Shellac, my mani and review (part 1)

Hello ladies!
Some posts ago I wrote that I was going to try Shellac. Shellac is a brand of semi-permanent nail polish that promises
- 14-day wear
- zero dry time
- mirror finish 

I had a coupon from a nail salon and a regular manicure would cost me 4 euros. So I'd thought why not pay 10 more euros and try Shellac for the price of the regular manicure? I have seen Shellac on other girls and realised that basically the "problem" is that the nail grows so there is a visible line in the root of the nail after a week or more. That's why I thought I'd do french mani so the difference won't be too much. Unfortunatelly the white polish for the tip was out of stock and I went for a colourful french!

(the pink colour for the tip is a little washed out here-no idea why, it's hot pink IRL!)

The procedure
1) Apply base coat, put it under the UV lamp for 2 mins.
2) Apply colour, put it under the UV lamp for 2 mins.
3) Repeat the previous step.
4) If you want french (like me) apply the french line and put it under the UV lamp for 2 mins.
5) Apply top coat and put it under the UV lamp for 4 mins.
6) Use rubbing alcohol or acetone-free nail polish remover to wipe off the sticky residue from nails.
And you are good to go!

Does what it promises?
- zero dry time
Yes! And I absolutely love it because the worst thing to happen to a girl is to ruin her mani as soon as she leaves the salon! So it was a very pleasant surprise that I didn't need to be careful and wait for my nails to dry.

- mirror finish
Yes, if by mirror they mean shiny. It's shiny like you've just applied top coat and it stays this way no matter how ofter you was your hands, wash dishes etc.

- 14-day wear
I can't answer this one now, it's been only 5 days since I did it. This is my manicure today

You can see the accurate tip colour here. No chipping and it's as shiny as it was the first day! To summarize, so far we have:

Pros
- Zero drying time
- Shiny
- No smudging, no chipping
- Lasts for many days

Cons
- UV lamp
- Not many colours/finishes available

How can you remove it?
You can either go to a salon to have it removed or you can remove it at home. You'll need to dip your fingers in pure acetone for 5 mins and it'll start to peel. Or you can use the foil technique which is wraping the nail and a cotton with acetone with foil. Or use the Shellac remover wraps. Use an orange stick to help it and after that a buffer to remove any polish that's left. I'll try removing Shellac in a couple weeks and report back to you if it was difficult or not and how my nails felt afterwards.

Where can you try it/cost
In Athens, I think you can try it in almost every nail salon.
I asked in a couple salons and it costs 10 euros more than the regular manicure.
Find a Shellac distributor (internationally)

Of course, after a couple weeks I'll write the part 2 of this review where I'll write about the duration, the damage it did or didn't to my natural nails, if it's easy to remove and if I'd do it again. And the anwser to any question you might have.

Note: Please note that Shellac is only one brand of semi-permanent nail polish. There are also other brands that offer it but since the one I tried is Shellac, I can only comment on this one. Another brand's polish may also need another procedure, so keep that in mind too.