Sherry2k said:
- Thanks so much ladies for letting me know. I still need practise on my smile line too (will it ever be perfect??!!) so this may be an option for me. I may invest in a set of French tips just for the practise option.
Now, another thing that puzzles me - humour me here ladies.... tips that don't need blending??????? What's that all about? Wouldn't you be left with a little step on the nail? I've heard this before about 'no need to blend' - the mind boggles. Please explain?
Thanks, Sherry.x
Ok babe, here it goes.................
A no blend tip is usually a tip that has micro contact area.........the stop gap fits snug to the nail and it just lightly buffed to give a seamless extension of the nailplate for the coating to sit on..........
You can make any tip a non blend tip by pre-blending it ..............either reduce contact area with a file or a pair of little curved scissors.............de-bulk the tip by buffing it lightly with a 240 grit buffer.
With the opaque and clear tips you wont have a step, as it is lightly buffed flush after adhesion............
Now here is how I use a french tip ..........
I still pre-blend, just leaving a tiny bit of well area, just enough for the tips stop point to fit snugly against the free edge, this reduces the ghost line you can get if you use the tip straight out of the box............take the tip hold it between thumb and index finger, take a file 180 grit and just file out the well area evenly in an away from you motion, going in one direction only, this refines the smile line to a deeper smile or a more suitable look smile line.........
If I use Fibreglass as my system, I use the fabric# system, boost resin to adhere the tip and any steps are filled in by using the brush on activator in tiny circular motions on the resin that has squished out a little, this fills in the step... Then I proceed with my overlay..........
If I was to use L&P or gel, I would use pink gelbond to adhere the tip and then buff the tip lightly ready for L&P or Gel overlay............gelbond pink, gives you a 10 second timer to ensure correct tip placement, instead of instant bonding......and no ghost shadows under the coating..................
Hope this helps a little and hasn't confused you even more..........
I know how to do it, but writing about it is harder then doing it lol..........
For the complete well free tip, place the tip where it is visualy correct. Use a thick viscosity resin again I would use boost and then fill in the step with the use of the brush on activator or gelbond if you are using L&P or Gel...