For me, there are few magnificence struggles as irritating as breaking a nail or chipping a freshly-painted manicure. That, paired with my lack of endurance for spending hours sitting at a salon, has made me a simple convert to press-ons. I’ve grow to be a die-hard fan of DIY pop-on manicures, however they don’t seem to be with out their very own set of flaws — primarily that they do not final almost so long as common gel polish. That’s, till the inventive minds of magnificence TikTok entered the chat and launched a genius hack to offer press-on nails an improve and much more endurance: combining UV gel with pretend nails. The aim is to get weeks of wear and tear and salon-level high quality and shine, usually for drugstore costs.
When pandemic precautions pressured nail salons to shut up store in 2020, plenty of individuals discovered to do their very own nails, bored with sitting at dwelling staring down their unkempt cuticles. Loads of my buddies bought UV lamps and started to do their very own at-home gel manicures, whereas I stood by my primary trusty press-ons by way of all of it. However with TikTok’s magnificence group discovering a method to marry one of the best of each worlds — utilizing gel kits to remedy press-ons as in the event that they had been gel extensions — I grew to become curious to strive it out for myself.
TikTok consumer Yesy Ada has shared a number of viral movies showcasing her method to curing press-ons, together with one with greater than 2 million views and counting. In her TikToks, Ada makes it look straightforward: With a pair of Amazon press-ons on standby, Ada applies a layer of Beetles Nail Glue and cures it beneath a UV lamp. She then provides gel to the again of her press-on nail, as one would a gel extension, earlier than putting it on and flash-curing that, too.
After she finishes all 5 fingers, she pops them again beneath the lamp for one more 60 seconds, drills off any extra gel and recordsdata down the nails. Ada finishes with a layer of soak-off gel high coat, cures once more, and he or she’s accomplished.
The end result? A surprisingly straightforward manicure that appears as if she’s gone to a high salon. After watching her movies, I doom-scrolled by way of a couple of extra customers’ makes an attempt earlier than debating my very own UV lamp buy.
However first, I wished to speak to an knowledgeable and see if the viral method was secure for my nails, that are by nature somewhat flimsy. I reached out to Eunice Park, the analysis and growth supervisor at Aprés Nail, who shared some insights on the rising pattern.
“There is not any means for anybody to say that it is a completely secure and foolproof technique since you’re mixing two programs that weren’t initially made for one another,” Park cautions. “Gel works finest with gel. And press-ons have their very own programs, normally with glue. Most nail merchandise work finest when used with the system they had been meant for.”
It appears the distinction between true gel extension suggestions and the vast majority of press-ons lies largely in high quality and materials. Aprés Nail’s Gel-X’s extension suggestions, for instance, are made of soppy gel, whereas most cheap press-ons are fabricated from flimsier plastic.
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One other concern is consumer error related to DIY jobs: Improper utility or elimination of gel-cured press-ons may trigger injury to your nails and the pores and skin round them, so Park advises anybody contemplating making an attempt the pattern to follow, follow, follow. “Everybody’s palms are totally different, and even between two palms, the nails on both hand will be barely totally different,” she says.
Park additionally cautions first-time customers of the Gel-X Package or some other at-home gel kits in opposition to overdoing it on the quantity of product they use. “A typical mistake is for first-time customers to make use of an excessive amount of gel and have it spill out onto the pores and skin across the nail,” says Park. “Any gel product is de facto meant just for the nail plate. Common publicity of gel merchandise onto the pores and skin may cause pores and skin irritation to happen.”
After all, in the event you’re daring sufficient to strive the pattern, Park recommends the Gel-X Package, which comes with every thing you want, plus the model’s personal personal gel extension suggestions to make use of as an alternative of press-ons: “Press-ons are an excellent place to start out experimenting in enjoyable nails, however in the event you’re then transferring onto utilizing gel, I extremely suggest experiencing Gel-X. Our system gives sturdy, lengthy lasting nails which can be straightforward to use and nice to put on.”
With all of Park’s knowledge to information me, I (cautiously) determined to strive utilizing the TikTok-viral technique along with the Gel-X Package and my favourite press-ons, the Kiss Naked However Higher Nails. As soon as I made a decision on the precise nail for every finger, I discovered it surprisingly easy to layer on the correct coats of polish and remedy accordingly.
My nails seemed nearly as good as my press-ons normally do, however felt infinitely sturdier. Granted, it was somewhat annoying to should soak them off salon-style as an alternative of flick the press-ons off one after the other (my responsible pleasure), however for me, the longevity was effectively price the additional effort to take away them.
I’ve at all times been a press-ons woman at coronary heart, so I can confidently say I will proceed to use them with this gel-cured technique each time I’ve the time. The UV lamp and equipment may be a little bit of a splurge in a single go, however once I think about what I’ve spent at salons in years previous, it is really a better purchase.
If you happen to’re eager to place your belief in TikTok and provides the pattern a strive, discover a couple of of my favourite press-ons beneath for some mani motivation to get began.
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