How to
Putting them on,
taking them off
Ten minutes to apply. The removal is the part worth reading twice, because that is where nails get damaged, not during wear.
Part one
Applying a set
Most of the wear you get is decided in the first two steps. Everything you need is in the box.
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01
Prep
Push your cuticles back with the wooden stick, then wipe each nail with the alcohol pad. Any oil left on the nail is where lifting starts, so do this even when your hands look clean.
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02
Size
Hold each strip against the nail and pick the width that sits just inside your sidewalls. Lay out both hands before you peel anything, so you are not hunting for a size with a strip already in your fingers.
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03
Apply
Line the strip up at the cuticle, leaving a hair of a gap rather than pushing it into the skin. Press outward from the middle to each side so no air is trapped under it.
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04
File
File the excess downward at the free edge until it separates. Filing down rather than out is what keeps the tip from lifting later. There is no lamp and no dry time, so you are finished the moment you stop filing.
Part two
Taking them off
No acetone and no filing of your own nail. What the oil does is break the bond, so the strip comes away instead of taking a layer of nail with it. Give it the fifteen minutes.
-
01
Soak
Warm water in a bowl, not hot, with a squeeze of soap and a few drops of cuticle oil. Sit your fingertips in it for ten to fifteen minutes.
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02
Oil the edge
Work more oil right around the edge of each wrap and give it a minute to travel underneath. This is the step people skip, and it is the one doing the work.
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03
Lift
Slide the wooden stick under one corner and push slowly along, not up. If it resists, stop, add more oil and wait. Resistance means the bond has not let go yet, and forcing it there is what causes damage.
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04
After
Buff off anything left behind, then put cuticle oil on and leave it. If you can give the nail a day before the next set, do.
Three things not to do
Where nails
get damaged
- Do not pull one off dryThis is the one that takes nail with it
- Do not reach for acetoneNothing here needs soaking off
- Do not file your own nailYou are only ever filing the wrap