Manicure and pedicure prices are skyrocketing everywhere. To consistently get your nails done, it may take some budgeting skills and some penny pinching. But, there is a super fun and easy alternative to paying a heavy price to get your nails done; making press in nails for yourself!
Many people have started to make their own press on nails to avoid the cost of a salon manicure. It is a much more affordable alternative, and it is a fun new hobby to get into as well. The designs can be as simple or as extravagant as you want; harder designs always get easier the more press on sets you make. Here, I will be giving a list of tools and supplies needed to make your own press ons!
Nail Tips
The nails tips are the physical press ons themselves. They are the most essential piece of making your own press ons. There are many places online, like Amazon, where you can find cheap but durable nail tips in all different shapes and sizes. Most nail tip kits will come in one shape and length, and contain about 10 different sizes, from which you can match to the size of your nail bed.
Nail Stands
Nail stands are a game changer for making your own press ons. They allow you to paint all 10 nails with your dominant hand, and you can simply stick the nail stands under the UV light and work on more nails while the other nails dry. To use nail stands, you simply size out and gather the nail tips for your set, then, you use the adhesive provided by the nail stand kit to stick the nail tips to the stands. From there, you can begin painting!
Nail Polish
There are many variations of nail polish and other similar materials on the market, such as air dry nail polish, gel polish, dip, acrylic, and more. My favorite polish for press on nails is gel polish. I find that it is easy to paint with, it doesn’t chip too easily, and curing under the UV light allows for me to paint on my design in layers and avoid mistakes that could ruin the entire nail.
To find gel polishes and a UV light, you can look on Amazon and easily find a palette of many different colored gel polishes, and a UV light for a good price. Oftentimes, you can find a palette of gel polishes and a UV light being sold together.
Base Coat and Top Coat
If gel polish is the nail polish you choose, you will need a base coat and a top coat in addition to the colored polishes. The base coat is the first layer of polish you put on the nail before the colored polish, and the top coat is the final polish you paint the nail with just before completing the nails.
These polishes are also super easy to find on Amazon! They often come in a pack together for a very good price!
Design Tools
If a simple color nail set is not your style and you would like to add designs to your nails, there are several tools I have used that can help with painting designs that can be found at good prices on Amazon!
- Liner brushes – liner brushes are very small, thin brushes that paint very thin lines. They can be used to draw designs like swirl, stars, stripes, and they can be used to paint French tips as well.
- Dotting tools – dotting tools can help make little circles and fun patterns that a regular polish brush could not. Most dotting tool kits will have a variety of sizes for all different designs.
- French tip tool – sometimes French tips can be hard, even with a liner brush. There are cheap tools online designed to assist with painting French tips. They often have a silicone pad that you paint, then press the nail into at an angle, forming a French tip. There are tutorials online that also explain how to easily master this tool.
Nail Glue
Now that your press on nails are painted and ready to be worn, you will need something to stick them to your nail beds. There are many different ways to do this, but I have always used simple nail glue. Nail glue can be purchased for very little money at drugstores or at online shops like Amazon. To properly use nail glue, first buff out your nail bed using a nail file. Then, add a drop of nail glue to your nail bed and to the back of the press on nail. Then, stick the press on nail onto your nail bed. Make sure the nail is straight; the nail glue will set in just a few seconds!
These are the tools that will help you create your own press on nail sets! It may seem like a lot of money at first when you’re buying the supplies, but after a while doing your own nails becomes a free and fun activity. Save some money and start creating your own press on nails!