Shellac nails claim to provide long lasting, chip resistant, high shine quality nails for at least two weeks. Due to the alternative application to standard nail polish, there is quite a substantial difference when it comes to removal. My horrible experience with shellac removal in the past has proved there is a different way to remove shellac from normal nail polish, so I thought i'd share the correct way to do it at home.
For those who aren't familiar with shellac, the application is the same as applying standard nail polish, however nails are left to set under a UV light for around 10 seconds to set the polish plus a gentle rub with alcohol at the end and I was done! There is no drying time too after application, which was very strange as I'm used to blowing nails dry and being extra careful with what I'm doing with my hands. I paid £35 for the application and a hand massage. My salon offered free removal, however I would recommend checking your one first as some salons do charge extra for removal.
The photo above is what my manicure looked like once it was complete; CND's shellac polish in the shade Wildfire was used.
I was definitely pleased with the results and how long the polish really did last. The above photo is my nails after two weeks. As you can see, instead of cracking and chipping, the shellac grows with your nails. I wasn't too keen on the reverse-manicure look so decided to take it off.
Basically, for home removal, you need to soak the nails in 100% pure acetone (found at sally's). Before that, I filed off the top layer of polish to allow the acetone to soak deep into all the nail polish layers.
For those of you who are fans of peeling off nail polish... it simply cannot be done with shellac. From experience and the nasty condition of your nails as a result of improper removal.. it's much better to learn to remove them properly or visit your salon.
More information on the process of shellac manicures can be found HERE.