She-like Shellac

I’ve always been totally pessimistic when cosmetics companies declare their new nail varnish to be chip proof, because I’ve never managed to get past day 3 without a nail blemish.

I will admit that I’m a tad heavy handed and clomp away on my keyboard in-between chewing my nails off, but still, 3 days? Come on. It gets so boring having to reapply all the time.

But, I swear, by the beard of Zeus that I have found an actual miracle worker, not just a pretend one, but the ACTUAL empress of chip proof nail varnishes, and she goes by the name of SHELLAC Hybrid Nail Color by Creative Nail Design (CND).

How it works:

You get to choose from 12 pretty shades (I went for Hot Chilis) and a CND nail technician applies a Shellac UV Base Coat, two coats of Shellac UV Color coat and finishes off with a UV Top Coat. You then pop your hands under a CND UV Lamp for a minute or so and you are left with rock hard, completely dry nails, with the whole process taking about 20 minutes.

My lovely technician, Helen, told me that my nails were peeling at the top so that’s why I was chipping so easily. She prescribed some CND Solar Oil and told me that my peely nails may affect the length that the Shellac stays on. (Here we go I thought) But no, she was wrong, Shellac clung on strong for two whole weeks without a chip! Amazing.

The only pain in the butt is that to remove the nail varnish, you have to go through a ten minute removal with Shellac Remover Wraps, which apparently limits the finger and skin to acetone - this baby doesn’t come off with just any ol’ nail varnish remover you know. Never mind, this was a small price to pay for 14 days of perfect nailness.

Shellac is available at CND salons globally. Click here for stockists and here for the science.