I finally tried a gel manicure! Well, it was Shellac, but I think they are all basically the same thing. However, Shellac is 3-free! No formaldehyde, toluene or DBP. It was sort of a last minute decision before my trip. I figured it would be a great time to torture a "tough" manicure and see what it could hold up to.
While gel-type manicures are a little more expensive than regular ones, (mine was $32 as opposed to $19 for regular-style) they are a lot more durable, and can last two to three weeks depending on the brand and how tough you are on your nails. I’m lucky to get one week out of a traditional manicure, and most of the time it’s more like 4 or 5 days.
In theory, if you were going to attend two weddings a week apart in June, you could just get one gel manicure and save yourself $6 and a second trip to the salon, plus have a whole extra week of nice nails! (Since this is my reality, it is also my plan.) The other thing that’s great is instead of trying to get a manicure last minute before your event, so you have less time in which you could potentially ruin it, you can get your nails done a few days ahead and not have to stress.
I was highly impressed with the durability. It was great to leave the salon and not have to worry about wrecking my nails, since they have “cured” under a UV light and are completely dry when the manicurist finishes. I didn’t have to be concerned about chipping them while packing, or cleaning up the house, or digging around in my bag, or anything! (I am really good at destroying my manicure, but not as good as my Mom or my sisters.) It was really great! My nails felt strong and they looked perfect for days. But then: The Caribbean Sea.
I really love swimming and snorkeling. We chose our vacation spot because it was rated as having some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean. And it was, indeed, fantastic. It would have been better without the plankton bloom, which made the water a little murky sometimes, but it was still really great. We swam with sea turtles every day! We saw lots of cool stuff and spent lots of time in the water.
After a few days, the Shellac started to develop a tiny peely bit on my right index finger, near the cuticle. I tried really hard not to mess with it, but it got caught on things and got a little bigger, and then it was all over. I had to pick. I was able to peel the polish from the entire nail pretty easily. My nail wasn’t shiny underneath at first, but there was no visible damage. I had 9 fancy red nails, and one naked nail. But it was fine.
As the days went on and the weather improved, we started snorkeling more and more each day. The Shellac started to feel a little soft, but I tried not to mess with it. Eventually though, another nail would start to peel, and I’d have to “take care of it” and I’d end up with another naked nail. Toward the end of the week, I had only three polished nails left, and I just “had to” peel off the remaining Shellac.
You are not supposed to peel off the Shellac. You are supposed to go back to the salon and have them remove it with acetone. The acetone process is the one thing I’m not thrilled about with the gel-type manicures. Granted, I haven’t tried it yet, but I don’t like the idea of soaking my fingertips in chemicals for ten minutes. I was kind of psyched that I was able to peel them off myself and skip that step. The Shellac website shows special wraps that minimize how much acetone touches your skin. I doubt they use those at the salon, but I thought they’d be great to keep at home to save myself the trip and the money. When I did a little research though, it turns out Everyone Hates Them. They don’t come pre-soaked with acetone, so they’re not all that convenient, and you could basically make your own at home with cotton and tinfoil and save yourself even more money.
The Shellac process, even with my “illegal” peeling removal, didn’t damage my nails at all. In fact, it protected them so well, they’ve grown out really nicely. I would definitely do it again. I’m not sure if I’ll go all-in, like Aline in our Gelishious post, and start doing my own, but I would definitely get a Shellac manicure again for a special occasion or vacation. I would even do it for a beach vacation, as long as I wasn’t planning on swimming as much as I did in St. Lucia. (I definitely don’t give the Atlantic as much love as I give the Caribbean.)
I love that there are more and more long-lasting beauty options available. I am fantasizing about preparing for a special trip by having waxing, a keratin hair treatment, eyelash extensions and a gel manicure. It would be two weeks of nonstop glamor! Definitely expensive, but you would seriously look so great all the time and not have to do any maintenance. Now THAT is a vacation!
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