A Great Beauty Find!

I have a problem. I am obsessed with nail polish. As evidence, I present the following photo. (My stash has only grown since it was taken.)

The almost bigger problem with this obsession is that I am a perfectionist, and I can't stand when my nail polish is chipped. I don't want to spend the time or money on regular professional manicures that only last a few days, and while I have had and liked the long-lasting shellac/gel manicures, I still don't want to go to the salon that often, and I don't like what shellac/gel does to your nails after you have it taken off. So, I typically paint my nails OFTEN. With a 9-month old baby though, it has become impossible to find long enough stretches of time to paint my nails and let them dry. 

So, in my Pinterest perusal, I came across what claimed to be a shellac hack. It was going to cost less to buy the supplies than it would to get a manicure, so I figured it was worth a shot. And guess what...LOVED IT! 

Click here to read the post on mintarrow.com. I bought everything I needed from the grocery store (Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps + nail polish of your choice) and one quick trip to Sally Beauty (Gelous + Seche Vite Top Coat). 

Manicure just finished

A few days in

The Process: You have to invest a bit of time into painting your nails because there are quite a few steps, and the polish needs to dry a bit in between each coat. 

The Results: LOVED IT! I feel like I was extremely hard on my hands/nails the week after I tried this manicure. I scrubbed my house, used my nails to scratch something off a pan that wouldn't come off (is that gross?), and did a painting craft where I sanded wood and had to scrub lots of paint off my nails. I didn't have one single chip until five days in, and then it was one tiny chip on one nail. With a regular nail polish-top coat manicure, I am 100% sure I would have had chips on multiple nails on the first day, with all the wear and tear that happened on my hands that week. 

This isn't really a replacement for a shellac manicure, which I've typically had last around 3 weeks. A shellac manicure, though, costs you $30-40 and at least for me, leaves my nails in pretty rough shape. I will get many, many home manicures out of the $15 of product I purchased here. Plus, I could do this manicure at home, and it comes off easily with regular nail polish remover (no super long soak in stinky acetone needed). My nails were in perfect shape once I removed it. 

ADDED BONUS: My nails have been terrible since my baby was born. They are flimsy and peel and tear at the slightest provocation. Through this "hack," I discovered Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps. Holy smokes, the stuff is miraculous! My nails are growing long and strong, no peeling and no breaking. They haven't been in this condition for almost 10 months! 

FINAL REVIEW: Awesome!!!

A Note: No one is ever going to ask me to be a hand model. Just call me sausage fingers...