Most of the ladies love to cover their nails in different colors but hate it when they see the paint ripping-off in patches the very next or other days. While the well managed and painted nails add glamour to the personality, shredded nail paints indicate the untidiness with easy noticeability. Over the years, the nail salons have answered numerous questions related to the durability of the nail jobs and have defended themselves from the layering issues of the nail paints.

With the increasing number of the ladies demanding for the solution that can make them go carefree until the next time they visit the salon, the beauty product manufacturers have come up with the revolutionary product -  The Gel Nails. Considerably, the gel nails hold the durability element in a much better way and can easily last for 14 days without breaks, chips and extra cost.

When it's about the durability and finishing touch of the nail paint, the point remains half-done unto the time we do not include the very famous term - Shellac Nails.  If you are the one who loves to visit nail salon frequently and always look for the perfect nails, you must have heard about the term 'shellac' for sure. Markedly, many get confused with this, but as such, there lies no big contrast between the two. In simple words, both are essentially the same; however, the difference is Shellac is the brand of gel nails launched by the company 'Creative Nail Design.'

Let's understand in more detail:

•         Brands and Colors

Gel nail polish is the common term used for long-wear nail polishes that are cured under the UV lamp. While the gel is the traditional term given as a whole, Shellac is a specific gel nail polish brand from a renowned company CND.

OPI Gels, Harmony Gellish, and Essie Gels are the other typical brands of gel nail polish. OPI comes in 71 colors, Harmony in 141 colors and Essie in 36 colors.

Shellac which is often called as 'power polish,' is the long-wear gel nail polish that comes in 61 colors.

•         Appearance and Cost

Both Shellac and gel hold a freshly-manicured appearance that lasts for 14 days or more. Application of both makes the nails look glossy and natural. Typically the gel nail polishes are costlier than the normal ones and adding Shellac to the kitty can lift your bill to a minimum of 50%.

•         Application

For the application of the gel polish, nail techie starts the process with -Manicure. Following that, with the help of the buffer or the low grit nail filer, the nail bed is made rough to provide a better grip to the base coat.  Notably, base coat application is made after cleaning the filer dust with the alcohol or the other related chemical. Now when the base becomes ready, three more coats, two color coat, and the one top coat are applied to complete the look. Color coat provides the color while the top coat adds mirror-like finish to the overall application. Also, in between the applications, all four coats are separately dried-up with the 30 seconds exposure to UV or LED light.

The process for Shellac is also the same; however, the main difference lies in the application of base coat and the time for UV curing. Shellac is already the 'power polish' that requires no roughening of the nail to pick its hold and takes around 1 minute of extended time to get cure under UV.

•         Removal

For the gel polish removal, nail techie first removes the shine of the polish with the help of a file and then soak the nails for at least 5-10 minutes in acetone. After it, the polish is removed gently by using a cuticle pusher. Some nail techies put acetone-soaked cotton balls directly on the nails and secure them by using the aluminum foil.

Removing Shellac is moderately the same however there is no need to remove the shine of the nail polish at first. CND make Shellac remover wraps that easily annihilates the polish without getting the fingers soaked in acetone. But if due to unavailability of the wraps there comes any need to remove the Shellac with acetone, it usually takes a minimum of 8 minutes for clearance.

All in all, the Shellac and the traditional gel polishes both performs near about the same but in some cases, based on the self-observatory parameters, you may find the one or the other more suitable. Needless to mention, both are the chemicals, and the frequent use may lead you to the grounds of bad health where the nails will automatically start breaking or thinning. Additionally, note that extensive exposure to UV light is also harmful and can dip the natural gloss and shine of your nails to a bad degree. For a safer side, we recommend you to apply cuticle oil or a good moisturizer to your nails twice in a day as only the healthy nails can be the beautiful nails.

Further, this trick works for most of the ladies and professionals oversee their clients with it- "Make some days of the month or the other month as the no nail polish day. Take good care of your nails in these days and separate yourself with the use of any chemicals. It will amazingly restore all the lost strength, making your nails repeatedly ready for the experiments."