At the amazing salon Glamr I had a CND Shellac manicure (my 2nd) but my 1st at this salon. I am pretty diabolical when it comes to nails, I tend to keep them short & neat and normally either nude, black or some muted colour. I am one of those annoying people that would like a manicure to last yet washes their hands many times a day and essentially works with their hands so realistically if a manicure isn't on it's way out by day 3 it is doing pretty well. I have had a Shellac manicure before and it lasted about a week before it started to lift & peel.
I chose the shade *Wildfire* which is a beautiful fire engine red. It was so shiny (I feel like the little girl from Despicable Me- but for her it was *fluffy*),I loved the effect of the gel as it was beautifully applied and just looked so meticulous! The manicure from Glamr lasted 3 weeks which is literally a miracle!
If you are fastidious with looking after your nails please avert your eyes........
I was very good and resisted the temptation of peeling it off and actually removed it myself with the correct steps. I know, I know! The Shellac manicure I peeled off my nails (probably took many layers of nail with it) like a nail onion yuk!
As the nails were just starting to chip/peel, I decided to remove them correctly. I was in Toronto and did not have time to find a salon that could remove them so I headed to the veritable cornucopia that is the drugstore: Shoppers Drug Mart which sells from the high end to the low brow and their own range called *Quo*.
I bought an acetone based remover developed by Orly, the plastic pockets that you pop onto the finger tips (with sponge, the remover soaks into the sponge and it means that you can keep the remove on the nail for the required 10 minutes). After 10 minutes the shellac peeled away easily so I used some of the balance me oil to put some moisture back into the nail and cuticle.
I chose the shade *Wildfire* which is a beautiful fire engine red. It was so shiny (I feel like the little girl from Despicable Me- but for her it was *fluffy*),I loved the effect of the gel as it was beautifully applied and just looked so meticulous! The manicure from Glamr lasted 3 weeks which is literally a miracle!
If you are fastidious with looking after your nails please avert your eyes........
I was very good and resisted the temptation of peeling it off and actually removed it myself with the correct steps. I know, I know! The Shellac manicure I peeled off my nails (probably took many layers of nail with it) like a nail onion yuk!
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| Shade chosen: Wildfire on day of manicure. |
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| 3 weeks later. Nails had grown but no chipping. |
I bought an acetone based remover developed by Orly, the plastic pockets that you pop onto the finger tips (with sponge, the remover soaks into the sponge and it means that you can keep the remove on the nail for the required 10 minutes). After 10 minutes the shellac peeled away easily so I used some of the balance me oil to put some moisture back into the nail and cuticle.
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| The acetone remover, the pockets with sponge you pop your fingers into, I used a pronged nail implement to take off the sheet of shellac and then rubbed a Balance me oil into the nail and cuticles afterwards. The remover, pockets and implement came to about $8 Canadian Dollars- but the trick is an acetone remover and allowing the acetone to remain in contact with the nails for around 10 mins.
Note: In an ideal scenario it would be definitely advisable to go to a salon to remove the shellac but it is great to know that in an emergency there are alternative ways to removing opposed to peeling off (don't do it).
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