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    If you know me at all, you know that I'm constantly painting my nails. I don't just do a single color, I do stripes, rhinestones, decals - you name it, and two days later I'm back to work because my polish has already chipped. I've tried numerous top coats - extra shiny, matte, even "hard as wraps," and as much as I hate to admit it, I've wasted a lot of money because none of them really work for longer than a day. But it's looking like I've found the answer to all of my nail problems. I recently heard about Shellac manicures, costing about $30-45 (depending on where you get it done), and the selling point is a manicure that lasts two full weeks without chipping. And there is absolutely no drying time. This is the answer to all of my manicure problems.
      Nail technicians use special Shellac (a hybrid nail polish containing no formaldehyde, toluene or DBP!) that you put under a special UV lamp after each coat of polish. There are four coats total - a base, two color and a top coat, but how nice would it be to actually be able to reach into your purse for your keys without ruining your just-done manicure? For the amount of money that I've spent getting my nails done and buying a ridiculous number of top coats, it's about time that they last for more than 5 minutes when I accidentally bump them trying to get in the car.
     Although you can't take Shellac off with regular nail polish, it only takes 10 minutes at the salon. A sticker is placed over each nail (so you can do something else while waiting, an added bonus), and after ten minutes the polish slides off. Check out the Shellac polish website for more information about how it works, where you can find a salon that offers it, and the colors available. I will definitely be getting this done over Christmas so be looking for a review of it. If anyone tries this before then, let me know how you like it!