Post-shellac nail recovery. Any advice?

[CallMeDollFace]

Had shellac nails from June-August and now letting them rest until mid November probably.

They are in the flakey stage so I'm just keeping them short and waiting it out.

Does anybody have any tips/ products that might help things along? Cuticle cream? Nail oil?

I'm a bit lazy with nails really but I'm feeling a bit sorry for them today.

I'm very sceptical that you had real shellac. There's nothing acidic or alkaline to break the nail plate down & cause flakiness & it's no buff on the application so there's no physical trauma either.

I think their buying in grey market shellac or buffing the nail because fake stuffs actually a gel so it needs gentle light buffing.

That or they've used a tool to scrape it off at removal which you should never do to a nail.

This stuff is great. My nails are buggered after Jessica gel polish but that because I always pick it iff.

I'm dubious, fluffy... I had shellac 3 times in a row and ended up with knackered nails. Almost grown out now.

Thanks Orange that looks the sort of thing.

Fluffy I'm not sure tbh. I went to two different salons. One used an electric buffer & their polish only lasted a couple of weeks. The rest of the time I used another place. Polish lasted 3+ weeks and they removed the old stuff by wrapping in acetone, cotton & foil.

I'm Shellac certified...any buffing with shellac is contraindicated because you need a strong healthy nail to support it.

Electric files are only for shaping acrylic extensions, they're not designed for natural nails.

Basically shellacs a polish made with uv sensitive solvents so it cures under a lamp much like bodywork on a car.

A gel polish is a watered down gel extension, super hard wearing but you need to rough up the nail for it stick. But it will adhere to thin nails that shellac won't last on because weak nails are too flexible, with hand washing the absorption & evaporation pulls the weak nail off the shellac and you get chipping.

It's a massive piss take that you can buy fake shellac, apply it in a salon & give the product a bad name. It's a £25 service & I drive past salons advertising shellac for £10.

Sites supplying them are selling it less than I can buy it trade from the authorised suppliers in colours that got discontinued years ago like Moonlight & Roses.

I thought shellac ruined my nails for a year. Don't know if that is even possible.

Well I didn't pay £10 Fluffy
Doesn't sound like they knew as much about it as you though. Thank you for the information.

Given that they are a bit sad now, what would you recommend?

I used to just have the long lasting gel manis for holidays and Christmas but I've had non-stop OPI gel polish manis for over a year now and my nails are the strongest they have ever been. It's expensive but I just love how groomed nice nails make me look. I keep them short, use cuticle oil at least twice a day and also take a daily nail and hair supplement. The salon I go to doesn't buff and uses the foil method to soak off.

If they buffed them or scraped them it's mechanical damage & that needs to grow out, it takes 3-4 months. The solar oil above is marvellous but always buy in a reputable salon.

Nails have oil channels & water channels, basically to let them evaporate from under the nail. If you oil 2 X a day it fills up the oil channel which makes the nail more resistant to damage. It won't repair mechanical trauma though.

IBX is a treatment where a blended oil is applied & cured under uv light, once it's on its permenant & invisible. This will repair mechanical damage. Their fb page has before & after images, I've done training on it with the inventors (one of whom invented solar oil too) & they say all images are as received off techs & not touched up etc.

Salons usually add £7-10 extra for IBX added on to a nail service.

Ironically a tech I was on the IBX course with told the company owner she'd bought IBX off eBay & it had been fake. Quelle surprise

Liiinoo You're doing all the right things & using a quality product

My nails were wrecked by Shellac at Christmas, they're only just growing strong again now. The salon removed it with an electric sander which I now know is a bad thing to do. I recommend using cuticle oil a couple of times a day; at night rub Vaseline into them, the next night rub coconut oil and alternate like that. I put hand cream on after this and wear white cotton gloves (like a mime!) Because I think the warmth helps the moisture get in.

Good luck!

My salon does a detox manicure with lots of buffing . My nails were fantastic after.

Great, that's so useful to know thank you. I love opi polish, I will look out for their gel manicure next time.