Epic Nail: Summertime Shellac Kit Review

Did you read my last review about the Epic Nail Foil Kit? If not, here is the link. The team at Epic Nail have kindly sent me out a Summertime Starter Shellac Kit* for me to show my lovely readers. I was super excited because I'm sure you all know how much of a nail art junkie I am!

Warning - this post is picture heavy!

The kit

The LED lamp - it's piiiink!

The colours I received

L-R

Sherbet Sorbet

Cheeky Pink

Big Sky

Aqua Addiction

Summer Dream

Cosmo

Here are swatches, adapted from the Epic Nail website so you have a better idea of the colours!

L-R

Big Sky

Aqua Addiction

Cheeky Pink

Sherbet Sorbet

Summer Dream

Cosmo

UV and LED activated Base and Top Coat

Bits and bobs for removal and cleaning

Foil strips

Alcohol pads

Acetone

So basically that's what came in the kit. Not pictured are cuticle sticks, I must have forgotten to photograph them. Anyway, as you can see, the kit is full to the brim with goodies! I was excited to see so many nice colours. There were not any safety/cleaning instructions included with the LED lamp so I am unsure about this, but I guess I can google it.

Now for the actual process...

 Tools of the trade

I chose pink. Of course I chose pink, it's my favourite nail colour!

Instructions

There is a sheet included with pictures and instructions, but I actually just ending up reading them off the side of the box.

I first used the base coat then set the lamp to 120 seconds. I did one hand at a time. Using the lamp itself feels a bit weird, I felt a bit of heat in my nails but it wasn't painful, just an unusual sensation. The controls on the LED lamp are very simple to use. I then ended up applying three coats of the pink polish, curing each layer for 120 seconds before applying the next layer. I then followed with the top coat, cured it and then used an alcohol pad to rub over the surface of the nail to pick up any stickyness. I actually cringed when I did this, I was waiting for that dreaded polish wrinkling and denting...but nope, it was perfectly dry and my mani was not ruined at all! How exciting! 

All up it probably took me about an hour, however, I was being a bit slow so next time it might take me less time.

Awkward hand pose

I'm glowing!

So shiny!

How awesome does it look! I totally adore the colour and how shiny it is. 

Day 5

5 days later and it still looks perfect, like its been newly done. I got so many compliments on the colour and how nice my nails looked.

Day 12

Ahh, a little bit of chipping. While it's nothing major. some of the edges are starting to pull away from the nail bed, so I thought it was time to start the removal process. Considering it can last up to 14 days, I think it's done really well! Especially seeing as it was my first time using shellac.

Set up for removal

Foil fingers

I would advise leaving the foil on for 20 minutes and trying to make sure that the acetone only contacts the nail, not the skin! Removal was quite a challenge. Not all the shellac comes off and it requires some scraping and destroying of the nail.... I had to buff down the nail surface because it is difficult to remove everything entirely. 

Overall, I think this is an awesome kit for doing shellac at home. I really loved not having to worry about chipping nails, and my mani looked great the whole time. Application is quite straight forward, but removal is difficult, so that may be a deterrent, but I think it's worth the pain. It's probably not something I'll use on a regular basis, but I certainly will use it for special occasions or if I go away on holidays and can't drag tons of polishes along with me.

Still reading? Good! I have a discount code for you. For any kit purchase, enter the discount code KITPRETTY at checkout for FREE shipping :) yay!! This code expires so on the 31st of March, so you still have some time :)

Have you tried shellac nails before? What did you think of this kit?

*product was provided for consideration and has been reviewed in accordance with my disclosure policy