Shellac or File & Polish?

tradhead · 01-04-2015 12:15am #1

Hi everyone,

I'm heading off to South Africa for three weeks on holiday, and would love to get my nails done as a treat before I go.

I've never had them done in a salon before, so I'm not sure if I should get Shellac with French tips or a regular file and paint with just one colour. Shellac sounds great apart from
1) I don't know if I can take it off myself when it starts to grow out and
2) I've heard it can leave your nails in bits.

My housemate gets a file and polish every two weeks in a local place and she says it hardly chips at all, but I don't know if it would last as well on me.

Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations? :-)

jellybear · 01-04-2015 12:18am

I've had shellac done twice and it lasted about 3 weeks without chipping although it does start to grow out quite quickly. I've never had a french manicure done as the salon I go to recommend a full colour, apparently it lasts longer as the tips on the French manicure can chip quickly. Hope that helps. Enjoy your holiday

gossipgirl10 · 01-04-2015 2:01am

if you are going for 3 weeks and would like them to stay looking ok I'd go with the Shellac. Any time I've ever had a regular french manicure i've messed up at least one nail by the time I've gotten home from the salon and they definitely will chip and look bad within a week or so. I've only had shellac done twice most recently a couple of weeks ago. I too avoided it because I heard it was bad for your nails etc. I was really impressed this time around and it lasted for 3 weeks before I was just dying to take it off because of the growth and also with lighter colours they can start to get little cracks and get a bit grubby looking towards the end I found. I'm sure if you went with a slightly darker colour that wouldn't be an issue.

To take them off I just did nail wraps at home with little bits of cotton pad soaked in nail polish remover that has acetone in it and wrapped my fingers in tin foil for 10 minutes. My nails were really long and I was sure they would all be breaking when I was taking it off but it came off very easily and no damage to my nails at all. (the previous time I got them done I had them removed in the salon where I had them done. They got me to sit with my fingers in a bowl of acetone for 10 minutes and then scraped off the shellac with a metal scraper - not good. My nails were wrecked after that)

Sunny Dayz · 01-04-2015 5:58am

If you can get Gelish instead of Shellac. I find that it's better wearing, doesn't chip (my shellac did on hols).

ams · 01-04-2015 9:47am

You can also paint over the shellac/gelish if you find its grown out quite a bit and that will get you another week out of it! Just make sure to use a non acetone nail polish remover if you are removing it.

I find bringing a similar colour on holidays can be good to cover chips as well if you do get one - my nails always start chipping after two weekd :rolleyes:

dellas1979 · 01-04-2015 8:23pm

As poster above said, you can take off Shellac by (yourself) by soaking in acetone nail varnish remover (shellac is a "soft" gel).

I think you are thinking of a (hard) gel, the one you have to get filed off (the one I get).

If either are not applied properly (or the gel is old etc), they will chip.

You could go for the Shellac and then if they start to chip/grow out, you could just soak them off yourself.

BTW, if you get shellac on your toe nails, lasts much much longer!

Shellac or File & Polish?

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