I live in Miami and I recently got a shellac manicure, I personally love the results that I got. I had a french manicure done. It is day 4 and I have experienced no chipping what so ever. I did not have the problem that you had with the nail polish being too far away from the cuticle. Mine were done right up to the cuticle just like normal nail polish. The whole procedure took about 45 minutes and I got a french manicure, so I consider that pretty good time. It cost me $25 plus tip. Not only would I do it again, I’m hooked! In your case, I don’t think the procedure is the problem, I think its your nail guy.

I have had nothing but bad results with this product. I had it done at my salon. The first time the manicurist left too much gap between cuticle and color and it looked like 2 weeks of growth from day one. Then I returned to have it removed and redone on day 14. I gave her instruction to apply closer to the cuticle, I chose a deep ruby red color over the neutral I first tried. The end result was streaky with blotches, air bubbles. The sides of the nails were either not covered or were shrinking from the sides. I had color on my skin which was not removed. I returned the next day and showed her the mess. She offered to re-do them that afternoon. I went with a more neutral shade again thinking maybe the darker color was the problem. The result was that she put it on too thick. The result was globby and looked like it had melted on my nails. So back again today. The owner did my nails. She buffed them which I did not want done since my nails are thin. She did it anyway. She re-applied the original red color. The result was better but far from a professional looking manicure. The color is uneven. My guess is a problem with application. I do my own manicures at home. I do a very good job. This application of cnd shellac looks like an amateur attempt. I am so disgusted that I will not try this product again. If it must be done by professionals, they should be required to learn proper technique from cnd before offering the cnd shellac manicure to clients. My nails were exposed to acetone 3 times within 2 days. That can not be good for anyone’s nails and certainly not good for someone with thin peeling nails that have also been buffed. It isn’t just the money or the time wasted but the health and satisfaction of the client that should be considered. I really wanted this to work! It was the owner of the salon that talked me into trying it in the first place. I am so turned off by this experience!~

I am so sorry to hear of your bad experience. This was an issue of an inexperienced tech doing as service she was not properly trained to do. I’ve been offering this service since the product came out in May ’10 and I’ve had nothing but great results. Most clients get a full two weeks with no chips and some get up to four weeks of wear. This product truly is amazing if the right person is applying it. To find a qualified person in your area go to the CND website and look at the Shellac directory.

I’m a week into my first Shellac manicure. While it looked awesome at first, it’s starting to look a bit ratty. This is partially due to the fact that my nails grow very quickly, so in addition to seeing a bit of nail between the polish and the cuticle, the edge of the polish is starting to chip a bit. The tips are beginning to show some wear too.

I had chosen a pale pink in order to compensate for the issue of exposed nail between cuticle and color, and I’m glad I did–my nails would look pretty bad right now had I gone with a darker color.

I’d say this product is probably really great for people who 1.) don’t spend a lot of time on a keyboard 2.) don’t wash many dishes by hand 3.) have nails that grow pretty slow.

If the service were less expensive I wouldn’t mind so much, but at $50 where I live it seems a bit much.

I think I’ll stick with my old school 15 dollar regular manicures that last 5 days.

I am a nail tech and I prefer natural holistic manicures. Many of my manicure clients are nurses and tried the shellac when I was on a long vacation. They loved that it lasted 2 full weeks without chipping so I invested in the products and incorporated some of my holistic tecniques. My issue with this product ( I haven’t tried alternative gel products yet) is that many of my clients nails are drying out, peeling and splitting. The gel is not a protein and is not going to strengthen the nails! It is just a coating to keep nail polish on longer. After 2 weeks the nails look like they need a manicure badly especially for clients that grow alot of cuticle. I’m trying to encourage them all to alternate betwen shellac and natural manicures or save shellac for special occasions and vacations. I’m experimenting with one client who went back to natural manicures, in 3 weeks her nails have recovered and next week we will try Shellac again.

Well, I was thinking about doing the CND. But after reading about the results of this so called wonderful product, Iam not sure. I was doing the LCN, but now only have one customer using it.I still put it on my own too. And its true, depending on your personal life style will indicate the wear of any product any work that is being done on your nails. I am a manicurist in Garwood NJ and been doing nails since 1980. I love my work and do quality manicures. Just knowing the life style of my customers always reflex on the wear of there manicure. Example: Lady susan, does not work, wash dishes,clean house, knit or do any type of crafting, will have a manicure last a whole week. And most likely shellac would also do fine with them. Okey! Lady diane, works cleans house,does dishes, crafts and other projects having to use her hand constantly, will “NOT” have a long lasting manicure. And thats a fact. I also feel that most manicurist fail to explain that most products will not last if hands are constantly busy. LOL…
Companys will keep and continue to always invent a new product to sell. Think about it, women love manicures and they will do anything for it to last, right? So they will try it at least once. Thats al it takes for salons to make big profits. Soon before you know it, there will be the next best thing, and then the next and next… an so on…. Oh!! Keep in mind, all product do weaken your natural nail. There is no such product that will improve your nail, unless the product is maintained. kept on. Because once you remove it, nails are and will have big time damage. And no matter what type of repairing polish is out in the market, You most likely will have to wait for your nail to grow a full nail beds worth of nail. If all of you want to have a nice,long lasting manicure and healthy as possible, Use non formeldehyde polish and top coat ever other day. And be carefull if using lots of water use gloves. washing dishes,waxing furniture, gardening and don’t rush so much. Slow down. Pretend your nails are still wet. This is how you will have a longer wearing manicure. If you would like to know more about your nail care, give me call at 908-232-4862. Wish all of you ladys a happy manicure :)

Hi, this question is for Desiree — I live in Miami too and I am looking for a good salon to do the Shellac, where did you go to have it done?

I just tried for the very first time last week on a cruise ship (Norwegian Epic – AWESOME!!) and I *love* it…I am very active and type a lot too and my nails are perfect…I won’t do it all the time but when I get my nails done I will definitely have them done with Shellac.

Thank you!

Maggie

Just wanted to weigh in. i had my first shellac manicure a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved it! it was a full 12 days before i got a single chip. The manicure started to grow out before it started chipping. worked really well with a french manicure so the growing out wasn’t as obvious. I’m going back today for another one!

I have actually tried shellac and it will last if it’s done correctly. I work for a well known salon spa and the Aveda Institute of Portland and we have been trying out different shellac brands. This service can take anywhere from 45min. to 1hr depending on who you see… This nail service is perfect for special events, vacations and weddings but it’s not ideal if your like me and get your nails done every week. In order to ensure chipping of the nails do not occure your nail technician needs to make sure all oils are off the nail bed. 3 coats are applied to the nails, after each coat your nails mut dry under the uv light for 2 min. (this sets the gel like substance). Once your last dry time is finished your nails are dry, there are no worries of messing up the nails when you leave. Expect grow out with shellac, our nails grow! :)

Please keep in mind… In order to have your shellac removed from the nail you must have the following done.., Soak in acetone for about 5 min. and file off.

Please note that while there are lots of “gel nails,” there is only one Shellac (with a capital S). It is a brand name for one specific type of soak off gel – actually Shellac calls theirs a gel-polish hybrid. There are other soak off gels each with its own pros and cons – Gelish, Geleration, Gelac, Axxium are among them. Unfortunately, there are a lot of poorly trained people doing these gel manicures with bad results – peeling, chipping, and nail damage. Do your homework and be careful who you let do your gel nails.

You should not be soaking in acetone to remove your Shellac – CND makes special wraps that get the acetone just on your nails. And if you don’t have the wraps there is the cotton and foil technique. But you should not be soaking your fingers up to your knuckle in acetone and you absolutely should not be peeling or filing Shellac off. In addition, you should not allow them to buff your natural nail; Shellac very specifically does not call for it and a Shellac manicure shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes by a well trained nail tech.

This is a great product alternative for person wearing the acryllic/gel nails. I have been get a Gel Polish for 6 weeks and love it. I have used acrylics for many years and was getting tired of having them done every two weeks. This process takes less time than having acrylics and is less than acrylics. Also, have a very active outdoor life by living on a farm and working with horses, no problems. The salon that does my nails said they will not crack or come off. So far no problems.

I had a Shellac manicure applied the day before I left for vacation. I had a French manicure done using the Shellac products. My nails looked amazing afterwards. During my vacation I was at the beach, in and out of the pool, and I even climbed a large rock wall where I dug my hands and nails into the stubs on the wall. I was amazed when I jumped off the rock wall and my nails looked just like they did right after my manicure. I am also a firefighter. When I got home from my vacation I proceeded to put my nails through multiple drills with the fire department. I performed search and rescue, used a chain saw to cut a hole through a roof, and did bail-outs among other activities. In addition to all of this, I am a chiropractor and I did multiple adjustments with my manicure. Although my nails grew out, this manicure lasted for an ENTIRE MONTH and looked just like new each day! I painted the grown-out part of my nail with a matching color so that you could not see the growth. I will definitely get this type of manicure again. It survived salt and sand at the beach, concrete at the pool, a rock wall, and various firefighting drills. My nails were pretty long at the time of painting and they did not break at all during the whole month. I highly recommend this product!!!

I forgot to add this as well. Someone above mentioned something about not spending a lot of time on a keyboard. My boyfriend is in Afghanistan and I spend multiple hours every single night typing to him on Skype. Even through all of that abuse my manicure held up absolutely perfectly!

I am surpised that they manicurist that did your shellac manicure applied it so far away from the cuticle…hmmm? that is interesting..it looks as though u had, had it on for over a week on day one!!! did u get the mani again, or not? I luv the way ur nails looked with the shellac on, but I wouldn’t be able to stand that much nail showing from cuticle to shellac on the first day….

I agree. The shellac manicure is crap. I had it done last week. Within one day, I had a nail chip. Second day, another nail chip. Five days out, three nails have COMPLETELY peeled off — no polish left at all and others are chipping and peeling. This manicure was sold to me at the salon as lasting between 4-6 weeks. It’s been one week and looks two weeks old. Ridiculous. A total waste of time and money!

Had my nails done with the Shellac, like them at first but back after 14 days, they look bad. So me and my daughter decide to get the machine the stuff and do our own. Look a lot better but didn’t stay on very long and our real nails are so soft, can’t get them to grow, bend back. Not pleased with the product wished I’d never done the Shellac Nails!