DIY Shellac Nails

DIY Gel Shellac Nails

So my first DIY project for women is - Gel Shellac Nails. Although i am a qualified nail technician, this should be simple enough for any girl to follow. if you can paint your own nails then you'll be able to do this. I will be showing you both; a luxury version and a budget version. This will be followed by a step by step guide for how to do it yourself and a review of what products I would personally use. I will also link any relevant websites below. 

This what you will need;

Luxury 

.UV Nail lamp                         £160         CND

.Gel Base Coat                      £12.99  CND

.Gel Nail Colour                      £12.99 CND

.Gel Top Coat                        £12.99       CND

.Nail File                               £3             Boots

.Nail Varnish Remover            £3             Boots

.Acetone                              £6.85 Ebay

.Gel Wipe off                        £8.99 Ebay

.Cotton Wool                        £3             Boots

Total                               £223.81 (approx)

Budget

.UV Nail Lamp                       £10.99 Ebay

.Gel nail base coat £5 Bluesky Shellac

.Gel nail colour                      £5              Bluesky Shellac

.Gel nail top coat                   £5              Bluesky Shellac

.Nail File                             £0.99          Home Bargains 

.Nail varnish remover            £0.50          Home Bargains 

.Acetone                             £0.99          Home Bargains 

.Gel Wipe off   £5.99          Ebay

.Cotton Wool or use old felt   £0.50          Home Bargains 

Total                                £34.96 (approx)

Instructions

Above, I have listed luxury and budget versions. I personally have a mix of both - As long as you have all of the required items, it will work. 

Preparation is key - Start by filing your nails into the desired shape, then clean your nails with nail varnish remover.

Base coat first (1 coat). Colour coat (2 coats). Top coat (1 coat). 

Using a 36 watt Uv lamp. Each time you apply a coat of varnish. You need to place one hand in the UV lamp. 

Once all varnish coats have been applied and set in the UV lamp you need to remove any stickiness from your nails. Get your wipes/felt, dab with UV gel wipe and remove the stickiness of the gel. 

Finished. Normally lasts around 14 days. No chips. Easy as that.



Instructions to remove Shellac nail polish

You need to use pure acetone. Budget version is just as good as the luxury version.  You can either pour the acetone in a bowl and soak your nails for about 10 minutes. Or when Shellac polish peels easily off. The other way, is to soak cotton wool with acetone. Put one piece of cotton wool on each nail, then wrap each nail individually with tin foil. Wait till polish removes easily.

Review

I personally don't think you need to have all the luxury items. The main items you can go budget on are; Nail file, Acetone, Nail varnish remover, using felt instead of wipes and gel wipe off. The budget UV lamp is really good for the money. However, CND lamps are amazing and I would love one. It would be so much quicker to do your nails. On a budget lamp, you always need to double your time under the lamps for each coat. With the varnish itself, CND products are also easily the best - they last really well. The Bluesky Shellac are not far behind though, and are worth the money. 

Have fun! Let me know how you get on. 

Websites

cnd.com

ebay.com

boots.co.uk

homebargains.co.uk