My Experience with SHELLAC

Hey Everyone!

So about 2 weeks ago I went to my local salon to try out the new SHELLAC polishes. The hype about SHELLAC is basically that it claims to last for 2 weeks without chipping (unless you are doing things that are hard on your nails, gardening etc.) and it also causes no harm to your nails because the polish goes directly onto your own nail (you can have it put on fake nails if you want). The way this is achieved is by applying one coat of the special Shellac polish followed by putting your nails under a UV light for 2 minutes. Since I chose a french manicure the process went as followed: SHELLAC base coat, UV light, SHELLAC white polish, UV light, SHELLAC top coat, followed by UV light for 5 minutes to lock in the manicure. Once the process is over your nails are completely dry and you can pretty much do anything! For my manicure, this process was $30.00 (just colour was $25.00). My process was cheaper because i didn't get a full manicure, they just shaped my nails and painted them. There is also a fee to get the polish soaked off (they soak your nails in acetone for 5 minutes) which was $5.00.

My SHELLAC nails didn't last for the full two weeks, they started to chip after 1 week, first starting off with minor chips then after about a week and a half the polish came completely off of my one nail. Below I have some pictures of the polish and how it wore: 

Both photos (above and below) were taken on the day of the manicure

DAY 4- no chipping,  there wasn't much change till around day 9

DAY 9- polish came entirely off of middle finger

DAY 11- Not much change from before, still a tiny chip on pointer finger, no change on left hand

DAY 15- left hand, minimal chipping
After this, i just took off the polish as it was too chipped and didn't look good anymore. Although SHELLAC didn't live up to its claim of lasting unchipped for 2 weeks, it did last quite well and for the price i think its good. I love how it doesn't damage your nails and that I can finally get long lasting colour without having fake nails! This also saves a lot of nail polish, seeing as I paint my nails around 3 times a week. Overall i give SHELLAC a B+ and I  think you should all try this out, it's a great alternative to just getting normal polish at your local salon. 

Thanks for reading everyone!