Hard as Nails

 

With Christmas money in hand I recently headed over to Sally Beauty Supply and pick up the nail tips and Tip stickers I have wanted to try for awhile now but never seemed to have the money to get.

 

The nails come in a package of 100 with assorted sizes to match to your own nail bed and say right on the packaging “Plus Size”,  the website goes a little further and lists them for “Alternative lifestyles”

 

As you can see in the picture above the nails still have a little tip left from the production.  As this was my first attempt I did not trim the nails at all and left them at full length,  I figured they would be easier to work with.  I Did file the ends flat and got rid of the tip.  I believe I will need lots of practise with shaping the ends of the nails.

 

After I was happy with the filing of the nails I searched around the internet for a way to hold the nails onto some toothpicks to make them easier to paint.  Some methods involved gluing them and others suggested tape.  I went with the tape method although it does not hold the greatest and tends to get pet furs stuck in them leading to me franticly trying to not drip nail polish all over the place while trying to remove the fur.   I did end up finding something else that also works,  there is a putty that comes with the new Spirograph sets that is used to hold your templates down to the paper.  Even a small piece wrapped onto the end of the stick and firm pressure applied to the nails seemed to hold them on quite well.

 

The picture above is after applying 2 coats of Nina Ultra Pro Nail Polish in The Grape Gatsby.  I realized afterwards that I did not prep the nails properly.  I think I should have washed them in soap and water to remove any residue from the production process.  For the most part though I think they turned out pretty well.  The trick is taking full brush strokes from front to back and not stopping in the middle.  This leads to the nails drying streak free.

 

As a last minute idea I decided to do a sort of French tip with a of Pearl colour from the same brand called Molten Opal.  I taped the tips with regular scotch tape and put one coat of the colour on.  Two would have been better but I was worried that if I let the polish dry too much I may not be able to get the tape off and my ruin all my work up to this point.

 

In the right light the tips almost fade away kind of like ghost flames on a car.

 

After one application of top coat you have some nice shiny nails.

So all and all not a really bad process to go through if you take your time.  I tried not to rush through it and in total they took me about 2 hours total.  I did let them sit in between steps so it would work out like

Night One: Prep the nails,  apply base coat,  apply colour

Night Two: add any other designs or French tips

Night Three: Add top coat

Night Four: Ready to use

At this rate I was letting the nails dry in between steps for almost 24 hours just to make sure they were totally dry and set.

After I had finished them I of course did need to try them on and I was amazed at how well the tip stickers really hold.  You might get a evening or a day out of them if you are careful.

I am really happy with how my first set turned out and I am definitely going to be making more.

As you can see I stocked up on polish so I have many options for new sets of nails.  From left to right

1. Pretti Pink
2. Caribbean Blue
3. top coat
4. The Grape Gatsby
5. Molten Opal
6. Soho Chic
7. Base coat

 

If you are not as adventurous and would like to purchase some pre -painted and ready to be applied nails take at look at Buffer Zone Nails on etsy.  She does some amazing work.  Lots of colour and designs to choose from.  You can also catch her on Facebook and Twitter

Thanks for reading

Cynthia