What You Need to Know About Shellac

By Charo H Gato

I first heard of the Shellac manicure at my neighborhood salon.  The nail tech explained that it lasts for about 10 days without chipping; I was immediately intrigued.  This sounded great since a regular manicure usually lasts maybe a couple of days without a chip. What a novel idea, for about twice the price you can have a long lasting manicure chip free, totally worth it?  Maybe, but I thought I’d do some research first because in order to remove the Shellac polish one has to return to the nail salon, making the whole thing seem a bit high maintenance

After some research, I was surprised to find that there wasn’t much information on the Shellac procedure. I found a few articles on how it was applied with the usage of a UV lamp in between coats and that its ingredients originate from what gel tips are made out of. This raised a red flag for me because I’ve known a few people who used gels and they have damaged their nails, even causing fungus.

From what I read I wondered what effect it would have on the nail, yet I’d gone for a mani /pedi with a couple of girlfriends and one of them cautioned “it’s simply horrible, don’t get it done”.  I’m not sure why she said this since she didn’t go into details but I figured that her nails had been damaged somehow.

After continuing to get manicures, which simply seemed like a waste of time and money when it a few days my nails were chipped,  I decided to go for the Shellac. I was going away Thanksgiving weekend for some family fun at the Orlando parks: Universal, Islands of Adventure, Magic Kingdom and Epcot. How were my nails supposed to survive that?!

I went for a Shellac manicure at my usual salon where I initially found out about it. After picking from a pallet which consisted of individual colors applied to artificial nails, it looked like a huge key chain.  I picked a beautiful gray purple, very now color. They sat me down with the Shellac expert and she proceeded to apply the color.

The manicure is pretty much the same until the time comes for the hand massage. You don’t get this until the end of the manicure since they assure you that your nails will be completely dry when you’re done. This is one of the perks of the Shellac manicure, no drying time!  Personally, I hate going under the fans and lamps for 15 or 20 minutes after traditional manicures.  The color and top coat are made by Shellac hence the name but there are other brands like Gelish.

So here’s how it works, they apply the color and after each coat you place your hands under the UV lamp.  The UV light dries each coat individually until the clear top coat is applied and again hands go under the lamp.  When all is done, the color shines bright and ever so glossy.  I was truly impressed! Then finally the best part of the manicure, the hand massage, and dry nails total bonus!

I went off on my vacation and not a chip the whole time. When I came back I kept the polish on for another 5 days or so. The manicure lasted about 2 weeks and I’m rough with my hands.  At the time of removal when I went back to the salon, they wrapped my fingers in foil with a cotton swab dipped in nail polish remover while I got my pedicure. Then once they unwrapped the foil the polish had shriveled up and they scraped it off with a cuticle pusher.  This seems to be the best removal process since it gets the polish off the nail and ready to be scraped off. Be cautious when this is done to make sure they don’t incessantly scrape and damage the nail bed. Also some salons may just want you to dip your nails in nail polish remover but wrapping them in foil is more effective.

After my first Shellac I got a regular manicure since to see what condition the polish had left my nail in . I found out a week later after I removed my regular nail polish that my nails were fine and healthy.  The Shellac was a success!

A few weeks later I went back to another salon where I had purchased a Groupon for a main/pedi. I got the Shellac there for the second time but this time it was not such a great experience; it seemed as if they really didn’t know what they were doing.( I wont mention what salon but it was in Delray Beach) What is most important is that the application of the polish has to be impeccably precise, this manicurist was quite sloppy with the polish going over the sides and not wiping it or wiping it then damaging the polish on the nail. If the polish is applied too thick and you don’t keep your hands under the lamp long enough to dry the coat, then when the second coat is applied the prior coat wont dry for a while, possibly a day or two. This happened with one of my nails which should have completely dried when the manicure was finished. Due the poor application and lack of drying, the manicure chipped in less than 5 days.

The Shellac manicure is practical, time efficient and sleek. I don’t know why anyone would get a traditional manicure again. The secret is to make sure the nail tech is trained in the Shallac application ; this makes the difference between a long lasting, shiny, luxurious manicure and an awful mess that is hard to remove on your own.