shellac.

teri and i met over a shellac session at nailed!

neither of us really knew... but were so curious to know... what this shellac business was all about.

and actually - when i was in boise with andi, we went in for a pedicure at one of those cheap-o asian places.  we tried asking the guy what shellac even was.

... we couldn't understand a thing he said.

so we tried with yes/no questions.

"does it comes off easily?" yes.

"is it the same at gel toes?" yes.

 "does it use the uv light?" yes.

"but it comes off easily?" yes.

confused.

so when i found out teri was coming to slc, i thought we could get to the bottom of this shellac mystery.

here's the scoop on shellac:

it require the uv light but it's not like the acrylics or gel toes.

it's polish.

it's a thin coat.

and it comes off a lot easier than that awful gel stuff.

{they say to soak a cotton ball in acetone remover, and leave it on your nail bed for a minute or so.}

my nails were shaped, filed, and cuticles cleaned up.

then i got a coat of clear base coat.

10 seconds under the uv light.

a coat of red polish.

2 minutes under the uv light.

a second coat of red polish.

2 more minutes under the uv light.

a clear top coat.

10 more seconds under the uv light.

a little once over with alcohol to shine up the top and they were dry in an instant.

and then a hand massage when the nails are done.

the perks:

you're not wandering like a fragile zombie after your manicure.

you can pull your credit card out of your with confidence.

it's really really shiny and, well, polished.

the lame:

there are only so many colors to choose from... the polish is shellac-exclusive.

they say it won't chip... which looks like it's the case from all the examples i saw. but after 2-3 weeks, you'd need some kind of "fill" like acrylics, but that's not an option.  it's an all or nothing manicure.

for the girl who keeps her nails short, short, short - i don't think i can wait three weeks to clip, file, and trim my nails.  i might have to remove the shellac before three weeks is up.

i'm religious about removing my nail polish once it starts to chip... and paint my nails once a week. so it's not so advantageous for me to have this extra-long-lasting business.

but.  when you're looking for girl's day out, none of that really matters....