shellac gel nail polish

I bought a UV light here on Amazon and do my own CND shellac. Expensive investment up front but salons get a premium for this service and it is no harder than just painting your nails. With the CND Shellac system I get two weeks of perfect, chip-free wear. Check out the wattage that shellac requires and get a light. It does not need to be the "official" CND light.
CNDs site tells you how to use it. Base Coat, cook for 10 seconds, one coat cook for 2 minutes, second coat cook for 2 minutes,top coat cook for 2 minutes. Take off the sticky with rubbing alcohol. You can also clean up your mistakes with rubbing alcohol BEFORE you cook it so it's must less obnoxious than nail polish remover. You'll need acetone to soak it off, but 15 minutes gets it done. GREAT stuff.
Go to the salon and try it. If you love it, get a home set up.

I'm giving 5 stars to the whole Shellac system (Base Coat, Color Coat and Top Coat) as it only works when used together. I have very soft nails and they always brake up when they reach certain length, but since I've been using the shellac system my nails got stronger and look more beautiful then ever. I'm using the Negligee color as I like the natural look. I couldn't be more happy with the results. This system is not only for those who like to keep the nail polish beautiful for a minimum of 2 weeks, but also for those who like to let their nails grow longer and stronger. I'm so happy CND came up with this product! I can finally have beautiful nails as well!

I also wanted to mention how easy this system is to do it yourself. I've been doing them at home and I had absolutely no problem applying them. My nails look better then EVER!

I bought this base coat along with the top coat and just use my own polish. I have stopped using the base coat because it was preventing my nails from drying/ curing fully. Regardless of how long I left the uv light on, it just never seemed to "set". I do my nails every Sunday and have found the best approach is to use whatever inexpensive nail polish color you want (I paint in little designs and stripes sometime even with tempra paint.) and then the top coat. I will say that the base coat makes the whole thing a LOT easier to remove, but for me, it's still not worth it for me. Make sure that the polish you use is completely dry before moving to the top coat or you will get wrinkles. Also, to remove the polish just pour a little remover (WITH acetone) in the cap, soak your finger for about 45 seconds and use a cottonball- not tissue or tp, etc. Cottonballs have the texture that you'll need to help remove subborn polish. The whole process takes a while, but it has become part of my... Read more