Bella Vita Spa and Salon: 2011

We have received a few phone calls and inquiries regarding the Shellac Nail Polish. We feel that it is important to share our knowledge as professionals with you. To begin with, Shellac or Axxium is not a polish. If you look on the back of every bottle of product you will see that it says "gel". Gel is an artificial nail overlay that requires to be UV Cured with every coat you adhere. All of these products should be for PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY. I had a client leave a message for management that said..."tell your manager they are losing tons of money by not offering this service." In the following paragraphs, we will line out why Bella Vita does not focus on the current "money maker" treatments and instead focuses on what is healthy and right for our guests. We pride ourselves on honesty and sharing our knowledge with our guests so that they may make the best choice for themselves.

Our manicures and pedicure are focused on hydration and the upkeep of the natural nail. Our nail techs really focus on pushing the cuticles back and only nipping away the dead skin that could potentially turn to hang nails. We use a fully organic salt scrub that is infused with 8 essential oils. We conclude the treatment with more hydration as we massage the forearm, hand and cuticles. This process will take 45 - 60 minutes (depending on what service you desire). If we were to put an artificial product on your nail, oils are not recommended. Any form of oil will only promote instant lifting of product. We are not interested in shortening the time we spend on the natural nails that promotes strong and healthy natural nails. Again....money?...or the pride in knowing we offer the best to our clients without damaging their nails.

There are two processes which can cause severe damage to your nails. The first is if the tech "roughs up" (files to abrase the surface) of your natural nail. It is often standard (yet not always done) to file the top of that natural nail so that the product has a rough surface to adhere to. The second area of concern (which is our biggest) is the removal of this "polish". It is recommended to have our guests soak their fingers and cuticles in PURE ACETONE for at least 15-30 minutes! Ladies, do you realize how damaging that alone can be? We have seen clients come in with splitting cuticles because of the drying agent in this step alone. To make matters worse, if the product does not come off completely after soaking, a tech is then instruct to use a file or an orangewood stick to further scrape or pry off remaining "polish". Do you ever tell your children to not pick their scabs? Why? ....because you will pull off healthy layers of skin and could potentially leave a scar, right? Your nail is not much different. Your natural nails are made of layers and when you peel, pry or file those layers away, you are damaging them! Some of you may say, "but my nails are so weak to begin with". Then you ESPECIALLY should not be using this process. When the "polish" is on them, your nails look great and they do not chip at all. The nail tech will even need to cut them back because you think they are growing SO WELL. We would challenge you to take those nails off and see how you feel after a week without it. You see, if your nail is weak to start and your continue to file it down, it can only become weaker. Please don’t be confused. When your nail "length" grows, that does NOT have anything to do with the layers that have been stripped off.

Our other area of concern is putting our clients under a UV light. We will not in any way promote anything that could potentially create, stimulate, cause or aggravate cancer cells. The companies of these products suggest to cover the clients hands or feet in sunblock. However, as a nail tech you are advised that any oil with promote lifting. Kinda confusing isn't it? This is where we had to sit down and truly ask ourselves.."What do we stand for at Bella Vita?" The results came in quickly. We stand for protecting our friends and guests. We stand for a company that you can always rely on to be honest and trustworthy.

Please do not get us wrong here. I’m sure there are many of you who have tried the shellac and are HUGE fans of the product and procedure. They look amazing and are very strong. We are not knocking your choices nor the salon/nail tech that has helped you apply them. We have experience many clients coming to us to help the after-affects of them. It is so important to us that we be a spa of integrity and honesty. I will inform you that OPI has another product they are getting ready to launch that is not nearly as rough on the nail and is much easier to remove. We can assure each of you that we will do our homework on this product and come back with an honest opinion.