Shellac

[Ronnie1234]

Anyone else find this makes nails really weak once taken off?

Yes. I absolutely loved shellac last year...thought it was the most amazing discovery. We went away for a month over the summer and I had shellac on fingers and toes and was so impressed with how beautifully well it lasted.

Then I got it taken off. My fingernails were paper thin - worse than after having acrylics. My toe nails looked traumatised and a few weeks later BOTH my big toe nails fell off. Literally. Wasnt painful but they just came off, as if they had completely rotted. Grim.

Saw a chiropodist who aaid Shellac is evil. Your nails cannot 'breathe' at all and become prone to fungal infections, peeling, flaking and tearing.

Never again!

Yes. I had it done for the first time about a month ago (I had a voucher as a Christmas present), and had it taken off last week. It has left my nails looking really pitted and they are peeling quite badly.

I was intending having my toes done once we get to sandal wearing weather, but I'm not sure now.

My nails seemed to be worse after a couple of applications of Shellac then they did after 9 years of continuous acrylic! They seemed really thin and flaky? Has taken me approx 6 months to get them back in shape with lots of tlc.

i had shellac to strengthen my nails and my nails are now lovely and long and strong after 2 applications and removals. i love having shellac to help my nails grow stronger. Maybe she is using a different product to shellac but it still does the trick. my friend had shellac and hers were brittle and weak but she said the lady had filed her nails to grip the shellac. Apparently this shouldnt be required but some therapists do it as a base.

Depends largely on the manicurist.

Avoid anyone who does excessive filing before application or to remove. It is this or incorrect removal (scraping/peeling off) that causes any issues, nothing to do with the gel polish.

Nails don't breathe either - they are dead keratin, just like hair!
Any decent manicurist will make sure the gel does not touch any skin/cuticle around the nail which can cause irritation.

I DIY it and have never had a problem
I always use a couple of drops of oil along with acetone when removing, plus some heat for speed and use cuticle oil after

I have been using Shellac every two weeks for the last year. My nails are very strong and healthy. I have had no problems whatsoever. I love all the colours that are available. I can wear bright red for two weeks without the colour fading or chipping.

My manicurist just files a bit off the length and uses cotton wool pads wrapped in foil, soaked in an oily acetone to remove the colour. The Shellac just drops off with a little help from an orange stick.

If a manicurist files any of the nail bed he/she is not using Shellac. That sounds that a gel to me.

Shellac is an excellent product. I have noticed a lot of places saying that they use it, but they are actually using an inferior product but charge top prices. Not all UV polishes are the same.

The salon I go to uses CND Shellac, I'm pretty sure that is the proper stuff?

It wasn't filed off, just soaked and then rubbed off with an orange stick. She used oil on them afterwards. But you can still see a week later where it was as the nail is a lot duller and rougher where it was underneath the Shellac. The ends of my nails are still peeling too.

I loved the way they looked, and I'm thinking of having them done again. But I wouldn't have them done all the time as I would think my nails would become very weak.