I am aaaaaalways in a constant battle to stop biting my nails. I wear falsies regularly cause my own nails are just so ugly. However, my sister bought a Shellac kit a few years back and whenever she did my nails I used to manage to not bite them and so they grew a bit! But everytime I took the Shellac off, the addiction kicked in! Grr! So I bought my own kit. :)
In case you're not sure what Shellac is, it's a type of gel nail polish. This is the polish you get done usually at a salon, it is 'cured' under a UV lamp and so dries instantly. It lasts about three weeks and as far as I can tell in my experience, causes very little to no damage to your nail. Now CND Shellac were the first 'brand' to do this that I have heard of, but now there's lots. I bought my generic kit from a Groupon offer, it was about £75 including the lamp, a top coat, base coat, dehydrator, cuticle cream, remover, buffer, orange stick, lint-free pads and four colours. Not a bad price. You can also check out eBay.
Here's my kit:
It came with paper instructions and an instruction DVD, but I just used the paper info cause it's really straightforward.
You need a 36 watt lamp that has settings to allow for 2 minutes and 3 minutes (mine has 90 seconds and 120 seconds which works).
It's super easy. You push back your cuticles, buff your nails and then use the dehydtating solution on them. Then it's base coat (cure for two minutes), two coats of colour (cure for three minutes each coat) and top coat (cure for two minutes). Then wipe with dehydrating solution again to get rid of any excess gel and done!! I manage to stick both my hands in at the same time haha so it only takes me about fifteen mins to do a three week manicure. Awesome!
The shades the kit came with are actually nice (I thought they'd send me random stuff no one wanted haha) -
Left to right: a deep purple, a pinky-gold, a bright red and a baby pink.
I have the bright red on my toes (yup, toes can be done too!) and the pink on my fingers. Because my nails are still soooo short and fugly, here's my mum's:
That's the baby pink. So far it's been a week and there's no chipping/peeling etc so looks good! Got my eye on some fun colours on eBay so hopefully get some long-lasting nail art done too. :)
What do you think of these kits? Worth the price tag? Would you splash out on one?
Let me know!
~ Lauren ♥
That groupon deal is such a bargain! I use the Orly Gel Fx range which are great as the base coat and primer are nutrient infused so make your nails so much healthier underneath and you can use them with any other gel colours from any range. (sound like i'm selling them don't I?!) I've done a review on them if you want to check it out.
ReplyDeleteClaire x
www.prettywithapunch.blogspot.co.uk
Oh that sounds good, but expensive haha?! I shall check out your review! :)
Delete~ Lauren <3
They look lovely, I've been really keen to buy my own kit but I wasn't sure if it would be worth it or not, I suppose when you think how much you spend to get them done in a salon £75 for the kit seems like a lush deal! xxx
ReplyDeleteWell I figure it can be anything between £20-40 to get it done in a salon, I can use mine unlimited times haha! Also, you can share with friends, my mum and I halved in for it. :)
Delete~ Lauren <3
I would definitly invest, I love painted nails but sometimes doing them everyday/other day can be time consuming! May ask father christmas to get me a kit hehe!
ReplyDeleteEm
x
Em's Mixed Bag
Exactly, and you don't NEED to wear them for the full three weeks, even a wear with absolutely no chips is good! I'm loving it. :)
Delete~ Lauren <3
This looks like a great kit! x
ReplyDeleteGreat value, in the long run it's well worth it. :)
Delete~ Lauren <3
Your blog post seems to be the only review I can find on Gellure so thanks so much for this its really helpful!
ReplyDeleteNow its been longer than a week, please could you let me know how long the gel lasted on for in total before chipping? And would you reccomend it as a salon alternative?
I've had my nails done using shellac at the salon before but not tried Gellure so would be good to know if they are similiar quality. I'm looking to take the plunge and buy but obviously its quite a lot of money so your opinion would massive help - thanks! xx
Personally, I love shellac , it is basically lasts 2-3 week. Recent I have got PolyLock™ Hybrid Gel Polish which instead of shellac. I feel , it is much better for nails.
ReplyDeleteCindy xx
Hi, is this the Gellure kit from Body Reform? It's on offer on Living Social and I'm unsure whether to get it or save for CND?x
ReplyDeleteI saw this kit too on living social seems a great bargain but is the stuff really good?
ReplyDelete