I had chips each time after 3/4 days. It was however nice and glossy far longer than my seche vite gives. Due to color selection I don't see myself getting these done very often.

Anyone know if you can use this on toes??? While I've got my finger polish down, my toes are a mess.

 

[Autumnovember]

My results have only been mediocre... I paint my nails a lot and have gone through several combinations of brands, polishes, techniques to find a system that gives me decent results. I don't think most people do this. For example, if I put a normal OPI base, two coats of polish, and their top coat I can get *maybe* three days. Essie doesn't love my chemistry either. The sequence I've been using for a while now that will give me about a week of wear is this... lightly buff nail, wipe down with pure acetone, one coat of "Starting Over After Artificials", one coat of "Instant Artificials"(both by Salon Sciences), two coats of whatever polish (typically China Glaze, Orly, or OPI), and finish things off with Seche Vite top coat.

I have gotten the shellac twice--once at two different salons. I don't do french manicures... typically deep reds or pinks...and I think the Shellac really works best for french's. The color selection isn't that great either. An issue with colors, not so with french. With regular polish things tend to fail due to peeling on the edges for me. With Shellac I had chips each time after 3/4 days. It was however nice and glossy far longer than my seche vite gives. Due to color selection I don't see myself getting these done very often.

Anyone know if you can use this on toes??? While I've got my finger polish down, my toes are a mess.

You can get it on your toes....the salon I went to charges more for the toes though.

 

[Upgradable]

I've done it on toes and it lasts FOREVER!! Taking it off is comical however.

 

[ericad]

I'm completely hooked on Shellac. I've been doing it at home myself, for about 3 months now, and it's great. I get 2 good weeks of wear and only have to change because of the new growth. I haven't had any problems with it at all. I've found through experience that the most important step is to wipe down your nails with acetone before applying the basecoat. I skipped this step accidentally once and my Shellac started peeling right away. The other really important thing is making sure you are very thorough with the base and top coats - if you miss a spot that nail will be vulnerable to chips.

Otherwise I've found Shellac to be practically bulletpoof! I've done heavy gardening with no scratches or chips at all, and removal is easy, you just have to be patient and soak it all off then lightly buff to get the last traces of base coat off (my mom was convinced that the shellac ruined her nailbeds, but turned out she hadn't removed all of the basecoat, so it gave the illusion of ridges and rough surface.) I personally love their remover wraps - a little extra cost but keeps the process easy and tidy.

How do you get these things to work well??? It is a comedy of errors trying to get them on my fingers! I need a third hand!! I've defaulted to using an acetone soaked cotton ball on my nail, and then I wrap the end of the finger in tin foil. I look ridiculous, but it seems to work best for me.

LOL, lots of practice. I usually just wrap and secure the sticky end, and by the time I get it nice and tight, the acetone pad bit has spun around so I then just turn it back. I can never get a very tight fit, but it's good enough to do the job. And I can only do one hand at a time, so I do the wraps on one hand, wait 10 minutes and scrape off the Shellac, then do the other hand. It's really designed for a tech to be applying the wraps to a customer's hand.

After I run out of the wraps I'll start doing the cotton ball/tinfoil technique because it's cheaper, easier and essentially the same thing!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Just had my nails Shellac'd again! I went to a professional nail tech today so they look great!

I had just cut them pretty short so I decided to do Fedora. I love them. I'm going to leave this on for two weeks and then have her do a french manicure once they get a little longer.

 

[ChloeTheGreat]

I had mine done a week ago, and not a single chip yet. I work at a restaurant, so I'm pretty tough on my hands. I got a few comments from customers recently that my nails look "pretty." I am really liking the results of this product.

 

[Amethyste]

HAHAHA TRAVEL GODDESS!!!!!
WE AR NAIL COLOR SISTERS IN CRIME!!!!! I HAVE HAD FEDORA ON MY NAILS FOR THE LAST 1 1/2 WEEK! STILL LOOKS GLOSSY AND STRONG!!!! AMAZING STUFF!!!