Adelaide Nails and Beauty is still my favourite nail salon!
At the time of my last review, I had been getting shellac manicures, however I found that my nails started to often split at the sides where the white tip meets the nail still attached to my finger (does that make sense??). I also found it difficult to grow my nails longer than 1/4 of a centimetre over the edge of my finger, which made it hard to change my nail shame from anything except square or squoval (square with rounded corners). The few times I was able to coax my nails to longer lengths, I found that certain nail shapes I prefer (almond and coffin) weren't feasible with just shellac polish as it just wasn't strong enough, especially with my weakened nails.
I explained my predicament to one of the older nail technicians, and she told me that the salon was just starting to do SNS nails. SNS nails are kind of like acrylic nails minus the extension. SNS is the process of dipping your nail into the coloured powder and then setting it with a liquid seal. Basically, a layer of clear polish is placed on your nails, then your nail is dipped into a pot of either clear base powder or coloured powder, sealed, and repeated 4 or 5 times. It's a lengthy process (an hour easily), and it looks reeeeeal weird during the application, but trust me, it's all worth it in the end.
I've had SNS nails 3 or 4 times now and my nails are so much stronger than they were with shellac. My nails haven't broken, peeled, chipped or split since having SNS instead of shellac, and I can grow my nails so much longer and achieve both almond and coffin nail shapes easily. SNS nails look much more natural than acrylic nails, but (for me anyway) have the same strength. They're also not as heavy as acrylic nails, and are much thinner, adding to their natural (well, not acrylic) appearance.
The main downside of SNS is the price. Shellac costs $35, whereas SNS is $50, and even more if you want your cuticles trimmed or any other manicure staples. By going every 3 weeks instead of every 2 weeks as I used to when getting shellac, it works out to a similar price for me, but for those who like getting their nails redone bang on every 2 weeks the cost would add up quicker.
I'd recommend SNS nails to anyone after a longer-lasting polish than shellac ), or those looking to grow their nails longer. If you keep your nails short, shellac is probably enough. read more