Do It Yourself Acrylic Nails!

Have you ever looked at the girls with beautiful long nails with a multitude of designs and said to yourself... I WANT THOSE! Well here you go!

Here's and excerpt taken from squidoo.com on Acrylic Nails,


Do you want beautiful acrylic nails without the expensive cost?

Many years ago, I wanted to save money by doing my own acrylic nails. At that time,acrylic nail kits were scarce and you practically needed a beauty license to buy the products individually. Well, I did find and buy a nail kit, and it even came with a VHS tutorial video! Talk about back-in-the-day.. I got pretty good at doing my own nails and saved some money. I eventually started going back to the salon because I was a new mommy and didn't have as much time or the inclination to do my own nails.

Fast forward to now and I'm looking for ways to cut costs again. I recently went to a local beauty supply shop and was excited to find a lot of choices in products for doing your ownacrylic nails. I decided to create this do-it-yourself step-by-step guide with easy to understand steps to explain how to get that salon look without the salon price. Just like when you learned to paint your own nails - with a little practice it will get easier and easier.

Items You Will Need

- Cotton Balls
- Non-acetone Nail Polish Remover
- Paper Towels
- Nail Scrub Brush
- Nail File
- Acrylic Nail Clipper/Cutter
- Artificial Nail Tips (Optional)
- Nail Glue (If applying tips)
- Dappen Dish
- Acrylic Liquid
- Acrylic Powder
- Acrylic Brush (Sable recommended)
- Filing Block (4-sided, fine grit)
- Cuticle Oil

SO Step one:

Remove all of the nail polish already on your nails and 

make sure to use a non-acetone nail polish remover because acetone will take the fake nail off.

Step two:

Prepare your nails by giving them a really neat manicure to remove all the dead skin and to smooth out rough edges. Trim nails back short almost to the skin, not too far though. The reason for cutting your nail back short is that if the tip of your acrylic nail breaks, it won't take half of your natural nail off with it.

So after you've given your nails a BEAUTIFUL makeover, lets continue to step three

Step three:

Push your cuticles back, GENTLY, make sure you don't push

too hard because you could harm your nails :)

Step four:

Apply fake nail tips if you want extended length, you have to

use glue so if you don't want glue on your nails, I wouldn't recommend acrylics.

Step five:

Clip the tips to your desired length, if you don't 

want them to be long, you can cut them short but if you want them to 

have a cool design on them I would recommend you cut them a bit longer

Step six:

Apply primer to the natural nail only

Step seven:

Pour some acrylic liquid into your dappen dish.

The liquid may have a strong smell so work in a ventilated area. Dip your brush in the nail liquid and wipe the brush against the inside of the dish as you would with nail polish to remove excess liquid. Then wipe both sides of the brush on a paper towel and flatten the brush to shape it and remove any remaining excess liquid.

Step eight:

Dip the tip of the brush into the powder, or draw a line through the powder with the tip of the brush, to collect a small moist ball.

It should be damp, but not too wet. Apply this ball on the edge of the acrylic tip where it meets your natural nail. Starting in the center of the nail at the smile line, flatten the bead and brush to the tip. Flatten each side and brush to the tip. Quickly spread it out and smooth it in, but be careful not to flatten it too much as you will want it to have a natural curve towards the middle. Wipe your brush to remove excess product

Then repeat with the acrylic liquid and powder to build and copy the natural curve of your nail, apply a coat to the tip as well, just not as thick. However be careful NOT to apply any acrylic onto the cuticle area! This could cause lifting and you could develop a mold or fungus under the nail if it lifts.







Step nine:
Repeat step eight on all you nails and let them dry
(ps... it should take about 10 minutes so don't do something crazy 
with your hands before then and ruin all your hard work!)
Step ten:
Apply cuticle oil on your nails so that they won't dry out :)




Last Step:
Paint you nails and design them however you please! Whatever length you have them you can still apply whatever color you want and maybe even some designs like flowers or stripes! 
Acrylic nails grow out about every two, so you need to 'fill' them every two weeks 
BUT you know thats a tutorial for another time... for now, just acrylic AWAY :)