Shellac, gelish or gel polish: differences and similarities, benefits and harms

Ordinary nail polish has long gone by the wayside, giving way to manicure with gel polishes (or, as many people call it, shellac or gelish). Let's figure out together how all these names differ, how safe this procedure is for nails, and how to choose gel polish so as not to buy a fake.

We have already talked about the fact that Gelish and Shellac are two brands under which gel polishes are produced, as well as hybrids of gel and varnish, respectively. Due to the mass popularity of brands and their products, both names have become household names and entered our everyday vocabulary. Similar examples can be given with other names, such as pampers (Pampers brand diaper) and Xerox (Xerox copier). Gelish and shellacs appeared in the same way.

The American brand Shellac was the first to enter the Ukrainian market and became quite widespread in beauty salons. Gelish brand gel polish (also USA) appeared with us a little later and became the second most popular – that is why today even beauty salons write a short name for the procedure: shellac or gelish *.

*It is worth noting that the correct pronunciation of the Gelish brand is “dzhelish", from the English word “dzhel” (gel).

So is there a difference?

Does it matter how you call what you cover your nails with – shellac, gelish, gel polish or gel polish, because the essence is the same? This is where many customers go wrong. You can not put an equal sign between a hybrid of varnish and Shellac gel and Gelish gel varnish. First of all, Shellac is a combination of a varnish and a gel component, that is, the components of both systems are present in the bottle. That is why Shellac is called a hybrid of varnish and gel. Gelish, on the other hand, is a 100% liquid gel.

It is impossible to say with absolute certainty which of these systems is better – some clients have Gelish longer on their nails, while others have Shellac. Both options are safely applied, dried and removed by dissolving the material without damaging the nail plate. The difference is only the time of the procedure, the duration of the “socks” of the color coating and the palette of shades offered by these brands.

Natural nails and color coating

Gel varnishes (gel varnishes), just like hybrids of varnish and gel, were conceived by manufacturers as a protective coating. Elastic, easy to apply and dissolves when removed with special liquids in 10-15 minutes. Of course, when using high-quality brands of gel polishes and hybrids, the nail plate is strengthened, because the natural nail is, as it were, in a “shell” and is protected from impacts, chips and any other external (sometimes aggressive) influences. Many salon clients who have used the above systems report that they have been able to grow stronger and stronger nails while wearing the coating.

But even despite the wide popularity of these coatings, not all girls can boast of a positive experience in using gel polishes.

"Games" of manufacturers

And here we come with you to the most important thing in this article. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous manufacturers use the popular name “gel polish”, “gel polish”, “shellac” and “gelish”, producing ordinary liquid colored insoluble (“solid”) gels under the name of their inexpensive brands. By the way, colored gels existed in the 1990s and early 2000s, that is, long before the advent of gel polishes (2009) and hybrids of varnish and gel (2010). Ordinary color gels were applied with a gel modeling brush, dried in a UV lamp like regular nail modeling gels, and remained on the nails for a very long time, as they were a hard material. The only way to remove such colored gels from the nails was to file them down.

Now think about it: if the gel polish that is applied to you in a beauty salon is removed from the nails for a very long time, and each time the master cuts off the color coating for a very long time, then maybe you are not being applied gel polish at all, but a preparation that so called as a marketing gimmick?

Beware of fakes!

But the most dangerous thing is Chinese-made gel polishes, which do not have an ingredient composition on the bottle, and which do not have a quality certificate. Such pseudo gel polishes, as a rule, have a hard and rough brush, streak when applied, the colored contents of the bottle are applied in 3-4 layers (whereas in real gel polishes 2, maximum 3 layers are enough), it's terrible they smell and are very difficult to remove from the nail plate. By the way, in one British study in a chemical laboratory, Chinese “gel polish” turned out to be an ordinary auto enamel for painting cars, which contained arsenic and heavy metals.

Let's get to the facts. Or rather, to the reviews of the victims who used Chinese-made pseudo “gel polish” (the author’s spelling and punctuation are preserved).

“Girls who do not believe that there is such an allergy, I WISH YOU NEVER EXPERIENCE THIS!!! I don't know where to put myself for a week now. Nothing to touch, fingers in terrible cracks to the meat, where there were blisters, the skin peeled off. It’s a pity that I lived for a year, I didn’t know any problems, I did it every two weeks, but now I definitely won’t experiment anymore !!! “

“Girls, do not use Chinese gel polishes for anything (which you will probably find, for example, on aliexpress or in special stores that lure you with their affordable price … you work with dangerous chemical poisons, in fact, what is contained in the bottle is what it is ). One unfortunate day after another manicure, half a day later, my fingers suddenly itched. Small blisters and itching … the fingers were swollen, small specks with liquid formed under the skin. Later, the skin began to roughen, dry and crack.

“A kind of “boom” ran through our expanses – everyone rushed to buy a sort of gel polish available to everyone. But after about the same time, the consequences began. I hope that by switching to another gel polish, my fingers will stop swelling, itching and becoming covered with pimples.

And these are just a few examples of victims from the Network.

The opinion of allergists

Specialist's comment (author's spelling and punctuation preserved):

“Allergy to Chinese gel polishes is often expressed in swelling of the mucous membrane, which makes breathing difficult, a runny nose and sore throat appear. The eyes and nose can also become red, swollen, and inflamed. Symptoms: in addition to redness and itching, the skin may become bluish in color. After the area around the nails is covered with bubbles, they burst, and bleeding cracks appear in the places of their formation. In this case, the likelihood of infection is high. Symptoms are accompanied by painful sensations.

Needless to say, all of these problems can be easily avoided by using proven, quality brands of colored, resilient solvent coatings from reputable manufacturers.

note

How to protect yourself and use high-quality coverage in a beauty salon and at home? The answer is very simple and consists of three points:

• the ingredient composition must be applied on the bottle of gel polish or a hybrid of varnish and gel. Moreover, the pigment part of this ingredient composition should differ from shade to shade;
• the drug must have a quality certificate from the official distributor of the brand in Ukraine.
• information about the official website of the company. It is extremely important that the manufacturer's address and website be indicated on the vial. After all, the presence of an address on the network confirms the fact that the brand is known far beyond the borders of Ukraine. Gel polish from France must have a French site in French, a hybrid of varnish and gel from the United States must have a site in English and in the .com domain zone.

Use the service of nail polishing with gel polish, gel polish, shellac and gelish in salons where certified manicure masters work (whose qualifications are confirmed by diplomas and certificates of the brand they work with) – and you will be able to avoid the above problems. After all, the presence on the Ukrainian market of Chinese fakes for gel polishes and hybrids does not mean at all that you should deny yourself a two-three-week colored protective coating. And the choice of a quality brand is yours!