Tips for Your Nails

1.) The life of your press on nail is separate from the life of the adhesive you use to attach them to your fingers.  

   a.) The life of your nails depends on how well you care for them and if you apply them with glue or tabs.  The life of the adhesive is discussed in the Application page accessible from the menu at the top of the page. Tabs allow you to reuse the nails making the nails themselves last for months and months because of the ability to reuse them, unlike with glue.

Please be aware that if you chose adhesive tabs they come off with warm soapy water. This is a benefit to preserving the nails for reusing again and again, but doing dishes in warm or hot water will loosen the adhesive tabs. 

Hint : If you use tabs, take extra tabs with you in case nails some nails loosen so you can reapply them, and a small container to put nails in if they come off and you don't want to put them back on.

2.) Any raised nail decorations , or dangling pieces will possibly create a surface to hang up on things like fine clothing. I recommend taking extra care when wearing the nail sets with raised decorations. They are glued and top coated with professional salon glues, which does help prevent issues. On the particularly large ones I do more than three top coats. 

3.) When buying raised art nails, the bulky decorations wear best at the base of the nail.

4.) Nails do stain, so avoid things like dying your hair when you wear your nails. Just be aware that if you garden, work in a barn, or other environment where your hands are exposed to rough treatment, they will get damaged.

5.) After you apply your nails, check them frequently to see if they are getting loose. I tend to press down on them periodically. To check to see if they are still adhering well, gently wiggle the nail at the top and look at the base to see if it looks like it might be rising up anywhere. if so, keep an eye on it so you don't lose it. Once it gets loose to the point where I get worried about losing it I will grab an orange stick and gently pry the nail up from the base. Don't stay in one spot, move it around to every angle working toward the middle of the finger until it unsticks. This way you can save your nails for another use.

6.) The nails will damage with acetone (fingernail polish remover).

7.) All nails have three layers of gel top coat, some have more. For example, Glitter nails get a minimum of four to five gel top coats.

8.) You can buff your nails with a clean t-shirt or soft cloth to get smudges off.

9.) Take periodic breaks from wearing press on nails with glue. Your nails need a minimum of several weeks between applications to breathe. The tabs are breathable, so no worries as much there. But it is good to break from wearing the nails periodically. When you do, it is a good time to give your nails vitamins and moisturisers. Be aware not to moisturise near your next application day.

10.) You can moisturise your nail while you are wearing your press-on nails by applying vaseline to the inside of your nail. But be aware it can weaken your adhesive.

11.) Another use for press-on nails is the when my natural long fingernails gets a broken nail, I will wear a press-on to replace the broken one while it grows out again.