Shellac Pedicure: Features and Design Examples
What does a really well-groomed lady look like? This is a representative of the weaker sex who constantly monitors her appearance and takes care of herself from crown to nails on her slender legs. Any modern woman should know that proper nail care is concluded not only in a suitable manicure, but also in a correctly chosen pedicure. Ladies' legs should always look well-groomed. And you can make them as such if you choose a pedicure "shellac" - very popular and elegant.
Advantages and disadvantages
One of the best ways to care for your nails is shellac pedicure. Shellac is a qualitatively new technology of nail coating, which in recent years has been considered one of the most demanded in the nail industry. This coating will consist of the usual nail polish and special polymer components. A pedicure with a coating such as shellac is perfect for the warm season, helping to strengthen nails with increased fragility and even peeling, and also suitable for those who are allergic to traditional nail varnishes.
Many people confuse "shellac" and gel polish.
When using "shellac" it is necessary to apply a special agent for better adhesion of the nail to the artificial layer - the so-called primer.
Shellac will also be much easier to remove. True, in the course of its application, the nail plate will be more dried out.
Choosing this material, a woman sees many clear advantages.
- The nail plate will be strengthened.
- Even with the simplest varnish, this unique finish will last 5 times longer.
- There will never be chips or cracks on the coating (provided that the master does it correctly).There is no need to wait until the coating is completely dry - you do not have to worry about damage to the layer. After drying in a UV lamp, the new coating will become as strong as possible and will keep an excellent result on your feet for about 3 weeks.
- The composition is smooth, evenly distributed and will lie flat on the nail.
- You can decorate marigolds with any bright design.
- Shellac has a rich assortment of colors, which is quite economical. This is important if you dream of learning how to make a shellac pedicure yourself at home with your own hands.
- Benefits include ease of removal of the coating. It is enough to purchase a common acetone nail polish remover. It will be necessary to saturate a cotton pad with a product and apply it to each nail for a certain period of time. The entire removal procedure can be done in 10-15 minutes.
- This type of coating can be called the best protection for your nails, especially if your nails are very fragile and sensitive.
- "Shellac" will not harm nails, it contains no preservatives and harmful substances common for such products, which allows everyone to use it.
- Any woman can work correctly with shellac.
The disadvantages include several points.
- To work with shellac at home, you will need to buy a full set of tools, which is expensive, but it will last for a long time.
- The high cost of the procedure.
- Harmfulness of UV radiation to the skin. To make the procedure safe, the feet are treated with a protective cream with an SPF of at least 30.
- The durability of "shellac" is a big plus, but it can also be considered a negative point. After the first week after coating, the nail begins to grow, the distance between the varnish layer and the cuticle also grows, and it does not look so beautiful. Therefore, many women too often carry out this procedure or use the "moon" design.
- High risk of destruction of marigolds with unprofessional removal of the product.
Design options
It should be borne in mind that catchy color combinations will look more impressive only on the fingers - they will not work for a pedicure. A great idea would be to choose a "jacket". For the summer season, you can pick up an original colored French pedicure. It is often applied to a subtle or colored base. Elegantly you can combine with the white "jacket" the elegant tones of the mysterious blue and greenish colors.
A pedicure made in a single color is always in fashion.
It is worth trying sky blue and bluish, poisonous red and pinkish, beige and cream shades. Snow-white colors with original rhinestones or delicate sparkles will look stylish. This kind of moderate design is suitable for office activities as well as for everyday life. Having stopped your choice on this option, you can henceforth be sure of your attractiveness.
Many women love overly bright colors of nail polishes. But before applying acidic options, you need to take into account certain nuances. For example, too bright colors are not suitable for every lady, and you can choose them only in summer. Do not decorate a pedicure "shellac" with poisonous shades of sparkles or too catchy "shimmer".
In the summer season, the best option would be to use creative colors with a noticeable design: an ornament from plants or a pattern of geometric shapes.
In one pedicure, you can, without a doubt, combine a number of interesting options at once. For example, one finger can be decorated with a contrasting image, and the other fingers can be decorated with a solid color in pastel shades.
For greater beauty, pedicure is often performed in the form of horizontal stripes, "french" or completely abstract design, which is done by simply stirring the colors with a needle before placing your fingers in a UV lamp. Lines are best applied with a thin brush. Next, a base is applied in 2 layers of colors.Then you need to apply the design itself, which is thoroughly dried.
It is important to make sure that all the elements of the picture and the lines themselves are applied as thin as possible so that they do not spread and go beyond the nail growth line.
Next, you need to carefully seal the end of all nails. The result with accuracy and patience will be amazing.
Lunar pedicure "shellac" can be called the most commonbecause he always looks very stylish. For this coating, it is best to choose the 2 most contrasting colors, one of which can be almost transparent or bright silver. There are many color options for this design. A beautiful lace "jacket" will look very neat and creative on the nails, especially if it is supplemented with various elements of decoration.
Marine themes, catchy graphics, decorating nails with beads, liquid pebbles, beads, glitter - with all this you can create your own designer pedicure "shellac".
The most important thing here is to qualitatively fix the decoration elements and make this process not only extremely useful, but also exciting.
Black and white motifs with a beautiful and intricate transition from one color to another using an original gradient will be very fashionable on the nails.
Coverage cost
Each visit to a nail salon will deal a powerful blow to a woman's finances, since the cost of such services on average ranges from 1,000 to 2,500 rubles. On a budget, this procedure can be done at home, but at the same time you will need to buy a UV lamp, a transparent base and a special top coating. Soon all these costs will fully pay off.
To apply this coating, you do not need a lot of effort and time. With a great desire, you can complete everything within half an hour. This procedure in beauty salons is still quite expensive, because a new, but already highly demanded material is used, which is used by the masters. For this reason, those women who need this type of pedicure on a regular basis can simply be advised to master the technique of doing it themselves and to perform a pedicure at home for free.
As mentioned above, in order to create an inimitable nail decor at home, you need to buy a UV lamp that will allow the coating to dry quickly, while becoming more durable.
The more powerful the UV lamp you choose, the faster the shellac will dry.
For example, at 36 watts, each layer can dry in a couple of minutes. More technologically advanced LED lamps will dry your nails in 10 seconds, but such devices are too expensive to buy home. Competent observance of all the rules will allow your new pedicure to stay on the nails for up to 3 weeks.
You will also have to purchase special files or buffs. Their levels of abrasiveness should have indicators of 220-240 units. An ordinary nail file will become a replacement for these tools.
Metal tools cannot be used here.
In any case, this procedure will cost you a lot.
How to shoot?
The procedure for removing "shellac" seems difficult to many, since it will not be easy to manage with ordinary nail polish remover here. To solve this kind of problem, a special tool was invented, but many experienced craftsmen assure that if you process the marigolds with a significant amount of traditional nail polish remover with acetone with active heat treatment, then the shellac layers can be easily removed. For such an action, cotton wool discs, a special cuticle cream, are useful.
You can remove the shellac pedicure like this:
- moisten a cotton pad entirely with nail polish remover and apply it tightly to the nail;
- the finger is wrapped in pre-prepared foil;
- the same manipulations are done with all fingers, 20 minutes are recorded, after which the removal is performed;
- the disc must be firmly pressed to the nail, as the coating will come off in one layer;
- the remains of the coating will need to be removed with a special wooden stick;
- nails are polished with a special nail file, which should have several coatings;
- the cuticle is treated with a special oil, and the nails - with a special cream.
Can I do it at home?
As noted above, a shellac pedicure can be done at home, but for this, a certain sequence of actions should be followed.
- First, you need to apply an acid peel to remove cracks and scuffs on your feet. Napkins with the product are applied to the heels and covered with polyethylene bags. The procedure time is from 1 to 2 hours.
- Next, you need to create the correct shape for the nail plates. To do this, they cut their hair exactly.
- Warm water is poured into the basin, liquid soap is diluted in it. You can add essential oils, herbal teas, sea salt here. Such a foot bath should last about 30 minutes. This time is needed in order to quickly steam your legs.
- To carefully remove the stratum corneum, use a heel file or grater.
- The cuticle is moved with a special stick and carefully removed.
- Burrs are cut with nail clippers.
- The nails are treated with a buff, removing peeling and cracks.
- Next, you need to degrease the nails with a special composition or ordinary boric alcohol.
- After the degreasing procedure, do not touch your nails with your fingers, otherwise the coating will not be able to hold out for a long time due to the accumulation of fat particles.
- The base is applied in a thin layer to the nails, then the nails are placed under UV rays for 2 minutes.
- After drying, apply a thin layer of the selected shellac tone. Again, everything needs to be dried in a UV device for 2 minutes. For a summer pedicure, opt for bright colors. If the color does not seem very variegated to you, apply a second layer of foundation and dry it.
- A fixer is applied to the nail plates, and again 2 minutes is dried under a UV lamp. The fixer will allow you to wear the varnish as long as possible. Correctly produced shellac will last 3-4 weeks.
- The final step is to use boric alcohol. In it, you need to wet a napkin with which the sticky layer that forms on the nails during drying will be removed. Throughout the entire process, you should not touch your toenails with your fingers, so that the coating retains its durability.
The rave reviews from users show how convenient it is to have shellac on the well-groomed nails of the hands and feet. They point out that immediately after applying the varnish, you can do any business, since it will never chip and peel off. And you can walk with this coating for 3 weeks.
Shellac has a huge number of admiring reviews among ladies of different ages. The coating is able to protect nails, strengthen them. Women really like that the coating can keep its original appearance for many weeks.
Many design options will allow you to complement your main image.
The shellac pedicure is considered to be simply an amazing coating on a beach vacation: it will not change its color in sea water, it is not afraid of temperature exposure.
Shellac is a worthwhile find for ladies who want to be on top in any circumstance.
For more information on the pedicure procedure, as well as covering the nails with shellac, see the video.