Shellac: Ask me anything

[jmowreader]

First, this is not about bug exoskeletons dissolved in denatured alcohol.

"Shellac" is a new, high-technology nail polish made by Creative Nail Design. It is catalyzed with ultraviolet light.

My beautician works out of a real small shop. This town is full of hair places, nail places and so on, and you need some unique product to get an edge on the competition. Because I like what she does to me, we're working together to find that new and creative product to bring the crowds flocking to her door. (I'm also the test subject--when she finds a new product, she uses it on me to see how it works.)

For about six months she's been clearcoating my nails because if that's not done, when I stick my hands in a plate processor the diazo in the developer turns them blue and they stay that way until I sand the shit off. It's not a pretty blue, either--if it was a NICE blue I'd go with it, but it's this weird green-blue that's unbelievably ugly. (And before anyone asks: when a plate processor decides to fuck up, you don't have time to put on gloves before you open the machine.) With polish on them, I pull my hands out, wipe them and the nails are normal nail color.

Anyway, she had one of those traveling sales reps come in and upsell her on this organic, all-vegan hair color. She got it in and she was SOOOOOO happy--she was going to be the only salon in town that sold organic hair dye. (For the record, it works extremely well. It's called All-Nutrient, and if you dye your hair, go somewhere that uses it.) Unfortunately, the fucker went to every salon in town with the same pitch, and now there are eight places you can get it. Oops.

One of our papers has an advertiser that offers "Shellac Manicures." Now, I know what shellac is--and it's WAY too fragile to use on someone's nails. So I did a web search and found out what it is. I took this information down there, she read it...next time I went in there she was getting ready to offer it as her new service, pending playing with it on me.

It's been on my hands for three days now. Here's what I know:

1. This is definitely a salon product. You can't do it yourself for three reasons: (1) it is seriously expensive--base coat is $16 for a REAL small bottle, top coat is $18 and the color coats are $25-$35 depending on which one you get. The different colors are different prices. (2) you can't get the shit off by yourself--it has to be soaked in acetone, then scraped off. She likens it to removing gel nails. And (3) it does not dry, it cures under UV light. The light is $300.

2. It is very, very hard. Last night I dragged the edge of an aluminum plate across my thumbnail. These are very sharp. If I would have done that to regular polish--I like OPI, which is good stuff--I would have had to repaint that nail. There is absolutely no damage to this coating. I'm impressed. (This is another reason she used it on me first--she knows the kind of abuse my hands get.)

3. It is also extremely glossy. We did a little experiment: We painted one thumbnail with regular polish and the other with this. Imagine putting a crystal glass next to a plastic one. There is that much difference.

4. The critical parts of the Shellac system are the base coat and top coat. You can use any nail polish you like between them, but you've got to let the color coat dry before laying down the top coat. If you don't you'll get really weird streaks in the color. All the CND color coats are "flat"--there are no sparkly or pearlescent colors in the system.

5. Remember, this stuff does NOT dry. If you tilt your hand before you cure the polish, it runs off to the side. Therefore, you need to do the thumbs separately from the fingers.

6. It's also more expensive to get done than regular polish--figure about $10-$20 upcharge, which is reasonable because it has to be redone less often.

I'm going back in two weeks for a re-do. I'll report on durability then.

[rug]

1. Crap, I was hoping it was about bug exoskeletons dissolved in denatured alcohol.

[amerikat]

2. What is a plate processor?

Something to do with printing?

[jmowreader]

4. Exactly

I run two "computer to plate" systems. At one end is a machine called a platesetter that's a little like a laser printer, but it's far larger and prints on aluminum printing plates rather than paper. The plate has a light-sensitive coating called Diazo on it. In the platesetter is a CO2 laser that generates ultraviolet light. The light beam (0.02mm in diameter) strikes the plate and hardens a little spot of diazo. (It can write a full 23x29 plate in 45 seconds.)

After the plate is exposed, it moves into a processing machine. The plate is first immersed in an alkaline solution that lifts off the unexposed emulsion. It's then washed, given a coat of gum arabic to preserve it, and dried.

The diazo and developer mix is weird shit, to be sure--it can't get through the oils in your skin, but it'll fuck up your fingernails for sure.

[amerikat]

6. I googled Diazo. I'm still not sure what you print

with the developed plate. Hey watch out for the fumes.

[jmowreader]

7. We print newspapers

but all offset printing plates (except violet-light-sensitive plates, which work more like photographic film--there is silver in the emulsion, and the machines are very slow--too slow for newspaper use; I run a hundred plates a night on a SLOW night and over 200 when it's busy) work the same way.

[amerikat]

8. Wow. The press room was my favorite place as a kid!!!

My father was a reporter for a newspaper. Sometimes I would go
with my mom to pick him up when he was done work. I always insisted
that we go through the press room. Rotating drums spitting out newspaper,
newspapers going up the wall at lightning speed. The pressman with
denim aprons on smeared in ink, the roar and rhythm of the machines.

Man I can still hear and smell that place after all these years.

Shellac. This was a post about nail polish right? To funny.

Amerikat

[here_is_to_hope]

3. Hmmmm....

This 'Shellac" sounds a lot like the polyester resin I use when glassing surfboards.
Very durable, deep gloss but ours is clear unless we tint it.
We cure it by exposing it to Sun light.
Solvent is Acetone-which is pretty nasty stuff to soak your fingers in.
Ours is cheaper though, 48.00 a gallon.

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/Polyester_Resins/polyester_resins.html\\

edited to add that real shellac is bug shit.

[jmowreader]

5. This is slightly different--no catalyst required

I went to your link...all the resins there require some sort of catalyst to cure. This stuff does not.

I would LOVE to be able to find a resin that doesn't need fucking methyl ethyl ketone peroxide to cure, and I'm sure you would too.

[here_is_to_hope]

9. You may have

missed one, it's the vinyl esther, says it's dual cure, mek or solar.
I have used it for complete boards, works just like regular resins but is much faster.
Cheaper too!

Solarez Polyester Laminating Resin, a mixture of polyester resin with a solar-activated catalyst, non yellowing, great wet out. For UV-Cure, Solarez will remain liquid until exposed to direct sunlight and hardens in 3 minutes once exposed to sunlight. This is an excellent choice for quick ding repairs, eliminates waiting time even in cool climates so long as an Ultra Violet light source is available. This is a "dual cure" (MEKP or UV-Cure) formulation.

[jmowreader]

10. That's cool...

And because it's sold to surfboard makers, it's obviously waterproof.