Nail biter

I used to nibble on my nails growing up.  Gross.  In high school, my mom would take me to get acrylic nails to keep me from biting my nails so my hands would look somewhat decent.  It was difficult to keep up with, and not mention fairly damaging to my real nails.  I eventually grew out of biting my nails, but never kept them painted because a) it was too much work for me, b) they always looked kind of sloppy, and c) the paint never lasted.

I had heard about Shellac 14-day manicures and finally decided to try it out this past fall.  I am now addicted.  I am in the salon every 2-3 weeks getting my nails done because these manicures are A-MAZ-ING.  Things I love about the Shellac manicure, in no particular order:

1. Great colors- my salon has maybe 20-30 different color options.  You can also layer and top the colors with glitters or shimmers, so you can create your own polish or style!

2. Fastest dry time- seriously, the moment my manicurist is done painting my nails, I can reach right into my purse and grab my wallet.  No nicks, smudges, or ruined manicures.  Mommies and every other woman on Earth can appreciate the luxury of not having to sit and not touch anything for 30+ minutes for fear of ruining their manicure.

3. It lasts- I have gone 3 weeks with one of my Shellac manicures before.  It was a fair light grey shade, so the nail growth wasn't as obvious, but they didn't even chip!  Like I said... amazing.

4. They are YOUR nails- No filing your nails down to the base layer and then adding acrylic nonsense to your nails.  No machines or drills are used to prep your nails; just emery boards, nail files, and a buffer.  To remove, you soak off the polish and then buff your nails ( I leave this to my manicurist, though she's told me I can do this at home if I need to).  They aren't weak or ruined if you decide not to do another manicure.

Here is a (not great quality) photo of my most recent manicure (Thursday):

I did a layering option, where we took a darker color and put a layer of chunky glitter polish in between the two coats of the darker color.  The dark color is called "Bella's Vampire", which is a purpley-plum color.  The glitter coat is called "Wateredge", which has chunky large glitter pieces with a ton of teeny-tiny silver glitter.  I think the combination is much more appropriately named as "Bella's Vampire", since Edward glimmers in the sun, like this nail combo does (I'm such a Twilight geek!).

If you haven't had a chance to try a Shellac manicure (some salons also use Gelish, which is the same thing, just different vendor), you really should give it a shot!

*Note: I am not being paid by Shellac, Gelish, or any nail salon or spa for this blog post.*