Shellac Machine

Do you regularly get your nails professionally done? I never got into the habit of doing this, but I was painting my nails frequently with regular polish because I like having them done. It makes me feel put together & as weird as it sounds, I honestly feel like I'm more productive & more myself when I have my nails done. I'm sure it's just a mind thing, but hey, I'll take it. In college, I got a shellac machine & it's been one of the best things that's ever happened to me! Today I'm going to share more about it & why I love mine.

For those of you that don't know what shellac is, here's a quick run down: shellac is a special kind of polish that takes a UV light in order to seal it. It requires a base coat & a top coat. I can usually get about two weeks out of my nails. I could definitely go longer, but my nails grow incredibly fast & I don't like the look of when they're grown out & the polish is halfway down my nail lol.

Here's the process:

1. cleanse nails using a cotton ball & purify (this cleanses your nails of things that could be on them so that you have a fresh, clean slate to paint)

2. apply revitalize (optional) (this product is good for your cuticles & nails for moisture. I don't use this every time, just when I feel like I've had a lot of hangnails or that the skin around my nails is more dry than usual)

3. apply prep (optional) (this product dries out your nail so that it is ready for the polish & doesn't have the oily layer of product from the revitalize)

4. apply a thin layer of structure (clear base coat) to nails

5. place nails under UV light for 45-50 seconds (Red Carpet Manicure lamp will time out automatically at this time)

6. apply 1-3 coats of colored polish (make sure to place your nails under the UV light in between each coat)

7. apply a thin layer of brilliance (clear final coat) to nails

8. place nails under UV light for 45-50 seconds (Red Carpet Manicure lamp will time out automatically at this time)

9. cleanse nails again using a cotton ball & purify (your nails will have a sticky feel to them until you use this!)

10. strut your stuff because you just did an at-home manicure, honey!

Here is the link to the Red Carpet Manicure starter kit! It provides you with the machine, purify, erase (to take off your polish), revitalize, prep, structure, brilliance, & one color!

fun polishes used this fall & winter...

polishes from left to right (all are Red Carpet Manicure polishes): 093 Skirting Around (nude) / 075 Green Room (dark green) / 083 Re-Luxe A Little (deep royal blue) // 170 Black Stretch Limo - thumb & ring finger (dark grey / black), 120 Envelope Please - pointer finger & pinky (muave pink) / 093 #nofilter - middle finger (light grey)

I have tried polishes from other brands such as SensatioNail & Gelish, but I've found that Red Carpet Manicure is the best quality. You can get polishes from Walmart, Target, Amazon & Ulta! (Ulta usually does a great Black Friday sale so I always stock up during that time & they also have a much better selection online rather than in store so keep that in mind as well)!

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