Say Hello to Shellac!

May was a very interesting month for me as a nail technician because of one product - Shellac by CND!! Shellac is the first hybrid nail varnish that uses UV³ (patent - pending) technology which combines the positive characteristics of nail varnish and gel.

According to CND then, Shellac:

• Is applied as a nail varnish.
• Cures with a UV lamp - so the drying time is actually zero!
• The removal is done with pure aceton (time: 10 mins) - it doesn't need to be filed.
• The product is thin as a nail varnish and so the result looks really natural.
• It lasts for 14 days!!!

All these sounded so nice for me, a nail technician that prefers naturals nails, can't stand the smell of the acrylic and detests all the filing that is needed in order to apply and remove the gel. Shellac promises easy application and removal, minimum manicure time (since it doesn't need to dry) and a perfect natural finish that lasts 14 days!!!

As you can understand I bought my first Shellac varnishes the very first day they were released in Greece!

From the left: Cream Puff, Romantique, Strawberry Smoothie, Wildfire, Tropix, Tutti Frutti and Rose Bud.

The colours I bought were the following:
Cream Puff, Romantique, Strawberry Smoothie, Wildfire, Tropix, Tutti Frutti and Rose Bud.

And of course I had to try them out first on me! I chose the colour Tropix, which is a very nice coral colour with pink undertones.

Tropix by Shellac

There are some points I'd like to mention regarding the application of Shellac.

• First of all, CND states that Shellac was created so as to cure only with the special UV lamp by CND or with the Brisa lamp. However, I don't have any of these two lamps. I am using a simple UV lamp that has 4 9-watt lamps and until now I haven't noticed any problems. Having said that though, I have to state here that I can't guarantee that Shellac will cure with all the UV lamps that are sold in the market.
• While applying the Shellac, the layers have to be very thin, otherwise you might experience some 'wrinkling' of the Shellac during the curing and you will then need to remove it and start again!
• I've also noticed that the Shellac varnish 'shrinks' in a way while curing. That's why it should be applied as close to the cuticles as possible without touching them. Otherwise it will create a gap between the cuticle and the varnish and the result won't be as good.
• After the application of the top coat, you should use an alcohol based liquid (99% IPA - Isopropyl Alcohol) to remove the sticky layer. If you don't use the appropriate product, Shellac could become 'foggy' and lose it's shine.
• You can use the CND Shellac Nourishing Remover to remove the colour 20% faster than pure acetone.

I've used all the Shellac colours I bought to various clients of mine and I have to say that the colours are amazing! Added to this, the application for the french manicure is so easy!! You can 'clean up' the french line with a thin brush and pure alcohol. Simplicity and perfection!!!

The following picture shows my naisl 13 days after applying the Shellac:

Shellac Day 13

I had 1-2 nails that had chipped (and that happened after the 10th day of the application) and as it can be expected, my nails have grown and there is a big gap between the cuticles and the varnish. Generally though, my nails don't look that bad if you take under consideration that I had them done 13 days ago!!!
I am very happy with this product and I can't wait for more colours to come out! According to CND, the new colours will be launched in November 2010.

Have you tried the Shellac? What do you think?

For more information regarding Shellac, you can visit the sites:
http://www.cnd.com/Products/Color/shellac-hello.aspx
http://www.cnd.com/Products/PDF/Shellac_QA.pdf

To find a Shellac salon near you, use the Shellac salon locator.

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