Shellac

Shellac is the trade name of one company's gel polish. In everyday speech it has become a word for gel colour in general, in the same way people say a brand name for a tissue. When someone asks whether gel and shellac are the same, the honest answer is that the branded product is one type of gel polish: a thin, soak-off colour cured under a lamp, worn for about two to three weeks on the hands.

Because the branded system is a little thinner than some gels, it tends to remove a few minutes faster and is often chosen for natural nails that are not being built up or extended.

Hamd Beauty does not name a polish brand on its menu, so the service you would book for this is the gel manicure or the gel pedicure. It will give you the same kind of result: a cured, glossy colour that lasts weeks and comes off with a soak.