She sells Sea Shell(ac)s on the sea shore - A CND Shellac review

My nails have been a bit of a labour of love - after years of biting they were in urgent need of TLC, so a couple of years ago I took my mitts to the lovely Lee-Anne at Glamour, who has since spent many a time rescuing my hands from nail disasters.



In those early days I started off with tips and acrylic, then progressed onto gel. However recently I have been Lee-Anne's guinea-pig in trying out Shellac from CND: a product that "goes on like polish, wears like a gel and removes in minutes." (All info can be found here)

As you can see (modelled holding my lovely dirty pink DS!) I am currently wearing a pale pink colour, which from looking at the Shellac website I think is the colour "pink lily."


I'll have had this on for one week this thursday, and I have to say I am quite impressed.

• Firstly and most vitally, it stops me biting my nails. I HAVE to have something on my nails or all my nail-growing efforts go to waste and they get gnawed off in seconds. Disgusting habit I know.


• No chips or fade - the colour is still lovely and shiny. However I am yet to test whether the shine will still be there once I put a polish over the top and then remove after a couple of days.


• Feels more natural/light than acrylic or gel. Whilst gel is more "natural" than acrylic in the sense it grows out a bit better with your own nail and is less prone to lifting from the cuticle, over time and after several nail sessions it can become really thick and fake looking...does that make sense?!


• Good range of colours (Lee-Anne only had the basics, but theres quite an extensive range on the website)


• Cheaper than gel/acrylics - I was £18.00 for a set, compared to around £30.00 for gel/acrylics. Obviously prices will vary depending on area/beautician etc.

Overall I think for the near future i'll be sticking with the Shellac. Its quick, convenient and my pocket takes less of a bashing! I'd definately recommend it as a long lasting alternative to polish, and can act as a good solid base for other polish over the top. What do you think?

Melanie x