Recently, I decided to give press-on nails a try again. All previous attempts have resulted in nails popping off within a day or two, even using nail glue. This is likely due to my strangely-shaped nail beds (flat with sharply curved sides, and two nails are "twisted" like a corkscrew so one side is lower than the other) that often leaves gaps under the press-ons.
I found some relatively cheap nails online on Shopee and bought several sets along with "jelly stickers" for adhesion. I was hoping the nail stickers would help create a smoother surface area for the press-ons to stick too! I also got both long and short nails to see if it made a difference.
The first set I tried was a 24-piece set made of thin plastic. I dipped them in hot water and pressed against my natural nails to flatten them out more and hopefully stick better. This is a trick I learned from the internet. This let me pick out which nail size fit which finger best as well. 💅
✨Point! Do not dip into the hot water for too long or use boiling water (I used just off the boil, and dipped for 1-2 seconds) or the nails may actually warp out of shape from excessive heat!
I next roughed up my natural nails with the provided nail file, which was rougher than any of the regular nail files I'd ever used before. I wonder if this made a difference? I'm very wary of damaging my natural nails, so I was quite careful about not filing over the same spot and only filed until the natural nail was all textured. It took a bit longer than videos I see online, but I wanted to err on the side of caution ⚠!
After filing all the nails, wipe them with an alcohol wipe. You can also spray alcohol on them and wipe with a lint-free towel or cotton pad. This gets rid of any oils and dust.
Then I applied the jelly stickers after sizing them to my fingers, rubbing them to get rid of any air bubbles, and then pressed each nail on at a 45-degree angle, lowering them slowly and also pressing and holding for 20 seconds to get rid of air bubbles.
While I have grown my natural nails out this long before, going from short to long in one go certainly took some adjusting to! Growing my natural nails means I adjust over time and have no problem functioning with long nails. Having the sudden length was very different!
How long did the stickers last? The nail on my right index finger, one of the twisted "corkscrew" nail beds, popped off at the end of the second day, unfortunately. I could also feel my right thumb getting a bit loose, but pressing it on seemed to keep it stuck. I was able to reapply my index finger nail with a jelly sticker and it stayed after that. Overall, I wore this set for about 5 days, which is how long the jelly stickers are advertised to stay on for.
Removal: I soaked my nails in hot water with dish soap added while watching Spiderman: Into the Multiverse on TV. Then I used the provided wooden cuticle stick to gently pry them off from the base of the nail. The jelly stickers were also easy enough to remove from the press-ons, so I can use them again in the future!
The next day, I decided to apply a second set of press-on nails. I wanted to give my nails a chance to dry after soaking them. Since soaking nails makes them swell ever so slightly, I figured that would not allow for a good adhesion.
Aren't these nails cute?
This set is a size M and only comes with 10 nails, so they have to be made to fit. Luckily, most of them fit pretty well, but the pinky nails were considerably larger than my natural pinky nails. I filed down both sides of the nails to get the width right, but there's still significant gaps at both sides of the pinkies. Only the center is held on by the jelly sticker!
So, how did the second set fare? As of this post, I'm on day 8 of wearing them! So it's really holding on well. I think they stay on better because there is not the pressure of the length hitting things, especially while typing, so less pressure on the jelly stickers. The heart on the left pinky sadly fell off on day 7, and some of the coloring on the 3D monster decorations are scratched off. I think they'll still be reusable at least once!
Other things to keep in mind with press-ons:
🌟Choose the length that fits your lifestyle!
Since my job and life involves a lot of typing on a mechanical keyboard, I likely won't go for too many long sets. I do have another set lined up for Halloween, but overall I'd prefer to stick to medium and shorter sets.
🌟Keep your hands and nails dry!
Water/soap loosens the adhesive, so wear gloves when doing dishes if possible, and remember to dry your hands and nails thoroughly after doing dishes, washing your hands, and taking a shower. I do not know how well these would fare with swimming. The prolonged soaking and chemicals in the water could possibly loosen the adhesive even faster!
🌟Do your dominant hand first~
I do each step on both hands at the same time (file, wipe, apply sticker, apply nail), but do my dominant hand first. It's easier for my dominant hand to adjust than my other hand, so having the nails on my dominant hand is easier to apply the nails to the other hand rather than the other way around. If you are ambidextrous, it doesn't matter I guess! 😹
🌟Be mindful of 3D decorations!
The decorations got caught on things for me! Especially the little "ears" on the thumb with the ball-shaped tip! The cat-ear monsters didn't get caught quite as much, but do be careful! They can get caught on towels (the loops in the terrycloth catch onto the ball tips), underwear when pulling them up after going to the bathroom, and, of course, hair!! Washing my hair was certainly a challenge with the 3D decorations. I had to be careful not to tug or break my hair.
🌟What time of the month is it?
OK, this is not something I have ever seen on any nail tips post I read while researching, but if you are in your fertile years and are menstruating, keep in mind what type of menstruation control you use!! Long nails/deco nails are fine for pads, menstrual panties, and tampons WITH APPLICATORS, but if you use a moon cup or hand-inserted tampons, make sure you can insert with your nails. You don't want to damage the skin and membranes in your vaginal canal by scratching with any deco or sharp nails!
OK, this is not something I have ever seen on any nail tips post I read while researching, but if you are in your fertile years and are menstruating, keep in mind what type of menstruation control you use!! Long nails/deco nails are fine for pads, menstrual panties, and tampons WITH APPLICATORS, but if you use a moon cup or hand-inserted tampons, make sure you can insert with your nails. You don't want to damage the skin and membranes in your vaginal canal by scratching with any deco or sharp nails!
Overall, these couple weeks has really made me excited about press-on nails! I first saw them when browsing gyaru content absolute ages ago, but previous nails I've purchased before didn't work well for me, whether applied with stickers or glue. Glue also damages the nails so they cannot be reused. I think the jelly stickers are an improvement in adhesive technology and are better for both the natural and press-on nails!
The wide variety of designs available makes press-ons so convenient for matching to outfits. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to apply, and about 20-30 minutes to remove. It's not the fastest (some people and adverts online claim it's a 5-minute job) but much faster (and more affordable) than a few hours at the salon.
Planning on wearing these for Halloween
If you take care of the nails and use stickers rather than glue, they can also be reused a few times. I'm excited to try out the other nails sets I have!
Have you ever tried press-on nails? If so, how was your experience? If not, would you ever consider it?
