Shellac removal: What has it done to my nails?

So this is what my nails look like after removing my shellac. I have had nails this long before but I would always have at least one broken nail. So shellac has allowed me to grow my nails much better than I've been able to previously. However, the removal process was not one that I or my nails liked.

I'm sure most people have seen or heard of using tin foil to remove nail polish. Nail polish remover evaporates and wrapping the nail in tin foil with cotton wool soaked in remover pressed against the nail helps to prevent that. This is essentially the only way to remove shellac as the usual method of just rubbing it off with a bit of remover just doesn't even touch shellac. 

You're also supposed to use pure acetone to remove shellac but they didn't have any when I looked so I bought a false nail remover which had very high acetone concentration. Acetone is very drying and somewhat damaging to the nails so we're not off to a brilliant start already.

But as I learned, not even the tin foil method was enough to remove shellac. I had to then use a cuticle stick to gently peel of the polish. Soaking the nails had made the polish crumbly but did not remove it. Also when I say gently remove, when I used the cuticle stick gently it left a thin translucent layer of polish on the nails. Not wanting to really scrape at my nails, I ended up soaking them again. Then the rest of it came of with medium effort (I tried not to be rough but it simply didn't come off without a bit of not exactly gentle effort).

Despite all my attempts to try to damage my nails as little as possible, my nails are most definitely damaged. I can see through the whites of my nails and I could feel lots of ridges and roughness on the surface of my nails. I've now buffed and shined them which hasn't exactly done anything for the thickness of the nails but they now don't feel like a nail file to the touch.

I don't regret having the shellac and I've done a full post all about my experience of shellac. As I said at the start, the length I've achieved because of the shellac protecting the nails has been awesome. But I'll definitely have to weigh up the damage that removal causes before I get them done again.

Lots of love,

Nancy x

Shellac/Gel manicure: my experience

So I haven't done any NOTDs for a little while because I have had two Shellac manicures. Shellac is just a brand name for gel nail polish so don't be disgruntled if your salon only offers gel and not Shellac as it's the same thing. I get mine done at a local salon that uses Shellac polish.

The process of application is essentially the same as a regular polish manicure except that you cure the nails after each coat under UV light with the final coat being cured twice. The beautician also did file the surface of my nail which I'm not too sure of but I'll talk more about that later.

My first manicure I had a bright pink. It was the perfect pink that just didn't seem to clash with anything. But it chipped after just a few days. It wasn't a terrible chip but a week in and all of my nails were beginning to lift at the sides. Shellac is supposed to last 2 weeks so I was not particularly impressed. However, the length and strength that I had achieved in that week was pretty awesome so I booked to have a second manicure to give it a second go and ask the beautician what I could do to protect the manicure.

She told me that it may have been to do with my trip to Thorpe Park that weekend as she said that Shellac isn't indestructible but then as she was removing the previous manicure she said that she'd never seen it come off the nail so easily. She was able to lift the entire nail's polish off in one where she said she's often left scraping the nails for ages. I use a lot of creams on my face and body and on my hands as I have extremely dry skin that causes my cuticles to peel and split and makes my skin sometimes very sore. The beautician told me that that was probably the cause as when she was applying the new polish it was pulling away from the edges.

I did notice that she took a lot more care in applying the second manicure probably because she knew I was giving it a second chance after being unhappy. This is the manicure in the picture. I've had this for 4 days now and as yet no chipping or lifting which is better than the first time and my nails are probably as long as they've ever been. I have reached this length once before but by that time they had so many splits that they actually looked awful. With the Shellac my nails are protected from breakage so they are much stronger in their length.

Just a couple of things I don't like now. When I went for my first manicure I told the beautician that I had trouble with the strength of my nails and then she filed the surface of my nail. This might be needed for Shellac, I don't know, but it definitely went against one of the rules of nail care. Also if the problem was using oils and creams, why then at the end of the manicure did she rub in some cuticle oil? She even did it the second time after deciding that that was the problem.

But as I said this one seems to be lasting a lot better. I think that just might have something to do with the more careful application as I haven't stopped using any of my skin care. Overall, I'm happy with Shellac due to the length and strength I've achieved but I was not happy with the fact that it only lasted a couple of days the first time around before it chipped when it is supposed to last two weeks and many people find that they can get it to last 3-4 weeks.

Lots of love,

Nancy x