How to do Acrylic Nails yourself

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By joenmandy
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Article Rating: (3 Ratings)

French Acrylic Nails

I have been doing nails for over 5 years now in cosmetology school and also at home. I will tell you how to do them yourself without the expensive charges of going to a nail salon.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Nail tips. If you want french nails, go to sally's beauty salon and pick out a multi pack of white tips.
Nail Glue. The 5 second glue works really well.
Nail prime pen or bottled primer (pen works better)
A buffing block (square one)
A regular nail file
Acrylic nail cutters or scissors
Powered Acrylic- Pink or White
Cuticle Pusher (wooden)
Nail paint brush
Glass cup for acrylic liquid

Step 1

Start by taking acetone nail polish remover to your nails. The goes even if you do not have anything on your nails. It will remove extra oil, etc.
Step 2

Next, Take the wooden cuticle pusher and begin to push your cuticles back. Be gentle or else you will hurt them and you dont want acetone or acrylic in a wound! After doing that, Begin to roughen up your nail bed with a regular nail file. Make sure to get into all the corners, etc.
Step 3

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o163/petitgift/nail-sq-white-1.jpg

Now, Open your nail tips and begin to find tips that thoroughly cover the entire tip of your nails. Apply the tips evenly on each nail with the 5 second glue. Make sure nails are fully attached before proceeding. This is where you will trim the nails with nail trimmers to the length you want them.
Step 4

http://tammytaylornails.com/Professional/ttown/ttown_2002/06-2002_summer/pix/pwbk157.jpg

Next, Open the acrylic liquid and pour a small amount in the glass bowl. This is extremely strong so open a window! Next, dip the brush into the liquid and then run it against the corner of the glass to remove excess (not all) of the liquid. Slowly, dip the brush into the acrylic power and form a ball (picture below)
Step 5

Place ball on nail near cuticle. Pat the ball into the spot and make it as flat as possible. If need be, you can take a little acrylic liquid and firmly run the brush over the entire nail straight down towards the tip to allow for even flat nail coverage.
Step 6

repeat this process on all nails until your are done. Next, take the wooden cuticle pusher and tap the nail. It should make a clicking noise and not a "thud" when it has hardened. Now, Look at the nails..do they have a uniform shape? If not, take a polar block 203006 (available at Sally's Beauty Store) and buff the entire nail. Buff until it looks even all the way around.
Step 7

Next, take a finer block (blue square block)Which is fine/super fine. This will give the nails a good final finish. repeat if necessary
Step 8

Next, Wash your hands and dry them. If there are any spots that need to be worked on, feel free to use the rough block and then go back over it with the finer block. Repeat hand wash. Once you have then the way you want them, you can take a clear coat to them to make them shine.

Comments

letstalkhow2 said

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on 8/3/2009 thanks for the tips...

on 7/24/2009 aleahlamara,
put the diamonds or whatever you choose into the acrylic while it is still tacky. Try not to push hard because it will mess up the nail and you will have to start over :) once nail is completely dry, put a clear coat over the entire nail. If you want a different color for acrylic, go to sallys beauty salon and tell them you want colored acrylic powder. Hope this helps!

aleahlamara said

on 7/24/2009 this was awesome i tried it and it was good...but i have a question my sister gets hers done professionally and one day she came and her nails had "diamonds" where the white tip begins, if i wanted to put the diamonds or even a different color nail polish how would i

lighthouse1958 said

on 7/3/2009 I don't go and have mine done because it takes to long to do them. Doing them at home myself is alot better. Thanks for all the steps, they were helpful and alot cheaper too. 5* and rec.