I hate nail polish. No, that is a lie. I love nail polish. All the different colours to choose from. It’s even better when you go to the nail place and someone else does it for you (I was never very good at colouring between the lines, nail polish included). BUT with out a doubt, I would always bump, knock, bang or just generally mess up my brand new manicure. I’m not a patient person, and sitting doing nothing for half an hour waving my fingers around waiting for my nails to dry if often the major deterrent to me even painting my nails in the first place.
Me getting a mani does NOT look like this (but cute isn't she!)
THEN, once my nails are all dry and nice and shiny, I have to actually do something with my hands. Like wash up, or scratch my nose, or you know, like, use them – and bye bye perfectly manicured fingers – worse atm because I am going through a dark-colour phase so chips are noticeable straight away.
Does that sound familiar? Then I have one word for you SHELLAC. Thanks to my lovely cyber-friend Nikki Parkinson of Styling You (well she is a real-life friend too) an a.ma.zing blogger on all things fashion and beauty, Shellac nails have been on my radar for a little while, but I hadn’t really thought twice about it. Then a twitter-buddy (I love social media!) Little Jo ALSO made mention of this wonderful new nail technology in her blog (and the fact that her blog post was called ‘The secret diary of a stingy girl’ I know this is a girl after my own, full-time student, heart!) and the place where she got here’s done was not only reeeeeeally affordable (read cheap) but also just down the road from me!
That sounds awesome Cait, but what on earth IS shellac? Good question, thanks for asking! As far as I understand (and this is how you can tell this is not a sponsored post!) it’s a gel that is applied over your normal nails. The first coat is a clear coat, the a few coats of colour are applied (this is special stuff too, not just normal colour) and then finally another clear coat. Between each coat, the gel is ‘set’ under UV light – this, apparently, is the trick. The lady where I got my nails done (thanks Eagle Nails in Toowong! Sorry @_littlejo_ for giving our secret away!) said that without the special UV light, it would not work and would chip like normal nail polish.
So here is the ad for Shellac, and what is supposed to be like:
And here is what mine look like in real life:
My shellac nails - a summery coral/pink colour (that is me wishing it was summer!)
So what do you think? This is only day 2 (12 to go before they are supposed to chip). The ONLY concern that I have, is that I get bored easily so can I handle the same colour nails for two weeks!! Even when I went to get them done I was wearing red, and I realised straight away that these nails are not going to go with red – since when do you have to match your outfit to your nail colour? Isn’t it normally the other way around? Minor detail though, overall, I am (to quote my dear friend Beck) loving myself sick with these nails – stay tuned and I will let you know how they look on day 14 too!
Have you ever discovered a beauty product that changed your life? (Between this and fake tan, I am in summertime-heaven all year round!) Tell us all about it so we can change our lives too!!
I’ve been getting my toes done that way for a bit over a year now & absolutely love it! Have to admit, it takes some serious self-restraint not to pick at them though! I go to a lovely girl in Ipswich that works from home & does a fantastic job, plus she has the added option of adding some spectacular glitter which really looks superb in summer. Worth it! x
totally understand – My fingers are starting to peel at the bases – don’t think I will last the whole two weeks with that, it keeps getting caught in my hair when I run my hand through it! Otherwise, it has totally changed my life!!
Can I ask who you go to? I live in Ipswich and am DESPERATE to find a decent Shellac lady 🙂
Hi Tegan,
I’m not sure as I’m over in NZ now, but I’ll ask around! Have a few friends in Ipswich…… leave it with me
Your life has changed! I’ve got that colour on right now and I’m at day 12. I’ve got one little chip where I accidentally shaved it with the parmesan cheese grater (my fault!). They keep introducing more colours so watch out. And also watch out for another nail brand introducing a similar treatment … it’s already out in the US.
All thanks to you 🙂 very excited about this ‘other’ nail brand …..I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for that one!
Is it clear? Or it comes in different colours? And where is it sold?…..it’s still early in my household so forgive me if I missed that info in there! Xx
Hey Alex, it comes in colours – they apply clear gel first, then the colour you choose (I only had about 10 to choose from) then clear again. The colour is a special consistency too, it’s not normal colour. SOOOOOO worth it if you can handle the same colour for 2 weeks x
Hear, hear, shellac is a god send! I’ve managed to go 6+ weeks with it on my toes before…I just wish they would make some more colours already. I can recommend the girls at Polished, New Farm. They use Shellac and do a great job.
Am so excited about toes!!! Was going to wait until summer though – waaaay too cold to be pulling out my little tootsies at the mo. Will have to give the girls at Polished a go to! x