QuestionI bought solar nail white powder and the liquid. Can you tell me how to use these products so i can carefully put the application on myself. elaine
AnswerHi Elaine, I take it from your question that you are not a nail tech? Did you purchase the brand-name Solarnail products by CND (Creative Nail Designs?) Or did you purchase the products that your salon uses to do "solar nails?" Because there's usually a big difference.
Applying acrylic by the book is a fairly simple process. You need to start off with VERY clean nails. Then you need to apply the primer, then the acrylic. You mix the acrylic by putting your brush into the liquid, then into the powder so that you have a ball of wet acrylic on the tip of your brush. It should be just a ball of acrylic on the very tip of the brush, NOT a big glob that is all stuck into the bristles.
Then you want to place that ball of acrylic onto your nail, gently pat it down and then brush it out smooth.
That's all there is to it. At least, that's all there is to the directions for application. If you've never done your own nails before you're about to find out why people pay me to do this for them.
What's most important to remember is that you should NOT get the acrylic on your skin. Keep it out of the cuticles, this is very much an "inside the lines" kind of job. The chemicals for doing nails are considered safe (as long as you aren't using MMA) enough for use by non-licensed persons, but repeated exposure to those chemicals while they are wet can eventually lead to chemical sensitivities that could keep you from being able to wear acrylics in the future. So be very careful.
I don't know if you got forms or tips for building your free edge? If you got tips, just glue those on before you put the acrylic on, if you got forms then it'll take longer to get the hang of those. There's no easy way to describe using forms, you'll just have to practice.
When you get all the acrylic done, then you start filing. This will probably take you quite awhile. I know when I started doing my own nails in high school I'd spend all day doing one hand then come back and do the other hand on another day.
Also, what kind of primer did you get? If you got CND's non-acid primer then you have less to worry about. If you got an acid primer then make SURE you don't spill it, or get it on your skin or on your clothes!!!!! This is a very low PH acid and it will burn. If you spill acid primer, make sure you stop what you're doing and clean it up immediately! Since it's such a strong acid you will need to FIRST get out of any clothes that it gets on and wash them ASAP. Then clean the spill up with baking soda and water.
Have you at least had your nails done in a salon before? Or been with someone else while they had theirs done? That way you have an idea of how acrylic is done... it's very difficult to describe to someone who's never seen it done before.
Also, did you get pink powder? If all you got was the white you are going to have an entirely white nail. You won't get a French manicure style. You have to have white and either pink or clear.
If you want to do your own nails, you would be better off getting a small sample kit of acrylic that is meant for people to use at home, maybe Beauty Secrets from Sally's beauty supply. A kit like that will come with directions for you to follow along with. Once you get the hang of it, then move up to the pro stuff.
