Do-It-Yourself Acrylic Nails Part 7- Advanced Acrylic Techniques

So you’ve mastered doing your own nails. Great! Want to kick it up a notch? Here are some ideas to try, see what works for you and have fun with it!

Applying nail tips with acrylic instead of glue

Prep your nails and size the tips as usual, laying out the tips you will use in front of yourself before you start. Apply a small, somewhat wet bead of acrylic to the tip well and press the tip onto the prepped and primed natural nail, holding the tip in place for 1 full minute. Be careful not to press too hard or you will press the acrylic too thin and it will not hold the tip for the life of the enhancement. It takes practice to get the correct consistency of the acrylic bead and to apply the correct amount of pleasure while the product sets. The benefit of using acrylic to adhere your tips is that acrylic will not break down in water. Glue breaks down in water and tips applied using glue can pop off if your nails are in water a lot. Another benefit is the acrylic fills in any unevenness in your natural nail creating a better and more secure bond between the natural nail and the plastic tip extension. Applying tips with acrylic takes longer than applying tips with glue, but, the bond is stronger and more durable.

Creating a more defined “C” curve

Creating a deeper “C” curve gives your nails a sleeker, longer, elegant look and a deep curve in the nail creates a stronger nail that is less likely to break. After applying acrylic and before the acrylic fully sets up, press in on both sides of the nail at the stress area to create a stronger “C” curve. The acrylic should be dry enough that it does not smooch up when you press and not so dry that it will not reshape with pressure. You will have to practice to figure out how dry is the right time to squeeze or pinch the curve. Hold the pinch for 60 seconds or longer, as needed for the nail to hold the curve. If it hurts, you are pinching too hard. Do not pinch too hard, you can cause your nail plate to separate from the nail bed.

Making your nail art last longer with a gel top coat

To make your nail art last longer allow the art to fully dry then seal with a gel overlay. You will need a thin, high shine top coat type gel and a UV or LED lamp. The thicker and more durable gel will protect the nail art and keep the art from wearing off on the tips.

Mixing it up with “embedded” nail art

Experiment with embedded nail art. Apply a thin coat of acrylic to the nail and then press pigment, rhinestones, small watch parts ( the inner workings of the watch ), small dried flowers, etc into the not fully set acrylic. Apply a full coat of acrylic over the embedded art being careful to build the structure of the nail as previously described. Be sure to use enough product so you can file and shape the nail without filing into the embedded art. The nail may need to be a little thicker than usual in order to fully embed the art within the acrylic. Practice makes perfect.

This entry officially ends my do it yourself series. I specialize in gel nail enhancements and all future blog posts will be oriented toward my salon and professional services. I hope you have learned something from my series that you can use to make your nails look better and last longer.

Do-It-Yourself Acrylic Nails- Part 6 Finishing

Welcome to part 6 in my do-it-yourself acrylic nails series. In this section we will discuss troubleshooting and caring for your acrylic nails.

Refer to my page “Nail Anatomy” throughout the next several blogs if you do not understand what part of the nail I am referring to or if you do not understand a term I have used.

Finishing your nails

Your nails are now ready to polish. Wash your nails with a plastic nail brush in soap and water. Base coat is designed to help polish to adhere to the natural nail and to prevent staining of the natural nail. You have acrylic nails on, you don’t need it. Apply 2 coats of your favorite color and one coat of quick dry top coat.

If you have used French Tips or Designer Tips you can use a 3 sided buffer to buff the nails to a high shine or apply ( I like ) 2 coats of top coat.

Caring for your acrylic nails

Your nails are jewels not tools.

Wear gloves when washing dishes, gardening, house cleaning, etc. Anything that involves the use of any chemicals and/or water.

Do not pry, pick or dig at your nails or with your nails, ever, use a tool to open pop tops, remove wall paper, peel labels off of things, get that little burnt on peice of food off the cook top, etc.

Use cuticle oil daily. Using cuticle oil keeps the acrylic nail flexible and stops your natural nail from drying out and separating from the acrylic at the free edge.

Many manufacturers say to use non-acetone polish remover. I use straight acetone to remove polish. As long as you do not soak the nail in acetone, acetone will not damage the acrylic nail. Saturating the nail in acetone (i.e. those “dip-off” jars) can melt your plastic tips from under your acrylics.

Speaking of damaging the plastic tips under the acrylic, use oven mitts, not a pot holder, to remove things from the oven. The extreme heat of the oven will melt the plastic tips beneth the acrylic and leave your nails warped and misshapen.

Nail polish is highly flammable, even after it is dry. Keep your new long nails out of the flame of a cigaret lighter when lighting your summer Bar-B-Q.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Air bubbles in the finished acrylic nail.
Cause(s): Using a pump liquid dispenser, not pressing the acrylic nail sculpting brush on the bottom of the dappen dish, shaking polish bottle ( roll the bottle between your palms to mix polish colors ), not buffing the nail sufficiently can look like bubbles in the nail polish.

Problem: Acrylic bead is gummy and unmanageable.
Cause(s): Brush cleaner was used to create the bead instead of acrylic liquid, always check your label before pouring liquid into the dappen dish.

Problem: Yellow acrylic.
Cause(s): Polish/top coat yellowed with age/sun/tanning bed exposure, contaminated acrylic liquid, smoking, exposure to chemicals, lifted product.

Problem: Lifting at the cuticle area.
Cause(s): Impropper preparation of the nail plate before applying acrylic, too dry acrylic bead used at the cuticle, not properly blended cuticle area.

Problem: Large air pocket in center of nail.
Cause(s): Hitting the nail hard enough to bend it at the stress area, using too dry of an acrylic bead at the stress area, improper preparation of the nail plate before applying acrylic, nail is too thin at the stress area, nails are too long for wearer, improperly structured nails, using your nails as tools.

Problem: Natural nail separating from acrylic nail on underside of free edge.
Cause(s): Not using cuticle oil, not wearing gloves when using chemicals, improper preparation of the nail plate before applying acrylic.

Problem: Nails cracking or breaking.
Cause(s): Not using cuticle oil, not wearing gloves when using chemicals, improper preparation of the nail plate before applying acrylic, nail is too thin at the stress area, nails are too long for wearer, using acrylic beads that are too dry or too wet, improperly structured nails, using your nails as tools.

Conclusion

I hope that the do-it-yourself readers have found something helpful in at least one of my blogs in the series. Please post any questions you may have and I will post an answer as soon as possible.

Above is a link to a very good YouTube video on doing tips with acrylic overlay. Keep in mind that it is a product specific video, meaning that it is directions for one brand of acrylic and some of the instructions, like mix ratio, are specific to that brand of acrylic. They use a gel top coat at the end that requires a UV lamp. I did not cover gel top coat in my blog series, if you have it use it. This video has all the tutorial information you need.

Next blog: advanced acrylic techniques for when you are ready to challenge yourself or just kick it up a notch.