Shellac, just buy it and do an home

[JamInMyWellies]

Have had shellac done and the OPI gel nails. OPI lasted 2 wks but was a bugger to get off and knackered my nails . Shellac came off much easier but only lasted a few days.

I have just received some birthday money and am thinking maybe I should just buy the UV lamp and varnish on amazon and do it myself.

Has anyone done it, would you recommend it?

I do it, not with Shellac, but with Gelac, which is the same thing really. Buy everything I need from eBay. Quite an expensive outlay, but cheaper in the long run than a salon visit every couple of weeks. It's quite straight forward, and practice makes perfect.

You have to make sure that you follow all the steps, otherwise the result isn't perfect. Like nail prep, and cleaning off of the gel residue at the end with the special cleanser.

The UV lamp was about £25, and works perfectly well. Then you need a bottle of nail prep stuff, base coat, top coat, and gel cleanser. Plus actual colours.

Gelac is more cost efficient than Shellac, as the bottles are twice the size. It soaks off pretty easily with no damage to the nail, too.

Definitely!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had mine done for ages but my manicurist moved away and I refuse to pay £40, so I bought the lamp from Amazon and the products I went for are Artistic Colour Gloss, for the simple reason that they do really nice colours.
The initial outlay is hefty as you have to buy a ph prep, base and top coat, as well as a cleanser, and each colour tends to be at least £20. My tip would be to buy 1 colour first and make it a pale one that you can practice on, unless you're amazing at doing your own???
I just got 3 more colours and did a deep red yesterday for the first time, its ok but not perfect, especially my right hand as I'm right handed!
I also invested in proper files and equipment to do cuticle work as there is nothing worse than varnish sticking to cuticles...
Whichever brand you opt for will try and flog you their UV lamp, but dont be sucked in, all you need is a 38 watt uv lamp, no more than £20, I've been doing mine for months and is always great!
Good luck!

I've been considering this for a couple of months, but my main concern is what happens about the gel polish that gets on the skin around the nail, or cuticle by accident?
How easy is it to get off the skin? Unsightly stain? :o

it just peels off!!!!!!!!!!!
:)

Excellent, thanks for that. Cant find artistic colour gloss on amazon can you link to it please.

Also dont think when I have had them done that I have ever had a pre base coat ph thingy what is this?

you can only buy it from beauty express and minimum order is £60!
to start with you'll have to spend at least £100, so if you want something cheaper then go for Gellac or Shellac as they are more readily available.
Before applying base coat, any manicurist, no matter what brand, should apply a ph base, which is basically liquid, they paint it on, it evaporates very quickly, then clear base, 2/3 coats colour plus top coat, each one cured 2 mins. After top coat is cured you need to wipe with surface cleanser.

so for first order ,you're looking at;
-surface cleanser

• product remover (to soak them off)
• ph prep
• base coat
• colour
• top coat
• uv lamp

I just use any old acetone nail polish remover to soak off the gelac. Takes a good 5 to 10 minutes, but works no problem.

Thanks MissFoodie

Have any of you tried this website really good prices beverly beauty

I havent personally because they dont sell ACG