Is shellac harmful to nails?

Decorative coatings for nails today are presented in a huge assortment, one of the most popular options is shellac. This article will tell you more about whether this product is bad for your nails.

Shellac is a material that many manicure specialists use when creating designer decor. Every woman wants to show off a beautiful manicure. Beautiful and well-groomed nails are a reason for pride. Unfortunately, decorative varnishes that are sold in supermarkets and regular beauty stores wear off rather quickly. Shellac can be classified as a material that remains on the nail plates for a long time.

Shellac has many other benefits as well.

• It is suitable for people who have rather thin nail plates. This method of decorating a manicure is used by women whose nails often exfoliate and break. With increased fragility of the nail plates, it can be extremely difficult to achieve the desired length.
• The durability of shellac depends on many factors. Of course, frequent washing of dishes or cleaning the apartment without protective gloves can reduce the "wearing" period of such a decorative coating. If you carefully monitor your hands and use gloves during cleaning, you can significantly extend the preservation of such a decorative coating on your hands. In some cases, it can be "carried" for up to 2.5-3 weeks.

• A large selection of colors is another advantage of shellac. The manufacturers of this decorative coating offer a huge variety of different shades. Manicurists combine them for interesting results. If you wish, you can choose neutral tones or please yourself with something bright and unusual.
• Many beauties choose this material for nails, as it practically does not spoil the nail plates. Of course, it does not benefit the body, but it does not destroy nails either. This material does not contain formaldehyde, a component that can harm the nail plate. It is no coincidence that shellac manicure is chosen more and more often today.

• Shellac is not as harmless as it might seem at first glance. Covering nails with it can do some harm to the body. In order to understand how this material harms nails, you need to understand how a manicure is performed using it. With this version of manicure, the treatment of the nail plate is carried out quite intensively. It can lead to trauma to the nail, which in the future may adversely affect its growth.

If this procedure is carried out by an inexperienced or unskilled specialist, then this can lead to a violation of the growth of the nail. During the processing of the nail plate, it is extremely important to use clean instruments that have been previously disinfected. Sometimes, after applying shellac, yellow or dark spots appear on the nails. Their appearance is caused by the ingress of infection into the nail during poor-quality processing of the plate.

• Only healthy nails should be covered with shellac. Some women use this material to mask various changes that appear on the nail plates. For example, by means of such a decorative coating, they try to "mask" the yellowing of the nail plates or the appearance of white stripes on them. However, if such changes appear, then in this case you need to consult a doctor, and only then resort to covering the nails with shellac.

Shellac pretty tightly "adheres" to the nail, leading to the fact that the supply of oxygen to the nail plate decreases. Such changes create a greenhouse effect. Also, this material is exposed to temperature effects. For example, frequent hand washing in hot water can cause small cracks in your nails. Pathogenic microbes can enter them, which will further provoke nail disease.

The preparations that are used to remove this decorative material for nails have a rather aggressive chemical composition. They also often contain acetone. This substance is capable of drying out the nail plate, leading to a loss of natural shine and even severe fragility.

• Frequent shellac treatments also require cuticle restoration procedures. So, in order to be able to "wear" such a manicure longer, the shellac applied to the nails must be thoroughly dried. For this, special lamps are used that act through ultraviolet radiation. The rays of this spectrum, as a rule, do not cause any unpleasant sensations in a person. However, if you constantly dry your nails with such a lamp, you can provoke the appearance of severe dryness and, to a greater extent, the cuticles.If, after carrying out such a manicure, the cuticle of the nails is not fully taken care of, then this can lead to the fact that the hands will look unkempt. It is better to use special cosmetic products to moisturize the cuticle. They take great care of this delicate area, helping to restore it.

• Ultraviolet Rays Lamp, which is used to dry nails, can affect not only the nail plate, but also the surrounding skin. Women with a high oncogenic risk of developing skin diseases should take this feature into account. Before carrying out such a procedure, it is better for them to apply sunscreen to their hands. Moreover, if one of close relatives was diagnosed with melanoma (skin cancer), then in this case, before often applying shellac to the nails, it is better for such ladies to consult a doctor.
• Shellac is a chemical that can contribute to allergic reactions in some people. It is worth noting that allergies to this decorative coating are not so common, however, isolated cases still continue to be registered. For women with allergic pathologies and individual sensitivity to various chemicals, it is better to consult a doctor before carrying out such a procedure.

After several procedures using shellac, it takes time for the nails to recover. For this, you can use both cosmetic preparations and traditional medicine. The term of their use depends on how badly the nail plates were damaged. In some cases, nail restoration may even take several weeks. During the restoration of the plates, one should also not forget about the nutrition of the cuticle.

Many nail artists enjoy working with shellac. They note that this material looks pretty good and adheres to the nail plates. At the same time, the richest color palette helps to create various design options. It is ideal for covering even loose plates.

Some manicure specialists say that they do not like this material, since in some women it can lead to the development of thinning of the nail plates. And in this case, a comprehensive restoration is already required.

For information on how gel polish differs from shellac, see the next video.