my acrylic nails are topping high prices each month what do I do? medium sometime long not XL french tips is what a mostly get. this is as short as I go. BF has been coming now but he get black tips so it is very expensive now. thinking about something at home that is cheaper. what do you do for your nails?
nails? what do you do?
- Thread starter Luv945
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ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
I use these for dance comps. They come in lots of different lengths, colors, styles, and don’t require any glue. They don’t damage my natural nails.
MaggiWrites
Active Member
Since I keep my own nails very short for several reasons, I was interested in these "no damage" ones for ballroom. I followed the link, which redirected me to amazon.ca, where it described them as Medium size. There didn't seem to be a choice of sizes. I'm a small person and I have hands with small narrow nails. Does the same company make a Small size, do you know? The only kind I've tried once were designed for children, for play. They were an exact fit, but they didn't stay in place for more than an hour before they started catching on things and getting pulled off.
Also have small hands and small nails. Kiss Impress nails are usually OK for me. They do make press on nails for kids.
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Each package contains 30 nails, of varying sizes. The largest sizes are so big you could probably wear them on your big toe. The smallest ssizes, for me, are too small to cover half my regular nail. I suspect there would be at least 10-15 nails in the package that would fit small narrow fingernails.
Probably user error but I can't get my kiss nails to stay on. I had 4 pop off as I was already 20mins late getting into the car to drive to a ballroom gala.
I didn't have time to get the others off, so I re-glued, barely moved my hands on the steering wheel and prayed they would make it for the rest of the night. They did. But started popping off again on my drive home.
I'm not confident wearing them at a comp yet. May try a few more times on low stakes events first.
I didn't have time to get the others off, so I re-glued, barely moved my hands on the steering wheel and prayed they would make it for the rest of the night. They did. But started popping off again on my drive home.
I'm not confident wearing them at a comp yet. May try a few more times on low stakes events first.
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Yikes! I’m sorry that was your experience with them! Thankfully I haven’t had that problem. Granted, they’re not designed to be permanent, so the adhesive is only moderately strong. When I wear them, I bring a little ziplock bag with some extra backup nails just in case any of them come off. A couple times, when I absentmindedly used a fingernail to pry up something or banged my finger against a hard surface, the edge of a nail came loose, and once I did have an entire nail pop off. But I just replaced it as soon as I was back at my table; no harm done.
When I drive home (or return to my hotel room if I’m at a comp), I take off the nails immediately, but I have to work at it. They don’t come off easily for me.
I do know from experience that prepping the natural nail surface makes a big difference. I use a nail file to lightly roughen the surface, then rub each nail with an alcohol prep pad, and when I put on the fake nail, I press down firmly for about 10 seconds, sort of massaging it into place all over the nail.
They’ve worked well for me at every comp I’ve entered, staying on even through very energetic dancing & sweating.
It was likely user error. I attempted to follow the directions and prep my nail bed. I also massaged the nail for 20 secs and then 10 more to try to spread the glue more evenly, but likely had air bubbles still.
The ones that stayed on were way more work to remove than I thought it would be the next day. It took me a couple of hours and I still had glue on my nail bed that I filed down (I was trying to save them for reuse vs soaking them off).
So many dancers on here swear by them, and even Ina talked about them being better for your nail health when you're a regular competitor vs frequent salon added nails in one of her videos.
I will likely try again. But will make sure I have way more time for to go through this learning process next time.
The ones that stayed on were way more work to remove than I thought it would be the next day. It took me a couple of hours and I still had glue on my nail bed that I filed down (I was trying to save them for reuse vs soaking them off).
So many dancers on here swear by them, and even Ina talked about them being better for your nail health when you're a regular competitor vs frequent salon added nails in one of her videos.
I will likely try again. But will make sure I have way more time for to go through this learning process next time.
I use the press-ons, not the ones that need glue. When I follow all the prep instructions and really PRESS those suckers on, they're good for a whole competition/gala/evening.
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
ooooo maybe we're talking about different things. The Kiss ImPress nails I use don't use glue. They just have a little piece of thin plastic backing you peel off before sticking the nail down on your finger.
I've used the ones that require glue, and I HAAAAATE them....they never come off my fingers until I do serious damage, and then my nailbeds stay messed up for months and months afterwards.
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
Me neither as to doing nails in real life. My natural nails are thin & very short & kinda flat, so they look like crap if I paint them. I type so much for my job that I couldn’t manage long nails anyway. I already struggle enough with the fake press-ons I wear for comps - can’t buckle my shoes or zip my dress or anything else useful - and I definitely wouldn’t want to be that restricted every day.
Many MANY years ago, I paid for the expensive semi-permanent acrylic tips, and they were so sturdy that I could use them for anything (like popping the metal ring to open canned drinks) - and I did eventually get used to them enough for typing & even putting in contact lenses. But it was a relief when I finally soaked them off and got my “real” hands back. (And ohmyGOSH they damaged my nailbeds.)
I wear the fake press-ons for comps because my teacher wants to elongate everything, extending my arms to wrists to hands to fingers to the tips of the long nails. And I do like the way they look in photos & videos. I don’t mind wearing them for a day or two, since they come off with relative ease & don’t cause any damage.
ProgressNotPerfection
Forum Master
I thought of another reason I like them for comps… I have osteoarthritis in my hands (and many other areas too); and as a result, my left index finger no longer straightens, and the tip (the distal interphalangeal joint, to be specific) bends about 20° to the left. So when I use press-on nails, I can disguise (or at least camouflage) that problem by putting the nail on the way my finger SHOULD point, rather than the way it DOES point. (The other visible arthritic effects, like several enlarged knuckles, are less noticeable from a distance…but when you have adjacent fingers pointing in different directions, it stands out.)
(And btw, for those of you who have joked previously that I “won the genetic lottery” in certain areas, don’t forget that I also inherited a whooooooole lot of less desirable things, including very early-onset arthritis. Genetics can be a blessing AND a curse.)
(And btw, for those of you who have joked previously that I “won the genetic lottery” in certain areas, don’t forget that I also inherited a whooooooole lot of less desirable things, including very early-onset arthritis. Genetics can be a blessing AND a curse.)