#1
|
|||
|
|||
Gel nail wraps?
Anybody know about these or use them? Apparently they are a prepackaged, semi solid press on product that you trim down and cure with light. This could be a great solution for fingerpickers to use at home. I used to go to a salon for gels, and they were great, but after a while my nails started to thin. For the last couple of years I have just applied dip powder to the forward half of my nails to allow the rest to breathe as they grow out, and my nails are still very strong now. The problem is that the result is brittle and has to be redone frequently, as well as sounding brittle at times. The tone with salon gels was better. So I’m thinking these gel wraps could do it for me, though they have to be cured under a special light…and I’m hesitant to do the UV thing due to skin cancer risks. I’m hoping there’s an alternative to that part of the process….
|
#2
|
|||
|
|||
UV curing adhesives only harden with UV, that's the price of admission.
I've been using silk wraps held with CA glue over the top half of the 3 nails I use for picking for about a month. On thumb and middle finger, it's needed because the nails were splitting, on my index finger, because it was wearing down too fast from playing (a lot of hours the last two months). I'm using Opi polish and only using non-acetone remover for maintaining, it's my understanding that acetone polish remover is responsible for most nail care damage, we'll see. I only took this step after 7 months of a nails supplement had gotten them from routinely fracturing into the nail bed, to basically strong enough for playing. Will see where it goes over the next year. So far I'm ecstatic for having the flexibility to use both skin and nails for different attack. This week I've got a salon appointment at a place that advertises being focused on nail health, I'm hopeful they'll help me improve on what I've gotten to on my own. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
I think acrylic nails are more or less like gel nails but don’t need UV to cure.
__________________
Martin D-18MD, Martin OM-21, Martin CEO-7, Martin J-40, Martin 000-1, Guild D-55, Guild D-140, Gibson SJ-200, Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson Frank Hannon Love Dove, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Furch Gc-SR Red Deluxe, Furch Yellow Masters Choice, Larrivee P-03ww, Kawaii piano, mandolines, drumsets, doublebass, Fender Jazzbass, ... |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Clearly there are low toxicity UV adhesives, as they're used for dental work. I worry more that the bonds might be too strong. One thing I like about CA adhesives is they're extremely hard, which makes them reasonably strong against abrasion, and also causes them to release cleanly from a nail surface. However UV cured gel nails may stay in place longer, I don't know, as I haven't tried. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Depending on the brand, some suck as they come off easily but the good ones are like salon quality and last ... I don't use them as my skin is sensitive . . .
As a kid i remember getting excited when my older sister showed me to paint and use fake nails but she said her nails would get weak from using thme and turns out same with me, so I don't use them. It's a bummer, but also surfing tends thrash long / fake nails, and in highschool I had to get glasses, and I use contacts so long nails or fake ones were not really an option when I started caring about my appearance. My nails are strong enough naturally, so I grow RH out a bit if fingerstyling guitar. But usually they are short so, it's finger pads mainly as on finger nail scrapes on bass sounds weird. UV cure adhesives are faster . . . like UV resins in my uncles surfboard glassing factory, it takes 5 minutes to harden vs days with standard or hours with epoxy. Same with nails . . . non UV takes longer time before it cures . . . . the regular acrylics that use non UV, but also you can't use UV if acrylics are pre painted or have stuff (like real or fake gems embedded etc) . . .
__________________
Started on guitar, got sucked into Bass because the starship didn't have quality interplanetary drive engines and got pulled into the black hole, but this alt dimension can't be all that bad. Republic Polished Nickel over Brass Tricone ES Dot Fender MIM P-BAss Gender M1M J-8455 Looking 4 an OM . . . so many choices!!! Analysis Paralysis |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Alternative to gel nails etc
Here's something that I have successfully done many times to repair broken nails.
It'll also work fine for just giving the tips of unbroken nails extra armour so they don't just wear away after a few hours fingerpicking. You need a bottle of the type of glue used to adhere false nails. Also a teabag! Apply a drop of adhesive to the very tip of the nails, just on the area that makes contact with the string. When the adhesive gets tacky, cut off a little section of the teabag at the crimped edge and lay it into the adhesive on your nail with a tweezers. Tap gently into place, making sure the material is lying flat. When the adhesive dries, put another drop on top, allow to dry again, and trim with a scissors and file down flat. Because you're only applying the adhesive to the top of your nail it won't weaken, and this job will last days, weeks even. I'm sure a lot of you guys know this trick but it does work and saves you a lot of money in nail bars! There are videos of this on You Tube so it's well worth checking out. Last edited by The Badger; 01-31-2023 at 06:57 PM. Reason: Clarification |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
I used the teabag approach for an emergency repair of a crack, the woven silk is stronger and thinner. Best of all, a couple times in the course of a month, I've done something that would have damaged a nail, and instead the wrap detached, leaving the nail unharmed. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Back to UV adhesives, 390 nm wavelength will cure the glues, that's just past visible, and probably not that hard on skin - still, I prefer to avoid it. |