Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Nail Tips

I have worn artificial pre-glued press-on fingernails like forever and over that time, I learned a thing or two that I want to pass along to you.

As I wrote in my previous post, I have lady fingers, so press-on nails fit me fine. However, if you have manly mitts, press-on nails may not be large enough for you. 

Even with my lady fingers, size may be an issue particularly with my thumbnails. Over the years, when I strayed from my go-to brand of nails, I had to occasionally discard the new set because the fake thumbnail was too small.

If you are shopping in person for nails and the thumbnails are visible in the package, you can kind of compare your thumbnail with the fake thumbnail and decide whether they are a good size for you.

For what it’s worth, I never had a size issue with my other lady fingers... just the thumb.

I prefer pre-glued nails as opposed to the nails that use glue applied from a tube or bottle. The consistency of the pre-glued nail glue is like rubber cement and it molds between your natural nail and the fake nail for a better grip. The glue that comes in a tube or bottle is too watery. As a result, the glue’s contact points between your natural nail and the fake is inconsistent and the result may be a loose or lost nail.

Also, when it comes time to remove fake nails, running your fingers under hot water does the trick with pre-glued nails, whereas you have to use acetone to remove nails that use the tube/bottle glue. 

“Breathing moderate to high amounts of acetone for a short amount of time can irritate your nose, throat, lungs and eyes. It can also cause headaches, dizziness, confusion, a faster pulse, nausea, vomiting, effects on the blood, passing out and possible coma, and a shorter menstrual cycle in women.” (Source: Delaware Health and Social Services)

Whereas you can remove pre-glued nails easily, they stay put as long as you avoid soaking your fingers in hot water. Whenever I go away to spend some time as a woman, I always pack two or three sets of pre-glued nails under the assumption that one set will not survive the whole length of my stay in Manhattan, Dayton, Provincetown, wherever. I usually surprise myself and find that one set does the job for the whole stay even during a 7-day stay like at Fantasia Fair.

You might thinking, “What a pig! Doesn't she ever wash her hands?”

Au contraire. I clean my hands, but I just avoid using hot water. I use a hand sanitizer to be germ-free and use soap and warm water to remove dirt — I just go easy with the water around my fingernails and I never soak my fingers in water for any length of time.

Another tip to keep your artificial nails in place: Clean your natural nails with alcohol before you apply the fakes. The alcohol will remove any oils and other substances that may affect how well your fake nails adhere to your natural nails.

Still another tip: Use an emory board or a cuticle remover to clean up your cuticles before applying the fake nails. The fakes will fit and adhere better to cuticle-free natural nails.

Finally, I always have a spare set of nails in my handbag just in case all my precautions fail and I lose a nail. Better safe than nail-less!


Wearing A.L.C
Wearing A.L.C


Sydney Drew femulating in the 1914 film A Florida Enchantment. According to IMDB, in the film a “young woman discovers a seed that can make women act like men and men act like women. She decides to take one, then slips one to her maid and another to her fiancé.” You can view the film on YouTube.

3 comments:

  1. I had trouble with sizing on nails, I would buy an extra set and use the bigger ones

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  2. I have more trouble with the curvature or flatness of my nails. I usually try to grow them out a little and paint my own.

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  3. I've had good luck with using off the shelf nails, but I rarely use the adhesive nails.. I can feel how weak they are, and the slightest pressure pops them right off. I have 2 different glues I stick to. One keeps them on pretty good, but with some good steady side pressure I can pop them off. I have my other glue when I know I'm going to be using my hands a lot and know that I'm going to be wearing them all weekend. By the time sunday night rolls around, the adhesive has been stressed enough that they still come off.

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