My CND Shellac Kit

For those of you that have read my Half-term Happenings - a new look for nails post in my other blog Brush up and Make-up! you will note that I was not impressed with the efforts (or lack of!) of the nail technician that did my Shellac manicure in Strawberry Smoothie. Following this frustration, a small idea started to form in my mind.

How hard could it be to do Shellac on myself?....

 So, in October, after much research and investigation, I purchased all the essentials for me to get started with. And as it turns out, although time consuming, it wasn't too difficult to apply to myself, not much more so than a regular manicure. Yipee! I was sold and am now a dab hand if I do say so myself!

I decided to D.I.Y because I regularly get a gel polish manicure - once every 2-3 weeks which equates to around £50 per month and the expense was seriously starting to build. I also further decided to go with
CND Shellac as this is a very well known brand and a really positively reviewed product. I particularly love the fact that the removal of the Shellac is so easy and doesn't damage my nails (a big selling point for me). I will do a step-by-step removal post soon, so you can see exactly how easy it is.

Now, if you're considering setting yourself up to 'Shellac', can I first warn you, IT IS NOT CHEAP! There is a reason why the salons charge £25-30 for a Shellac manicure. The lamp, new, costs over £200! And each colour alone is easily double or triple the price of a mid-range regular polish - they are around £18 from the retailer that I buy from. It is worth noting, that if you do decide to set yourself up, you must stay within the brand as much as possible, for example I could have got a regular unbranded UV lamp from eBay but CND claims that it's products will only work to their full potential with a CND branded lamp. So please, stop and think if you really need the expense of doing it yourself.

I started off with three natural(ish) colours:
Iced Coral - A shimmery peachy pink with a green opalescent.
Strawberry Smoothie - A pale baby pink with a silvery shimmer.
Rosebud - A pink creme block colour.

But I quickly decided that these weren't enough, so bought six more:
Studio White - A semi-sheer soft white for french manicure.
Zillionaire - A clear polish with multi-toned glitter.
Purple Purple - An iridescent violet purple.
Hotski to Tchotchke - An iridescent teal green.
Asphalt - A concrete grey block colour.
Blackpool - A pure black opaque.

Now I can experiment with layering colours too!

Keep posted for the photos of my first Shellac manicures!