Anyone do their own shellac polish at home?

[LifeInAHamsterWheel]

I've seen ads for home shellac nail kits and am considering getting one. Does anyone have a kit that they'd recommend? Do you get as good results as a salon? I'd be doing it to save money so don't want it to end up a false economy.

I do! I bought the CND shellac lamp in a starter kit, which was about £160 at the time and had everything I needed to get going. I wanted the 'proper' stuff in case the cheaper stuff is even worse for your nails, or ended up being a false economy. There are definitely cheaper kits out there but this paid for itself within 4-5 months for me.

You might find kits on Facebook marketplace or eBay which would make it even more economical.

Oh and yes, it's really easy to do and results are just as good as a salon.

Mylee kits are great, you usually get everything you need and easy to buy more colours on amazon etc they even sell it
on asos now. I had this UV Lamp set the first time, same as LED but takes the full 2 minutes to cure each layer. mylee.co.uk/products/mylee-gel-nail-essentials-set-with-white-uv-lamp?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvLjP3q6w-QIVCOrtCh2xIAl7EAQYASABEgICiPD_BwE
this is a LED Lamp, just as good and quicker cure time.
mylee.co.uk/products/mygel-black-convex-curing-lamp-kit-w-gel-nail-polish-essentials-1?_pos=4&_sid=fec23e2f6&_ss=r

you can always by everything individually too, groupon always have great deals

Bluesky also do great gel polishes too, don’t think you can only use mylee with the lamp etc, you can use any brand of colour and top coats you like

The kits themselves are absolutely fine as far as quality is concerned, if you don’t buy the cheapest of the cheap, I suppose. But for me personally it hasn’t necessarily been worth it as I’m not happy with the standard of my nails when I do them myself - I don’t have the patience to properly learn how to do a manicure/look after my cuticles/shape my nails perfectly/etc. Tbf my left hand always looks beautiful but my right hand, not so much. If I practised more often I’m sure I’d improve my skills, mind. However as it stands I’m thinking of getting them done at the salon once a month just for the maintenance/nail and cuticle care/shaping, and then do one session per month myself to keep costs down.

I do my own at home I bought the Mylee kit off Amazon for around £40-£50 and use blue sky gel polish also from Amazon. It is so easy to do and last me weeks and weeks.

I've been doing my own gel nails for years. It's easy to do but there are loads of tutorials on YouTube to get you started.

Oh I'm so glad to hear positive stories! I'm actually ok at doing my nails myself but they smudge within minutes and look awful within days. I love the shellac finish. Am hoping with the lamp etc. they'll look great if I do them myself. Good to know that I can buy different polish too. Thank you all

Oh if you’re very good at doing your nails I’d say it’s definitely worth getting your own lamp.

Oddly, I'm currently looking at buying my own kit too. But I'm tying myself in knots trying to decide which one to get - there are so many available! I was going to get one of the cheapish (50ish quid) ones on Amazon that have loads of different colours and accessories but I'm worried the lamp won't be any good - does anyone have any experience of these ones? The alternative is to get a better lamp and buy the polishes separately I suppose.

This looks like a good deal on groupon . . .

Mine is from Mylee. I bought a bundle with everything you need including a set of four seasonal colours as it was on sale and worked out much cheaper than buying all the components separately. I don’t think a huge number of varnishes is sensible as it’s unlikely you’ll like or use them all, but that depends on the individual.

I don't recommend Sensationail, I find it chips after a day. I got the UV lamp from Amazon for about £40.00 and buy all the varnishes etc new off eBay.

I agree with pp, don't buy too many colours, they eventually go gloopy like normal polish and you end up having to throw them out.

I'm looking into buying a set too. I like the look of the mylee ones but can't find any information about the chemicals in the polish. Beetles say they're 9 free, bluesky are 9 or 12 free I think and Shellac is I think 7 free. I can't find anything about Mylee products. I'm leaning towards the bluesky at the moment.

Yes I really only need about 3 colours I'm not very adventurous when it comes to my nails! Ideally I'd like to be able to do a french polish but I'll have to master the art first!