I finally decided to go get my nails done at a Salon with one of my gf's for her birthday. We went to a place called 'Studio Nails'. The people were friendly and it took maybe a total of a half hour or a little less to get our nails done.
While I've decided I don't really like Acrylic Nails, I value the experience there because just watching them was a learning experience on how I might do this at home.
Here is how my nails turned out. I was pretty happy with them.
This wasn't a cheap trip. The total cost was about $70. The nail tech started by filing the tops of my nails down then gluing on the tips. I can't remember if she used a bonder/primer before applying the acrylic or not but anyways she applied a few layers of acrylic, cured in the lamp, then filed that down to even them out using an electric nail drill/file, then applied the gems and white nail polish and finished with a top coat of gel overlay also cured in a lamp.
A couple of my gems fell out after 4 or 5 days but other than that the nails were very sturdy and lasted a total of 4 weeks before I decided to remove the acrylic completely.
Now they say you go to get a fill-in every 3-4 weeks ($35), but that's not true. Both me and my gf needed a fills after 2 weeks. You can imagine how expensive that is then for the upkeep of salon nails....and I also like to change up my nails, I get bored of the same thing after a week or two so if you're like me and like to change your nails then acrylics are not the nails for you.
I removed them using the process I explained in my previous post. My nails underneath were thin and a bit stained. I've also heard horror stories about unsanitized nail tools at salons that promote nail fungus and other infections...so that scared me off a bit from the salon as well.
Anyway that's when I started doing research on gel and whats available and I ran into IBD soak-off nail products which I will explain in my next posts. I'm still in the process of testing out my IBD nails so keep following along!!
~Gwen S~
This is a "How To" on getting rid of your acrylic nails. I've struggled with this so much and have made my nails so brittle doing this the wrong way.
You don't need to go to a salon to get your nails soaked off.
First here's some tools you need to have to start this process:
1. 100% Acetone ($3 or $4) at Walmart, Shoppers, or other drug stores or department stores.
2. Metal Cuticle Pusher/Scraper
3. Nail File (rough grit or electric nail drill)
4. Cotton Balls
5. Aluminum Foil
6. Cuticle Oil
These things are ESSENTIAL to get this done quickly and properly. And it's still not a fun process.
In my previous post I was saying how I used to soak my nails in a bowl of acetone for 15-20 mins. This is just not the way to go...trust me. Its hard on your nails and your skin and the smell will give you a headache.
What you want to do first is cut your tips as short as possible and file the top of the nail down as much as possible. Be careful to file down your actual nail. The purpose of this is to physically remove as much of the acrylic as possible before using the acetone.
Then take the aluminum foil and tear them into thin strips that can easily wrap around your fingers.
Have a bunch of cotton balls at hand (I tear each cotton ball into smaller parts, just big enough to cover each nail) and soak the cotton balls in the acetone, place it on top of your nail and wrap your finger with aluminum foil (this prevents the acetone from evaporating).
This is a way better way of doing it because your skin is left alone, although if you want you can put some petroleum jelly on the skin surrounding the nail to protect it even more.
And you just wait.....for 15 mins or so.
After 15 mins remove the foil (only one finger at a time) and take your metal cuticle pusher and scrape away the acrylic. It will be mushy and should scrape away fairly easy. If not, replace the cotton ball and foil and soak for awhile longer.
Only remove the foil one finger at a time. If you remove all of the foil at once, the acrylic re-hardens and you will have to replace the foil and soak again. So work with one finger at a time.
If you have soaked your nail long enough the acrylic will be mushy and will scrape away. You have to be fairly quick because the acrylic will harden.
After you have removed the acrylic from your nails, wash your hands and apply cuticle oil. Your nails might be very brittle after having acrylic on them. You might choose to put on a nourishing top coat then applying cuticle oil afterwards.
Be good to your nails for a bit because they will need a little TLC.
I know I'm not the biggest fan of acrylics. I like how they are durable and very long-lasting but I definitely prefer gel to acrylics...which I will talk about in another post.
~Gwen S~
After my experience with DIY gel nail kits (lightless) I decided to try and tackle DIY Acrylic nail kits (also lightless).
For those of you who don't know the difference between gel nails and acrylic nails (because it took me a long time to learn the difference!) is that acrylic is a porous material used on nails, it's extremely tough and long-lasting and gel is literally a gel put on the nail and hardened (either cured under an LED or UV or used with an activator to harden). Gel is not porous. They both have pros and cons.
I have found acrylic to be extremely hard to work with, and its a much longer process when doing it at home.
Anyway, after trying the gel nails (in my previous post) I decided to try the DIY KISS acrylic nails, also lightless. You can pick this kit up at Walmart or Shoppers Drugmart for about $12-$16 CDN.
My first few experiences were terrible with this. It's messy, and expect it to take a very long time if you want to do it right.
The kit comes with tips, orange stick, nail file, glue, acrylic powder, acrylic liquid and a brush.
First part is the same as any kit, you cut your real nails, file the tops a little bit (so nail sticks better) and you find the right nail size and glue tips to your nails.
Like I mentioned in my last post, I definitely didn't know about all the different helpful nail tools there are (like electric nail drills, nail tip cutters, etc). So I cut the nails with regular nail cutters and once again took an hour or so to cut and file each nail into the desired shape.
Then you clean your nails off and pour the acrylic liquid into a dappen dish (or glass bowl) and you dip the brush into the liquid so it's wet, then drag the brush tip along the powder to form a ball at the end of the brush.
You then pad the ball onto your nail to form a flat surface. This is all in the instructions. It's also extremely hard to do...if you've never shaped nails with acrylic before.
So after I did that to all of my nails I was left with very uneven surfaces of acrylic on my nails. As I mentioned earlier this acrylic didn't need a lamp so it dried on it's own.
After all of my nails had dried I had to file the surfaces down so I didn't have any uneven ridges...this also took another hour to get it perfect. Finally after that's done you apply a topcoat to give it a smooth and shiny top.
This whole process takes a very long time if you do it the way I did...and in the end it's not worth it.
Acrylic is extremely durable, I had no problem with lifting or tips falling off or the acrylic breaking. But for some reason the tips yellowed after some time... or at least I thought it was the tips. It was actually all the acrylic. And this is very common with acrylic, especially with the at home kits.
So I wouldn't recommend a DIY lightless Acrylic kit. It also takes an EXTREMELY long time to soak them off. I used to soak my fingers in acrylic for 15-20mins (which is very hard on your skin) and then I discovered an easier way to do it...which I'll discuss in my next post :)
