Review on Gel Manicures. Shellac Manicure, OPI & UV Gel Manicure

This is the 21^st century and nail care is necessary more than ever. And gel manicures are becoming the new favorite of all. With gel manicure, you get smudge and chip proof nail color and it lasts a lot longer than regular manicures (2 weeks and more) hence a preferred option for women with busy schedule.

Nail companies are constantly working to improve the nail polish and make it last long. Gel manicures have come a long way since it was first introduced in the market. UV gel, OPI Axxium and now Shellac from CND comes with a lot of promises. Let us take a look at these gel manicures.

Almost every salon now offer shellac gel manicure because of its growing demand. Shellac is the new favorite of every woman. A shellac manicure is more hygienic than any other gel manicure. The new shellac is a combination of gel and polish (gelish!) and referred as the hybrid of typical gel manicures. It deals with your natural nails rather than glue or any kind of fake nails. For shellac gel manicure, a manicurist will clean your natural nails, remove cuticles and shape free edge of the nails before applying shellac. After getting ready to be polished, a special base coat is applied first and then the top coat. After coating, you have to put your fingernails under a UV lamp to dry the base coat and the top. Special care is given while polishing the top edge of the nails because it is the final shed. The total process require about 25 minutes. Shellac has several different colors like strawberry smoothie, tropic, fedora and hot chill, cream puff and many more.

Shellac gel makes your nail stronger because of its composition and lasts for approximately two weeks or longer. Shellac is an invention of CND (Creative Nail Design). Shellac nail polish is free from formaldehyde, toluene or DBP and any kind of hypo-allergenic. After being polished by shellac, you will find that your nails become shinier than before and its finishing is so smooth that your nails will look just like a mirror. Shellac nail polish is gorgeous, long lasting and the drying time is shorter than any other typical manicure and you can do your usual work within a short time of applying the final coat of shellac nail polish without the fear of a smudge.

Shellac gel should be applied by a professional as it requires the use of ultraviolet lamps. For a professional manicure, prices range from $25 to $75 depending on the service you want. A shellac manicure is only about 10 to 20 dollars more than the traditional manicure where it lasts 2 to 3 times more than the others do. The removing process is simple and requires less exposure to Acetone, CND offers wraps with acetone on them that can be used to remove the gel from the nail. So, no need to dip your fingers in a bowl of acetone. This makes shellac safer than any other gel manicure removal process.

If you are in New York, one salon that I would personally recommend is DyannaSpa. They offer the best shellac manicure in New York.

The popularity of UV gel manicure is increasing over the last couple of years because of its affordable price compared to other manicure alternatives. For its growing popularity, two thirds of the salons in US now offer this service to their valued customer.

Gel nails could be a suitable alternative to acrylic nails, because it does not have the unpleasant odor like acrylic nails do. Gel nails are more realistic compared to the other alternatives and it allows different types of coloring and nail design according to customer preference.

Let me describe how UV nail gels are applied. Based on what you are asking, the process will vary. The manicurist will start with a cuticle remover. Spread the remover over the nails and scoop up any dead or loose cuticles. After that your nails will be polished with light gel as the base coat and you will have to put your fingernails under UV lamp and wait until it hardens. Then your nails will be polished with nail gel. Again your nails will be placed under the UV lamp for final hardening. After getting hard, the manicurist will file nails with a nail drill to shape it according to your preference. Layers of colors are added to bring in the style you want. After each coat of color, 2 minutes of curing under the UV lamp is necessary. UV gel manicure lasts for 3-4 weeks. Brisa gel is usually used for UV gel manicure. Brisa gel is hypo-allergenic, odor free and known to be safe for the nails.

Artificial nails may or may not be added in UV gel manicure. UV gel nails are not as hard as acrylic nails. That’s why they may not last as long as acrylic nails but the most important feature is it blends in so well that it looks like original nails. UV gel nails have a variety of style, types and colors and a few significant distinctions to note. There are two kinds of UV gel nails. The first one is irremovable and known as standard “gel UV” and the other one is removable.

However, you should be careful while you are going to take a UV gel manicure because if not done properly it can damage your original nails. So, it is always safe to find a top class salon with a licensed and experienced manicurist for having a UV gel.

OPI manicure is another highly popular manicure treatment. The process of getting OPI manicure is similar to the other two, after each coat of polish applied to your nails; it will be hardened under the UV lamp. Not all colors and shades are available with OPI that you can get with regular lines. But they do have a good range of colors and different colors can be mixed to bring in new shades and colors.

OPI lasts for two weeks without any crack, chip or break. It is more affordable than the other two mentioned here. In New York, OPI manicure will cost you around $25. OPI introduced the soak off gel in 2009, now almost all the salons have OPI manicure in their service book.

OPI gel removal requires you to soak your nails in a bowl of Acetone. Usually the top gel layer is first scratched by a nail file to make acetone soak in faster. After soaking your nail in Acetone a cuticle pusher is used to remove the flakes of gel from the nails. The process usually takes 15 minutes and is done in cycles to remove all the layers off.

Gel manicures are long lasting, if you want to change your nail color too often, these are probably not the best option for you. Gel manicure offers nail polish for 14+ days without a chip or any wear. Simply affordable, lasts for a long time and gives your nails the charm you wanted.

Have you tried gel manicure? How do you like it and is there any problem you have encountered with gel? Please share in the comments section.