Many are interested in how to grow nails at home. There are several ways, and which one to choose depends on the desired end result. International standards of modern modeling are constantly rising, new materials and technologies are emerging. But for home nail lengthening, you can choose a simple proven method of modeling on tips.
Materials such as gel and acrylic are used for lengthening. You can choose acrylic, then you don’t have to cut the extended nails for a long time during correction, since this is a soluble material. In addition, a manicure UV lamp and an apparatus with a cutter are not needed. If the lamp has already been purchased and there are several gel polishes, you can purchase a three-phase modeling gel system and build up.
An alternative to salon hair extensions
In the arsenal of a salon manicurist there are many convenient tools, sterilization equipment, several brands of materials. All this is deprived of an amateur who does nails at home. Therefore, technologies that do not require complex training,especially interesting.
Nails are modeled in two main ways: with the help of forms or with the help of tips. Forms are paper or foil templates that are butted against the nail and applied to them with a material that polymerizes and becomes hard. Tips are ready-made linings made of plastic. They are glued directly to the nail, and then the polymerization material is laid on them.
It is worth dwelling on the technique using tips, and consider how to build nails at home with gel and acrylic.
Modeling steps
In both techniques there is a similar sequence of actions. These are certain stages in building. Let's consider how to build up nails in stages at home using a jacket as an example.
- Preparation. To begin with, the nail is cleansed of the overgrown skin, the length and natural shine are removed with a buff. Then the nail is degreased and treated with a primer.
- Tips are glued. Before that, they are tried on, selected for each finger, and laid out alternately for each hand. After that, all ten tips are glued and cut with a tips cutter to the desired length. The powders formed on the nails from tips are cut off so that the surface remains even.
- The nail bed is laid out in camouflage, forming an apex.
- Spread the free edge with white material.
- Fielding.
- Artificial nails polished or topped.
You can simplify the technology,combining points 3 and 4. In this case, lay out the camouflage with one drop and, after sawdust, draw a jacket with white gel paint.
Gel Lengthening
The following materials and equipment are required for gel lengthening:
- Lamp.
- Manicure tools: pusher, leather nippers, nipser, dusting brush.
- Peels 150, 180 grit, buff 240 grit.
- Gel-base, camouflage and white gel for French painting, top gel.
- Gel brush.
- Cleanser and acid-free primer.
- Tips and glue.
- Tip cutter.
This is enough to grow nails at home with gel. The video explains how to do it in detail.
Gel technology
Many designs are made with gel, in particular, a colored jacket. Its technology is more complicated than that presented in the video, because the nail bed is laid out separately from the free edge. It will be difficult for a beginner to do this, so there is another option - drawing a jacket.
How to grow gel nails at home:
- Preparing the nail.
- Glue tips and shorten them.
- Sawdust tips, removing shine from the nail.
- Degreasing, primer treatment of natural nails.
- Apply base gel, curing 1-2 minutes in UV lamp.
- Camouflage gel application, curing 2 minutes.
- Sawdust.
- Drawing a jacket with white gel, polymerization 2-3 minutes.
- Apply top gel. Polymerization 2-3 minutes.
Features of using the gel
Gel should be worked carefully and slowly, because fast movements will introduce air into the gel, and it will be difficult to get rid of the bubbles. After polymerization and sawdust, they will leave ugly craters on the surface. Brush movements make zigzag. The gel tends to reach for the brush, this is used to cover the surface with the desired layer. Be sure to seal the ends.
When modeling an artificial nail, a transverse arch is built, which, when crossing with a longitudinal one, forms an apex - the highest point. It should be in the middle of the natural nail bed. To build gel nails at home yourself, it is enough to remember that without these arches there will be no strong nails. Therefore, the gel is applied, and not applied like varnish.
French drawing can be done using stencils, removing them immediately after application. If the line is a little smeared, it is corrected with a brush dipped in alcohol.
Acrylic extensions
The following materials and equipment are required for acrylic extensions:
- Manicure tools: pusher, leather nippers, nipser, dusting brush.
- Files 150, 180 grit, buff 240 grit, polisher 1000 grit.
- Acrylic powder.
- Monomer.
- Degreaser and acid primer, glue for tips.
- Tips.
- Tip cutter.
- Acrylic brush.
This is enough to grow nails at home with acrylic. The video explains in detail how to do it. After the procedure, nails can be covered with any varnish.
Acrylic technology
In acrylic technology there is no French drawing, but it can be done with varnishes. On acrylic nails, the varnish holds well without chipping. Since the extension will be covered with varnish, you can take any acrylic powder. The most popular is transparent, which forms nails similar to natural ones.
How to grow acrylic nails at home:
- Preparing the nail.
- Glue tips and shorten them.
- Sawdust tips, removing shine from the nail.
- Degreasing, primer treatment.
- Applying a large drop of acrylic and spreading it over the nail, lining up the apex.
- Sawdust.
- Polishing.
- Applying polish, design.
Recommendations
To grow your own nails at home, as in a salon, you need to purchase a manicure device. They perform manicures and sawdust of artificial nails. It will help with correction. There are situations when you can’t do without it: it’s easy to remove excess material near the cuticle with a thin cutter, cut out the arch under the free edge after correction. You should not take a cheap model for home use, it may not have enough power. It is better to buy a manicure device with speed control, reverse, foot pedal and a speed of at least 2500 revolutions per second. This is semi-professional equipment that will not let you down and will last a long time.
Purchasing a lamp forpolymerization of gels, it should be borne in mind that not all gels dry out in a small 9-watt lamp. In any case, the process is delayed, increasing the drying time by two or three times. Better 36-watt model with four removable bulbs that need to be changed every six months. There are also combined lamps in which UV bulbs and diodes are combined. It is preferable to purchase such a lamp, since this will significantly increase the speed of work and all gels (both UV and ICE) will dry well.
When purchasing tips, it is better to give preference to transparent ones. There are translucent cream-colored tips that mimic a natural nail. They will not fit: their border can be seen through the camouflage when lengthening the nail bed, so it is better to take tips without pigment.
Tips are convenient
Tips are considered not quite a professional way of building, but sometimes even masters resort to it. In the case of too large pads on the fingers, it can be impossible to substitute the form, then the tips help out. Although they should not be pressed in, there are tips with a pronounced C-curve and a deep smile line.
You can build up nails with tips at home, as in the salon. To do this, you need to do everything carefully and slowly. If the tips stuck crookedly, do not tear it off - it will be removed with the top layer of the nail. It is better to use nail polish remover with acetone, then it will dissolve. Do the same when you need to remove acrylic nails. But the gel ones are insoluble, they have to be cut down.
Instructions on how to grow nails at home
To build up, you should prepare everything you need and allocate enough time. A manicure can be done in advance, one or two days in advance, so as not to waste time on it and not accidentally cut the cuticle. Sterility is essential to success in modeling, and drops of blood will break the adhesion to the artificial material. Cure times in this manual are based on a 36-watt UV lamp.
How to grow nails at home step by step:
Step 1: Selecting and gluing tips.
In order to choose the right size tips for each nail, they are tried on with alcohol-treated nails. The width of the tips should be equal to the width of the nail along the smile line from edge to edge. Having picked up all ten tips, they begin to stick them. A drop of glue is applied to the contact zone of the tips, distributed and set at 45% at the end of the nail, slowly putting the tips on the nail and expelling air from under it. Hold like this for 5 seconds. When building to oneself, first glue 5 tips on the right hand, make an extension, then move on to the left.
Step 2: Cutting off the tips. Without touching the natural nail, remove the step that was formed after gluing the tips. With a 180 grit file, several movements are made. Tips cut well, it is quite soft material.
Step 3: Remove the natural shine from the nail.
Buff 240 grit removes gloss from nails and tips. Don't forget about the butt.
Step 4: Degrease and primer.
After brushing off the dust from sawdust, the nails are degreased with a clinser or a prep primer that has an alcoholcompound. After drying, a little primer is applied with a brush: for gel extension - acid-free, for acrylic - acid. In the latter case, they act with extreme caution - this is a very strong acid! Contact with skin can result in chemical burns. Nails are keratinized cells, so they do not feel the action of acid. But keep in mind that for all five nails, the amount of primer from a well-wrung brush is enough.
Step 5 (for gel technology): Apply base.
The base is applied thinly with a brush, as if painting nails. Polymerize depending on the manufacturer for 1 or 2 minutes. A sticky layer will remain. The following material will be overlaid on it.
Step 6: Apply camouflage material.
The nail is covered with camouflage that imitates the color of the nail. In both technologies, an apex is built. In gel technology, you can apply the method of turning the hand over. In this case, the material on the nail naturally forms a drop. Its top is the middle of a natural nail, that is, the drop will be asymmetrical. Polymerization 2-3 minutes.
Step 7: Sawdust.
Nails are rubbed with a degreaser and filed. Then they grind and polish if desired.
Step 8: Final step.
This is a top gel that dries in 2-3 minutes, or regular nail polish.
Common mistakes
Currently sold kits with a lamp and gels, which do not come with detailed instructions. Their customers, not understanding how to build upnails at home often make the following mistakes:
- Insufficient sterility during extension.
- Insufficient or excessive filing of the nail surface.
- Excessive wetting of nails with acidic primer, getting it on the cuticle and side ridges, which leads to a chemical burn.
- Insufficient drying of the material in a weak lamp or a device with light bulbs that have exhausted their life. They burn, but emit very little ultraviolet radiation.
- Insufficiently accurate application of the material, which is difficult to correct at the sawdust stage. We have to report the material and repeat the operation.
Forewarned is forearmed. Now you are prepared theoretically, it's up to practice. That's all about how to grow nails at home.
