DIY shellac/gellish nails

[Shesparkles]

I'm looking to be buying some shellac nail stuff for a gift. Has anyone done this DIY? I've no idea which brands are good or bad, and there's such a variation in price. I don't want to buy the el cheapo stuff and it be rubbish, but equally I don't want to get the top of the range stuff if there's something else which is equally good. Does anyone have any experience?

Don't buy anything called "bluesky" on ebay, it's fake stuff.

I bought the Sensationail kit from Boots, so have used the Sensationail gel polish, also got some Gelish from EBay which worked fine, and have just ordered some IBD just gel which will hopefully work with my lamp too. What sort of stuff are you after? Just colours, or top coat / base coat etc?

I now do my own shellac, and got CCO from ebay which works great

That's great-one to look out for and I know what to avoid .
Thanks girls :)

Florida, I really have no idea what's involved! I suppose a base coat and a colour,to start her off? Or do you really need the top coat too?

You will need some sort of nail dehydrator, bonder, base coat, top coat, colour, and most importantly a lamp of some sort or none of the rest of it will work. The lamps can be £30 ish on eBay for a UV lamp - the Sensationail started kit that you get in Boots actually works out quite cost effective as you get a bit of everything AND it includes the LED (quicker) lamp - was £70 in total. I guess that might be a bit more than you were thinking of though?

Thanks for all that info Florida, and yes, a bit more than I was thinking! I'll have. Look at that kit in Boots though, and my sister can be VERY grateful