When I first heard about Shellac, UV and LED gel manicures, I was over the moon excited. I could finally have polish on my nails sans chipping and polish peeling for more than 3 days and all without having to apply fake nails. In August, while at Cosmoprof, I received an awesome manicure from CND in Hot Pop Pink (pictured below.) The manicure took just as long as having acrylic nails or wraps put on (an hour) and the result looked just as amazing. I remarked to the manicurist just how gorgeous her own nails looked, as they were long and it didn't even appear to be naturally her own. She told me they were and that wearing the Shellac helped her achieve the length. I believed her, until my own experience has led me to believe otherwise. My CND Shellac lasted me 3 weeks. I was ecstatic. I applied CND's SolarOil to my cuticles and under the tips of my nails on a daily basis as instructed by the manicurist. My nails had grown a bit during this time and I was excited to go for round two of another CND Shellac at my local salon. This time I went for a French manicure CND Shellac. My nails were finally long enough to adorn some white tips and I was stoked. I went about applying the SolarOil again daily, but this time it only took 3 days for one of my nails to peel and the Shellac to come off. Day 4, one of my nails broke and it became clear how brittle my nails were becoming. By day 5, all of my nails were either peeling (the nail itself, not the polish) or breaking.  

Pros and Cons of Shellac and UV Gel Manicures: http://t.co/1C9RqsWdCJ pic.twitter.com/nOw1OpmR50 — A Girl's Gotta Spa! (@agirlsgottaspa) April 2, 2015

Looking at my very soft, peeling nails, I decided to not apply any polish at all for 2 weeks, but continued to put the SolarOil on them. But sadly, they didn't seem to recover. In the meantime, I had been sent the complete Red Carpet Manicure LED Starter Kit and as I was about to have my first television appearance, I knew my nails had to look amazing. So I used the kit, which comes complete with a portable LED light and is a DIY home LED manicure kit. Colors were gorgeous, time was still about 1 hour to complete the manicure and I used their Revitalize cuticle oil daily. But by day 3, my nails were peeling and even more brittle. I now had stubs for nails (even shorter than pictured above.) Finally I asked fellow friends in the salon business and fellow bloggers if they experienced the same of gel manicures, and it was a resounding yes. Pros: Manicure can potentially last up to 3 weeks No chipping Manicure is instantly dry upon last UV go round Mirror finish (nails look wet, but aren't) Can DIY and look just as amazing as at the salon Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous Cons: Very drying to your nails Repeated application (without a breather) will result in brittle and peeling nails Wear time gets less and less with each application If you don't apply the cuticle oil daily, your nails will dry out a lot quicker Costs add up, especially if the manicure doesn't last 2-3 weeks CND Shellac requires it's own Remover Wraps According to some doctors, the UV lamps can cause skin cancer (but the jury is still out on this) So it appears that, at least for me, a CND Shellac or UV gel manicure will only happen for special events (like holidays, TV appearances, events) and cannot be worn all of the time. Unless I want to continue having man hands with my stubby nails. In the meantime, I will be in nail re-cooperation with Qtica's Cuticle Repair Balm and Qtica Nail Growth Stimulator to regain my length.  I'd love to hear from you: what has your experience been with UV gel manicures? Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Shannon on G+ *Disclosure: affiliate links

Although going to the spa can never be an overrated experience, there is something to be said of being able to bring the spa to the comfort and privacy of your own home with you and a few of your closest girlfriends...or sometimes just solo.  The only problem with bringing the spa to your home is the quality of the spa products.  More often than not, spa products that I am able to get my hands on are never spa quality and being that neither me nor my girlfriends are professional estheticians, we need our products to do the job that we can not.  Which is why I love products from True Blue Spa by Bath & Body Works.  The brands products are spa quality without the spa prices, they really allow you to experience the true spa experience at home. My two favorite True Blue Spa products are the 60-Second Manicure Hand Scrub and the Smoothing Foot Scrub.  The Hand Scrub is a sugar based exfoliating treatment that also contains moisturizing Shea Butter.  I love starting  my at home spa manicures with the scrub because it immediately softens my hands and cuticles and allows any moisturizing products that follows, whether it's a hand lotion, masque or cuticle oil, to do a more effective job.  The scrub also has a great citrusy scent...like a blend of sugar and grapefruit.  Much like the hand scrub, the Smoothing Foot Scrub also smooths and softens, allowing moisturizing products to be better absorbed by the feet.  The foot scrub also has a great refreshing minty scent, due to the Peppermint Oil that is a part of the ingredients and that also stimulates tired feet. I may never completely give up going to a spa in favor of spa-ing at home, but for those days when the spa budget is a bit too tight or if I just want to have a girl's night in with my at home spa products and a bottle of wine, it's great to know that I have two amazing products on hand that very closely captures the spa experience and results without the steep spa price tags or having to change out of my jammies.

The warmer weather is here, which means no more hiding our hands in gloves and instead finding some great nail polishes to show off our jazz hands. And just in case you haven’t noticed, nail polish has now trumped lipstick as the recession staple. So when I received a question about nail polish recently, I thought it was a good break from some of the hair care questions the blog has been receiving lately. “What are your suggestions for a good vacation nail polish? (My swimsuits are aqua and navy.) Kathryn, Rhode Island” This is a great question because honestly how many of you have applied your most favorite polish only to have it chip a few days into your time away? I guess if you are going for the Chris Isaac/Helena Christensen “Wicked Game” video look then you are all good, otherwise it is very frustrating. First, before recommending a color, I strongly suggest Zoya Nail Polish’s Color Lock system. I cannot sing the praises of it enough and I use it with other brands because it is THAT good. Do I dare say I could potentially guarantee that your nail polish will last longer if you use it? I think I just did. If you want your nail color to be matchy matchy to the color of your swimsuit, some blues I am loving right now are Charla from Zoya. I also love Zoya's Robyn. Otherwise, I love pink (my super favorite color of all time). Again, I'd go with Zoya and they have many pink hues to choose from. But let’s open it up to you readers, can you suggest a great, long-lasting nail polish and nail color for Kathryn? Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too!