Everything You Need to Know For Your First Set of Acrylic Nails

For every woman, their nails are their business card; we all want to feel good and look good, they are the definition of glamour in the beauty world. Acrylic nails can offer us a wide range of choice in designs shapes and lengths. Acrylics are the only way to make your mani last weeks with no signs of chipping or breaking. Let’s face it, whether there is nail art involved or you are booking in your bridal manicure, longevity is key. This can be done to match the nails shape or to extend the nail length.

What are acrylic nails?

Acrylic nails are enhancement made from the mixture of a liquid like an ethyl methacrylate and a polymethyl powder which is then applied by the nail technician using a brush. Once finished, the mixture hardens and become stronger through exposure to air. They are perfect for people who want the look of long nails but have trouble growing their own natural nails or have weak nails that break easily. We can apply them either using tips or forms (also known as sculpted) or directly on the natural nail. There are quite a few different types of acrylic powder on the market today. Valentino, Glam and Glits, Glitterbels, with a wide variety of colour, shimmer, mood effect and glow acrylic just to name a few. They can be used themselves or blended together to create different nail looks.

Who invented acrylic nails?

You might be surprised to learn that acrylics as we know them today were first developed in 1934 by a dentist named Maxwell Lappe. He created these artificial nails in order to help nail-biters curb their habit. Chemists now have developed improved techniques to make acrylic nails look more natural.

How are acrylic nails applied?

After you choose your preferred nail shape, length, and colour, your technician should begin your acrylics appointment by cleaning, soaking, and filing your natural nails. If you requested length to be added to your nails, they’ll add artificial tips or sculpt them on the form. (If you requested very short acrylic nails, they will do an acrylic overlay on natural nails) Next, nail techs will apply an adhesive before attaching the acrylic nails to all your nail beds. Then, they sand down and shape the acrylics. Finally, they add any additional polish, accessories, or nail art that you asked for at the beginning of the appointment.

How to remove acrylic nails at home ?

It is highly recommended to go back to the nail technician or salon where you got your acrylic nails done to have them removed. After all, the professionals are the ones that are most experienced in knowing exactly how to soak off acrylic nails and file them down in an efficient manner. However, sometimes going to the salon right away isn’t possible and you absolutely need to know how to remove acrylic nails at home for one reason or another. If you must learn how to take off acrylic nails at home, you want to be sure you do it safely. It Is best to soak your nails into acetone until they’re totally soft and then file the acrylics off one by one. As you can imagine, these instructions about how to get acrylic nails off can take quite a bit of time to complete in real life. But it’s a much better method of removing acrylic nails than trying to pull them off manually. Overall, trying to learn how to remove acrylic nails without acetone or a file is a pretty bad idea. If you try to do that — especially while your acrylics are still hard — you can say hello to some seriously brittle and weak natural nails in the future. No one wants that!

How long do acrylic nails last?

Acrylics should last two to three weeks before they need infills or removal. This can vary from person to person. Some people can go three weeks with barely any lifting while others - particularly those with naturally very oily nails or nail biters – may find theirs lift a lot sooner. They may even lose nails as they have weaker foundation to apply the extensions to.

There are lots of other factors that can affect how long acrylics last - from doing housework without wearing gloves to using your nails to type or doing a job that involves a lot of manual labour. A lot of it, however, is down to the quality of nail you go for -and that can differ massively in terms of the products and methods used. MMA (methyl methacrylate) is banned by the FDA for any use that comes into contact with the skin, and yet is very common found in the products used in (NNS) salons, most likely because ethyl methacrylate – the safe alternative - is considerably more expensive. As well as being a harmful product, it adheres to the nails very strongly so can result in a whole nail being ripped off (you can google “MMA damage to nails” to see what I mean), and also because of this it is incredibly hard to remove when soaked off and can often cause damage to the nail that way.

How do you take care of your acrylics?

If you have acrylic extensions, be gentle with your nails for the first 24-48 hours after they are applied. It takes time for the bonding process to be completed.

• Protect your nails by using gloves when doing housework and garden work. This will protect the condition of the nail.

• Stay away from the heat and fire, this may cause nail extensions to melt.

• Remember to moisturise your hands.

• Use cuticle oil, this will nourish the nail resulting in a stronger natural nail.

• Do not pick off your nail extensions as this will remove the top layer of your natural nail, compromising its health and quality.

• Always have your nail extensions professionally removed in salon to prevent damage.

• If there are signs of a lifting, come into the salon to correct the enhancement before water and bacteria settle under the nail causing infection.