Finding a glue that’s temporary yet will hold nails on securely has been a challenge, but I discovered Aleene’s Tack-It Over & Over seems to work great. It’s a pressure-sensitive glue intended let you reposition stuff (similar to the way Post-It notes work). You can find at craft stores. Since the instructions say to blot it on the back of your hand before applying it to a surface I’m reasonably sure it’s non-toxic.
Here’s what I did.
First I started by painting the nails beforehand. I got a 3-foot length of 1/4-inch square dowel and applied a strip of double-sided tape (to hold the nails in place while painting them). Since the tape tended to “unfold” off the towel, I used some regular Scotch tape around the back to hold the double-sided tape in place. Then I put the nails down on the dowel, spaced about an inch apart to allow enough space to be able to paint the whole nail cleanly. Then painted like you’d normally would. (Since the nails can be reused, it’s worth putting on two color coats and top coat. Be sure to wait at least 10 minutes between coats and give it an hour to dry after the final coat to avoid smudging.)
It doesn’t have the same ritual appeal as doing them on you fingers, but it’s a lot less messy and you can do your nails ahead of time, so you’re not waiting for them to dry before going out. I went ahead and did a couple sets in different colors.
Once the nails were dry, I took them off the dowel and flipped them over and applied the glue, spreading it around the inner surface of the nail. (Be sure not to let the glue spread beyond the area where your nature nail will go.) I then let it sit for awhile (I shaved and did my make-up) to let the glue get tacky so it wouldn’t run off while I was putting the nails on. It takes at least an hour or two for the glue to dry to a gel, and this is critical, since nails won’t stay on securely otherwise—as I found out to my embarassment. However, once it’s reach the gel state, it seemed like it stays that way.
Just to be safe I left on the clear coat I normally wear on my nails before putting on the fake ones (to avoid any effects from the glue). (Note: I’ve since found the nails stick better without polish.) Once on, the strength of the glue seems to be comparable (or maybe a little stronger) than the Kiss One-Step nails I’ve used. I wore them for an evening (including doing a bit of typing on the computer), slept in them and even took a shower with them the next morning just to see how much they could take.
One did pop off while lifting a heavy box, probably it just got pushed at the wrong angle. I discovered that once a nail comes off, you can press it back on, but the bond isn’t that secure, so it would be better to apply new glue. Another came off in the shower, so like the One-Step nails, it may be sensitive to water.
Getting them off wasn’t difficult. I just took the orange stick that’s included with the nails and used it to loosen each nail, starting from the outside and working slowly in, so as not to use too much pressure.
There was a little bit of residue on my nails, but it came off with a good washing. (The bottle suggests using vegetable oil to clean up, but I didn’t need to.)
So far, so good—I can use something besides the One-Step nails, which can’t be painted. (Since they’re French manicure-style, you get a two-tone appearance if you try to paint them.) But the real test was whether I could more than one wearing out of them.
With a little scraping (with both the orange stick and my fingers), I could get most, but not all, of the old glue off the inside of the nails. (I didn’t think to try the vegetable oil.) Applied a new layer of glue over the old, and lo and behold it seemed to work as well as it did the first time.
Some caveats, I didn’t wear the nails that long—less than a day—so I suspect like the One-Step nails, it only good a few days at most. Second, the old glue does accumulate, so I’m not sure how many wearings you can get out of them. (But I’ll let you know once I get some road time with them.)
One nice advantage of this method over the One-Step nails, is you can prepare a duplicate set (sans glue) which you can throw in your purse with a set of nail (sticky) tabs—or a tiny bottle of the glue—for use in emergencies. Donna T. suggests using Glue Dots, which look interesting, but I haven’t used them myself.
