I wish I could get a pedi, but I would kick someone in the face, which would not be good for me or them. I can't stand my feet to be touched at all - they are *so* stupidly ticklish!

As for nails...I think groomed/polished nails look soooo nice on people - makes their hands look so purdy! But I can never keep polish on my nails, it makes me crazy. I use a nice base...OPI or something, 2 -3 coats of polish, then Seche Vite on top. Looks good for one day, and then *boom* I'm already chipping. Also though, I paint (on canvas, I mean), do yardwork, do handy things around the house -- so all of that is so hard on my nails and any nail polish. Darn it.

Do you guys think shellac would stand up better to the painting, yardwork et al? Maybe I should try it. They even have some awesome home kits now that come w/ the 36w UV light thingy. I'd love to do it at home...

My nails are short and I like dark colors like blue and purple. I need to get a manicure I love long nails Im just not very good about taking care of them

I am with you jadabug & Lisa and Pic!! ....... Not only do I keep short unpolished nails most of the time, but my job doesn't allow me to maintain any kind of pretty nails...... I can put polish on one day and the next it is gone. When I am on vacation or a long camping weekend, I can have pretty nails for a few days! :p

I get shellac french manis about once a month and they last pretty much 3 good weeks and then start to look really crappy in the 4th week. I'm seriously behind though and haven't had them done in 2 months! Some of the old Shellac is still on them, but they look awful right now.

I think shellac stands up to anything. I get it all the time and I never had it chip in less than 2 weeks no matter what I do! I did destruction/construction work on my kitchen, painting cabinets, walls, etc... when my hands were cleaned again, my nails still looked great! LOL Thats kind of funny!

Oh I love bright colors on my toes, but not french. I usually get the brightest colors, like aqua, orange, hot pink... they look better in summer when my feet are tanned. In winter I usually get black, dark red, dark purple. I'm going for a pedi tonight and I'm thinking of either doing orange, or bright bright yellow. My feet right now are so pale though, but this week is getting warmer and I may be able to wear flip flops or peep toe and I want to see a cheery summer color!

I'm going to Jamaica in three weeks...just cut my nails down, cuz I nearly took out my eye! They were just a tad too long....seriously, the shellac don't damage the nails....mine are natural, I really don't want to do something that is going to damage my nails....they will have grown back to a decent length by then.

Has anyone tried those new Sally Henson nail gel strips I just saw a comercial for them and want to try them

I've gotten shellac for well over a year now, at least once a month, usually more like every 3 weeks. There is no damage. YOu get a manicure as usual, same exact procedure, then the polish is shellac, they polish like normal, but they put your hands under a UV light for 90 seconds between coats, and 5 mins at the end. Then bc it dries with a sticky top, they take straight alcohol and just rub them to shine them. Thats it. Its no drill, no super buffing, no nail damage.


HOWEVER.............

That being said.... I did have a friend ... and I have read this (so no promises on my above statement w/o me telling you this...) some people have a reaction to the shellac. Its rare. But it can kind of eat through actual nails leaving pits and holes that are painful and require antibiotics to avoid infection. You don't know it happened until you take it off and your nail kind of peels off with it.

This is rare. Try to google search shellac nails. That has never happened to me and of all the people I know who get them, this happened to 1 girl I know... she is also someone who has Lupus and is on serious daily meds, so it may have been a reaction with the meds too. I just wanted to put that out there.

I'm right there with you Verbena!! I've also done acrylic and gel and just got fed up with the upkeep. I could keep polish on when using one of those processes but I can't keep polish on my natural nails. My nails are hard and brittle so I can get them to grow really long but it takes work and I've got too many other things to do. LOL Can't take me anywhere either! LOL

Me too! Haha. Too much up keep to polish them lol.

I get the Gel from time to time. It is too much up keep for me so I will do the gel if I have something big to attend. I love the Gel. It makes your nails super strong. I have never had one break or have the nail polish chip- It seems my hands are in water and I do a lot of things around the house, helping DH with construction.. etc..

I don’t think it is hard on your nails, when I get the nail they lady will only buff my nails. When they start growing out I will just take my file and file them down then take the file on the top and file where it has grown out so the little bump goes down- then I will be able to paint over it and you won’t be able to see.. then eventually my nail will outgrow the gel. I have a manicure kit at home and now I will just do my own. I have the cuticle cutter and the little wood thing that pushes up your cuticle’s.. I do my toes at home too. Right now I have black tips, I have black tips on my fingers with some glitter! DH always says I do such a good job myself I should have to pay someone to do it! LOL I think that is his way of getting out of paying for it! LOL

My DH would say "You do such a good job, you should start charging people to do their nails!" LOL He's always looking to make a buck! LOL

Thats why I get mine done. If he saw my mad bad-a$$ nail skillz, he wouldn't want me to pay someone else, when I can do my own! LOL

LOL!!! Girl you go skillz!

So I just tried those Sally Hensen nail strips for the first time. They look really cute! I got the glittery ones that fade from gold to rose gold glitter. Now to see how long they last. Wish my nails were longer, I feel lile I wasted a lot of the product bc you file away the excess length. So pretty though.

I wanna see a pic... pleaseeeeee!!! :aimeeyork