CND Shellac: Thumbs Up!

Today's post is a girly one, but since I have a few friends who are interested in this (and let's face it, most people who read this blog are my friends) I wanted to share this here with some pictures. So, I have this Croatian colleague who not only always has perfect hair and got me hooked on inexpensive blow-dries in her hometown, but who also always has gorgeous manicures. Shiny and chip-free. She has been getting shellac manicures (she swears by the CND brand, so this is what I wanted to try as well) in the salon right across the street from our Zagreb office. On my recent visit there, conveniently on the day before a formal ball I wanted to get all dolled up for, I asked her to book me an appointment. It was approximately EUR 18 including a tip and took pretty much exactly an hour. My nails have always been horribly brittle and weak, so I was dubious the end result would be as pretty on me as it was on my colleague I settled for a fire-engine red and this is what it looked like shortly after leaving the salon:

I was particularly impressed by the shininess of the varnish. It also does not look thick (=unnatural) and I actually got asked in a shop what brand my nailpolish was as the red looked so gorgeous. 

Here is a picture a week later. Not the best lighting, but you can see that it is still perfect and not chipped, with just a little growth visible. 

Two weeks later I had a tiny chip on one nail and was starting to find the growth a tad too noticeable for my liking. 2 weeks +1 day I noticed that the shellac had lifted off a little bit on one nail and since I was getting tired of it anyway I carefully lifted it off with a pair of tweezers. What can I say, it came off perfectly and so I did exactly that to the other 9 nails. Underneath, my nails were in a better condition as ever and I was really happy I did not have to a) go back to a salon to get rid of it and b) no aggressive pure acetone was needed. It was as if my own nails had been to a spa and they seemed to really have enjoyed that protective layer. 

My verdict: I can definitely recommend the treatment, but for me 2 weeks (theoretically it can last up to 3 weeks) is enough as I tend to get tired of a colour easily and also don't find a visible "rim" between nailbed and polish attractive, plus am not a fan of long nails.