Valentine's Day Manicure

Hello, everyone! Just a post to show you my mani for Valentines day! :) I'm not much of a fan of the holiday but any excuse to do nail art is fine with me! :P
All nail art is by hand except for the two hearts on the pinky...those are glitter.
Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Valentine's Day, Lovelies!
<3, Lindsay

Shellac removal!

Just as promised, I am doing a post on how to remove shellac nails!

If you happened to read my previous post about shellac nails you'll know that I discovered (from some online research) a way to remove the shellac without scraping, damaging or weakening my nails. Yay! 

I knew that I was going to need to use pure acetone in the removal process but I was terrified of how the acetone would damage my already dry cuticles and skin. A lot of sources say to soak your fingers in a small bowl of acetone.... No thanks. My cuticles are shriveling up at just the thought of that.

So a found a recipe on Loodie's blog (great nail care advice!) for a moisturizing nail polish remover. Sounds too good to be true? I thought the same thing but I decided to give it a try. The recipe calls for Pure Acetone so I figured it would at least remove the shellac and just MAYBE it won't kill my hands. (It also has Glycerin in it which is a skin protectant.) It's also supposed to be a dupe for Zoya Remove +. I've never tried Remove + but I've heard good things about it.

Well, it WORKS! My nails actually felt moisturized when I was done removing the shellac. I was amazed. So enough chattering...here's how you make it!

Ingredients:

1 Cup of PURE Acetone - I bought mine at Sally's (use a glass measuring cup for this! I ruined a plastic one...)

1-2 tablespoons of liquid Glycerin (I used 1 1/2 tablespoons.) - I found mine at Walmart in the pharmacy section for less than $3. It wasn't easy to find...I had to ask for help.

Add a little bit of water - Water allows the ingredients to mix together. Without the water, Acetone and Glycerin are not miscible.  The amount of water depends on how much glycerin you put in. Only add enough so that the glycerin and acetone mix and you don't see the glycerin sitting at the bottom. Adding too much water will make the acetone less effective and will not remove the shellac.

PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN MIXING!

You do not want to get any acetone in your eyes...ouch! Also, don't get the acetone on clothes or furniture and keep away from children.

Now for the process of removing...

 Cute, Right?! haha 

Seriously though, this is how I did it. :P

Soak a cotton ball in the acetone/glycerin concoction and place on your fingernail. Wrap the whole tip of your finger (make sure the cotton ball is covered) in aluminum foil and let soak for about 15 minutes. The aluminum foil keeps the cotton ball from drying out! 

After 15 minutes remove the foil and cotton ball and this is what should be happening....

 The shellac should be separating itself from the nail. 

So pretty.... :P

Now just take your cotton ball and try to wipe away the peeling shellac. If there are any stubborn pieces, re-soak the cotton ball and try the aluminum foil trick again. You may be able to use an orange stick to gently push the shellac off. 

I hope this helps! I have decided that this is going to be the remover I use on a regular basis...not just for shellac! I think this recipe combined with the foil method will also be great for removing stubborn glitter polish too!

Hope it works as well for you as it did for me!

Happy removing!

Lindsay