I rarely get manicures because they never last. Usually the polish smudges within hours of leaving the nail place and I’ve never gone more than a day before getting chips.  However I got one last week and it still looks great. 

There’s a bit of outgrowth at the bottom and close analysis may reveal some wear at the tips, but miraculously there are NO CHIPS!  

I owe this miraculous manicure to the lady at SpaLuxe who convinced me to use Shellac Polish.  It took some convincing to get me to try it.  I scoffed at first figuring it was over-priced nail polish.  All nail polishes claim to be chip-free right?  “That’s OK,” I said “I’ll just take the standard polish.”  I spent the next fifteen minutes listening to the wonders of Shellac while the manicurist clipped my cuticles and filed my nails.  Finally I gave in and I’ve been amazed with the result ever since. 

Applying Shellac nail polish is, admittedly more involved than the traditional stuff.  It’s thicker than normal nail polish, almost like a gel, and prone to air bubbles when applying.  You also need to “cure” the freshly painted nail under a UV light.  The amazing thing is that it dries almost instantly.  After I removed my hand from the UV light the manicurist shined my newly polished nails with a soft cloth soaked in alcohol.  I gasped in horror at such a thing until she showed me there were NO SMUDGES!  Amazing! 

Most of my appreciation for this long lasting manicure goes out to the attorney I work with who gave me the SpaLuxe gift card for Christmas.  I immediately scheduled the appointment for the first work day after New Years so I could have a little post-holiday pick me up.   I am lucky enough to work for a company that closes the week between Christmas and New Years and coming to work after a week off is always hard.  For some reason I didn’t have the back-to-work-blues as bad this year and I’m wondering if my magical Shellac manicure helped?