Shellac Manicures - Does It Ruin Your Nails?

I'm with the others who say it looked fabulous, but will never do it again. It lasted almost three weeks with no chipping, not even any fading. Looked awesome. But soaking in acetone to have removed is awful. Made my nails weak afterward.

I wish there were a better process because I loved having this look for so long, but will never do it again. My dermatologist also told me that she is seeing lots of gals coming in with lots of freckling on their hands from the UV lights they use to set the polish. Yikes.

I tried it and it came off right around 1 week and yes, it made my natural nails look horrible. I am SORRY I did it. I will never do any type of gel, acrylic, etc again and neither will my daughter.

We followed the directions to the T and it did not last.

It took my natural nails about 6 months to completely heal from it. They were dry, brittle and split at the tips. They were horrible!
You soak in acetone (which dried my skin out!) and then they used a dremel type tool to scrape off the shellac.
My nails looked fabulous when the shellac was on. They didn't chip and lasted 2-3 weeks until the grow-out was obvious.

My manicurist uses gel polish on my nails. Yes, it really does last 2 weeks. In terms of "ruining" your nails, they soak the polish off. My nails never seem to be damaged when they take the gel off, but then I get it put right back on again, so what do I know. Nails are just like hair - even if you do something to damage them, they grow out and go right back to normal. The question is, would you rather re-do your nails every few days with regular polish, or get it done once and not think about it again for 2 weeks with gel?

I actually had a really good experience with it. It lasted 2-3 weeks and looked great the whole time. It was time consuming to get it off, but when it was taken off my nails were fine. A little thin, yes, but I put a coat of hardening clear on and they were fine, and continued to grow out nicely. I had to trim them down because they were too long for my taste. The second time I did it, I took it off myself after having watched them do it at the salon. I soaked my fingers in nail polish remover, and chipped away at it with a sharper nail tool and soaked some more. Again, it was time consuming but my nails were fine even after I took it off myself.

I will do it again, and plan to before our next vacation. I didn't keep it up because I got it done on a girls day out and don't like the expense and time to maintain that type of thing.

I'd ask the women you know what their experience is. I bet it depends on the salon, so if you can get a good recommendation to a local place, it may make all the difference.

Good luck!

I love shellac manicures. In regards to removing it - it REALLY does depend on the salon that removes it. I have found one salon that does NOT ruin my nails when I have them take it off. But, I went to a different salon where they totally f'd up my nails BAD but scraping it off! (will never go back there again). I'd 100% recommend it, yes it lasts 2 weeks - you can clean, shower, wash the dog, wash the car, etc - and your nails will still be shiny and smooth like the first day you got them done. LOL love it. PS - put spf 50 on your hands prior to the manicure:) that's what I do.

I used acrylic for years and then switched to shellac. Shellac is better for your nails than acrylic, but both are bad. I took it off back in March, and will only use it from now on prior to events (like weddings) or vacations where I want to have my nails looking nice the whole time.

I had it last anywhere from 2 days to 4 weeks.

Yes I have had shellac and it lasted almost 3 weeks. I will NEVER do it again. My nails are a mess right now. You have to soak your nails in solution and then they scrap the stuff off. I have very strong nails but I have had to cut them because they are thin. I did it twice.

So sorry I ever had it done. NO NO NO don't do it!!

I LOVE Shellac nails, even better than gel. But, yes, they will damage your nails and it will be noticeable once you decide you don't have time or money to get them consistently done every two weeks. Mine always look great for about 1.5 weeks, then just ok for the last couple days but I wait it out because they are $20-30 depending on where you go. But I love the look.

I do it every couple of months when I get a bonus check. I like it. I have pretty weak nails generally, they crack a lot, but when I do the gel they seem stronger afterwards for awhile. I do let them flake off pretty naturally and then just use the acetone on whatever's left, since I get the french manicure it doesn't look as bad as it would if I had a bold color or something.

Mine lasted well past 2 weeks and was gorgeous! But when I removed it my nails were rough and brittle. I wish I had not done it and won't do it again.

I think, from the other posters, that you are talking about gel nail manicures (I've never heard the term "shellac"). My nails aren't very strong and I sometimes have gel nails done so that they don't break.

I do think that they are rough on the nails, but you can mitigate that if you take precautions. It's very hard to have the discipline to go in every two weeks and have your nails done (and expensive too.) When they start growing out and the polish starts flaking, what you are NOT supposed to do is peel it or try to chip it off. That damages the top layer of nail. Instead, clip it off with little scissors until you go for a manicure.

They do last for 2 weeks - much better than regular polish. But you're more invested in these nails.

I think you are referring to what is commonly called "Gel" nails and yes it can damage your natural nails just as badly as acrylic because some people drill them off and the soaking process dries out your nails terribly.