Doing My Own Shellac Manicure And Saving Money ⋆ A Rose Tinted World (2024)

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I love feeling as though my appearance is well groomed and complete. Nothing says that to me as much as having well manicured and neat polished nails. But it can cost a fortune! So here’s how I’m saving money by doing my own shellac manicure.

Saving Money By Doing My Own Shellac Manicure

Around my neck of the woods, a shellac or gel manicure can cost £15-20.I love the fact that shellac lasts a couple of weeks, and doesn’t chip like normal polish. It’s also the best thing ever that shellac is dry straight away. I don’t have the time to wait for nail polish to dry, I inevitably smudge it! But if you do go to the salon every 2 weeks to have your nails repainted, this is a cost of £400 – £500 a year!

Whilst it is lovely to be pampered every once in a while, I think I would rather save myself some money. So for the last 8 years I have been doing my own shellac manicure.

(Please note: if you have any nail issues I would always recommend seeing a specialist. But for normal healthy nails there is no reason why you shouldn’t do it yourself)

What You Will Need

• A UV nail lamp
• CND Shellac polish in the colours of your choice plus top and base coats
• D-sperse inhibition layer remover liquid
• some tissues or cotton pads

I buy CND shellac (the original brand) from reputable dealers or Amazon. There are fakes out there so be aware. Today I am doing a french polish.

Prepare the Nails

Make sure your nails are clean and free of polish – I actually like to use acetone to remove any old gel shellac or old polish. Then soak the nails and push/remove the cuticles. Finally shape the nail tip and buff the surface of the nail gently to give the new polish a clean surface to adhere to

As you can see., my nails aren’t the nicest looking when they are bare.

Painting the Nails

I paint a thin layer of CND Shellac base coat on each nail and place my hand in the lamp for about 20-30 seconds

Then I paint the tips with a thin line of Cream Puff CND Shellac – and place my hand in the nail lamp for 2 minutes.

I then paint over the whole nail with a layer of Negligee CND Shellac – this gives a pearly glaze and actually helps to blend out any real faults in the white line tip. Again I cure this in the nail lamp for 120 seconds.

Next, I paint a thin layer of top coat over the whole nails. And again cure the nails in the lamp for 120 seconds.

The top layer is still sticky. So finally I remove this sticky inhibition layer using D-sperse.

And The Nails Are Finished!

Yes, they may not be absolutely as perfect as a salon. But actually, the last French polish I had at a salon wasn’t perfect either, it was applied in about 10 minutes and I certainly didn’t feel that it was £20 worth of pampering.

Over 8 years doing my own shellac manicure has probably saved me thousands of pounds. And you can buy CND shellac in all the colours. I love being able to match my nails to my outfits, even at the last minute.

Why not have a go?

However, see here my views on teeth whitening, and why doing this at home is a definite NO

Like a spa treatment? Why not see my Hotel Chocolat Beauty range review?Or read about my visit to My Little Farm Spa.

And pin me for later…

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