What Is Better for At-home Manicure? The Differences between Shellac and Gel Nail Polish.

What would you buy if you’re planning getting yourselves a manicure at home? You probably have seen shellac and gel nail polish on the market, but what are the differences and which one you should get? This time we’ve round up all the information you need so you can make a choice.

Shellac- more of a salon choice

(Photo by Jenna Skutnik)

To start with, I quote, from Jan Arnold, co-founder and style director of Creative Nail Design (CND), brand of which Shellac this kind of nail polish is made and named.
"For best results when getting a shellac manicure, clients need to ensure their nail pro is trained and certified by CND, as they will truly understand the proper protocol to apply, and most importantly, remove shellac to preserve the integrity of the nail underneath."

My impression from this is that Shellac would be more suitable for salon use since it does require more skills and experiences.

Still, you might be interested - What is shellac and how it is different from gel nails?
Essentially shellac is more like a hybrid of polish and gel, it uses semi-permanent polish whereas gel nails use a semi-permanent gel to color your nails. There are also nearly triple the amount of color options for gel nails as there are for shellac nails, both have plenty of shades to choose from for either. Also, shellac nails last around 14 days while gel nails could last over 21 days.

Shellac also needs to be cured with a LED lamp instead of air-dry. Just remember that don’t ever peel off a shellac manicure since it would severely damage the top layers of your nails. It’s less hard than gel and soaks off with acetone. Take the time to gently soak them off for strong natural nails in between salon visits or just go to a professional for proper removal is also a good solution. The process is about five to 15 minutes.

Gel nail polish - good for everyone

This is the most popular at-home manicure choice. To get a quick impression, it is normally stocked in opaque bottles, needs to be cured with UV or LED lamp so the curing time is almost negligible, can last over 21 days with proper application and care, and available in numerous colors.

We don’t say gel manicure is the best, but it can be very cost-effective taking all factors into concern, so we do recommend it if you have a bunch of upcoming events.

Talking about the damages to nails, there is one thing we need to clarify is that your nails don’t need to breathe. It is not like your cuticles and skins which are living tissues and do need cautious care and hydration. You nails are perfectly fine receiving proper manicure and most importantly, proper removal as well.

Don’t ever pick the gel yourself, to remove, the brief process are as follows:
(For more details:
How to Remove Acrylic Nails At Home with Acetone
How To Soak Off Your Gel Manicure? Detailed Prep Nails Process)
First carefully file the top layer of your manicure, then soak the nails in acetone for about 10 minutes and then scrape with a cuticle pusher. Finally gently buff your nails and moisturize hands with cuticle oil and hand cream.

For the UV light curing process, some may worry about the damage to the skin. You can choose the LED nail lamp for an alternative. And you can wear a special UV protection fingerless gloves to avoid more skin exposure or apply sunscreen 20 minutes prior to the curing.

Now if you are looking for a set of nail polishes, why not try the new collection of gel nail polish from Melodysusie.
First, from the health aspect, it is truly non-toxic. The ingredients of our product are 6-free: there are no formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde resin, and camphor.

For the color and shades, we now have in total around 100 colors and would soon launch another 100 shades to double the palette. Our gel nail polishes are so pigmented and one layer would just do the job. Combine with the LED nail lamp, you can get a perfect result effortlessly. Click and explore now!