making your own pre-designed tips?

[bimbogeri]

Having mooched the Pronails site and seen the crazy money they charge for their french tips that are white hand-painted onto a clear tip, and the cost of other predesigned tips (£19 for 70 tips?!) it struck me, is it possible to make your own patterned/designed tips?
Could you freehand or airbrush a design onto a clear tip and then possibly do a thin overlay of clear gel or acrylic to protect the design, the put them aside to use when you want? (Presumably as you would have to do as with the ones you buy and buff then with a white block once they're applied and before you overlay, you'd have to have protected the design first?)

It would certainly take the cost out of applying predesigned tips (is there much of a market for them anyway?) and for less confident artists could take the pressure out of, say, wedding nail art when you have to get it right in a short amount of time for a big occassion. Just make sure you have a minimum of 10 tips that you've sized in advance, and you're off! (Yes, I'm a fat great cheater :o ) Plus I could have lovely nail arted nails on myself even when I'm having a creative off-day

Has anyone tried doing it, or can see any pitfalls in trying to make them?

Lol x

 

[angel fingers]

you are a girl after my own heart, i have had all the same thoughts as you . i wanted to be able to have nice nail art on both hands but i can only paint simple things with my left hand. i didnt want the expense of the pre designed tips or the limitations. heres what worked for me;-
size a set of clear cut out well tips,
buff to remove the shine,
hand paint with acrylic paint to desired design,
allow paint to dry,
coat with young nails finish and cure for 1 minute,
apply to nails as normal,
overlay with acrylic and finish as usual

i have also done airbrush designs with success, but i did not use a base colour as i was unsure whether the young nails finish would be able to ' take 'over a complete layer of colour, if you want a background colour you could try spraying it on the reverse of the tip, and the design on the front. not tried this yet though so i'm not sure if it works.also dont know if a gel overlay does the same job as acrylic.

 

[bimbogeri]

I wonder if two coats of airbrush topcoat/sealer would be enough to protect the design underneath during the buffing process?
Presumably you only have to remove the shine, so maybe a 600gt file would take off enough shine without going through the airbrush sealer, and voila! full colour nails.
By the way, what grit are white sanding blocks meant to be? I've never figured them as any softer than a 240, just from feeling them, but always got the impression that they were meant to be higher than that?

Got a whole box of clear tips to play with, so just as soon as I've figured out what airbrush packaged I'm getting, am going to give it a try!

Lol x

 

[angel fingers]

i do not buff the finished tips before overlaying with acrylic , it has no problems sticking to the young nails finish that i use as it is a gel product.i guess its just a case of experimenting if you are using different products.white blocks are 240 grit i believe.

 

[bimbogeri]

D'oh! It hadn't occured to me that you wouldn't need to buff as it would be an acrylic product straight onto an acrylic product rather than onto a shiny nail. Will deffo give it a try soon.

 

[inspirations]

Have you had a go at that at all, because I have had those exact same thoughts.

If you have had a go, did it succeed?

 

[tinacrawshaw]

when one ov you have had a go will u post a picci for us to see? Iv just had a go on a white tip but dont know how to add pic!

 

[DNA]

BUMP

Did anyone give this a go?? I'm going to be trying it myself... Not sure how just yet tho, lol

 

[scattyfox]

Sounds good girls some one give it a go please so we can find out if it works im fed up paying large amount of money for tips that only fit people with tiny slim nail beds.
x

 

[RedAdmiral]

When I cheat a smile on my right hand I do this - mostly with glitter and complex nail art but you have to be carful that you apply only a little gel as it shrinks and can cause the tip to be uncomfortable. Even glue limits the tips flexibility.

HTHs

 

[Sassy Hassy]

I have some predesigned tips for sale in Geekbay, I don't like using them, but they were very popular and I charge an extra £7.50 a set. You can make me an offer as I just need rid of them!

 

[Carolep]

hi,

I do these tips all the time. i find the best thing to do is:

Use full cover tips - either clear or natural colour

The clear is better for airbrush designs

Airbrush your design onto the tips or use polish to create your designs.

Seal with 2 layers of uv topcoat.

To Apply:

apply a thin layer of gel onto natural nail to protect it.

Then apply your full cover nails with some nail glue

Wolla

Note: full cover nails are temporay nails and wont last too long! YOU CAN PACKET THESE NAILS AND SELL TO CLIENTS

 

[emma's nails]

i noticed that u recommend a layer of young nails which i presume is a gel nedding to be cured under UV. i only do L+P and therefore dont have any gel stuff. is there anything else which can be used to seal the art onto the tips, or has anyone tried to put L+P straight on top of the tip/art???

 

[angel fingers]

i noticed that u recommend a layer of young nails which i presume is a gel nedding to be cured under UV. i only do L+P and therefore dont have any gel stuff. is there anything else which can be used to seal the art onto the tips, or has anyone tried to put L+P straight on top of the tip/art???

yes young nails finish is a gel top gloss and does need to be u.v cured. i put it on as a precaution to seal in the design before appling the l/p, because i think the monomer would disolve the painted design. might work without it though, worth a try.