I got Shellacked!!!!

I got Shellacked!!!

This was my first ever nail salon visit and I enjoyed it.

I went to The Finishing Touch in Wellington. They were the first salon in the world to have shellac - they actually bought the demo kit off CND so that they had it before anyone else - they had it at the wedding show I went to a while ago. New Zealand was the first place CND released Shellac. Shellac kits have been so popular that they have sold out around the world and demand can not be met. Apparently Oprah's Nail technician cant even get hold of it for Oprah.

Kathy was the lovely lady doing my nails.
She cleaned, shaped and lightly buffed my nails. I was embarrassed by how short they are, but as we discussed I have thin nails (and they always will be) and it just makes my obsession a difficult one.

Next I got to pick which shellac colour I wanted. At the moment there are 12 colours to pick from, with more colours to come in the future (I'm hoping for some blues, purples and greens)

I knew that I wanted a bright pink colour and there were a couple to pick from. I was thoughrly suprised to find that one of these was actually a shimmer colour! I ended up choosing Hot Chilis which was a bright pinky/red colour with shimmer in it.

A UV base coat is applied and then set under UV light for 10 seconds. Then the first coat of colour followed by 2 minutes under the UV light, another colour coat, 2 more minutes under UV light and a final top coat followed by another 2 minutes under UV light.

Outside in shade
The shimmer is not visible here but I can tell you it is definitely there.
And this is more pink in real life.

I love it! This product is amazing. It is thicker than regualer nail polish and my nails feel much stronger with it on. I'm hoping I can gain back some of my length over the next two weeks while I am wearing the Shellac. I haven't even had it on for a day yet and its amazing. Normally (even with a top coat) I would have chips and nicks and be trying to be really careful but with Shellac I don't need to be.

The Finishing touch guarantee no chips for the first week - but are unable to do it for any longer than that because of how people treat there own nails. This cost $55 and took around 45 minutes for the whole process.

Shellac took over 5 years to create and perfect - removal time was the biggest issue, with it originally taking over an hour - they have now reduced this to 5-10 minutes with the use of acetone.

More information on shellac can be found on the CND wedsite.

If you are OK with having the same colour on your nails for 2 weeks I highly recommend trying Shellac. You will be pleased once you do.

Lots of Love
Lisa