Paint Before You Press DIY Press On Nails
Non-standard items you will need.
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it's sew emma Stash & Store
This is a sewing thing that’s meant to store oddly shaped items. I love it for standing my nail files and nail art tools in.
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Stick Pen
You might have enough dead ones in your junk drawer to make it work without buying anything. But a ten pack is dirt cheap.
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Poster Putty
This comes in all different brands and all different colors. You might have some laying around.
In the interest of being a good sport, ALL of the links that you find on my site are affiliate links to Amazon. All of the products are things that I have purchased and used.
Standard Nail Items.
Full cover soft gel tips. These come in different shapes and sizes. Please note. I have tiny pinkies so I had to purchase two different sets to get all the right sizes.
Jelly glue stickers. These little guys are so neat and what make your new nail sets reusable.
A glass nail file of your choice. Some of the tips had burs or sharp edges from production.
Polish and top coat of your choice. As you can see I’m a big fan of Holo Taco.
All items, except polish, can be found in my Amazon Ideas list
The Basics.
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First
Gather up your stand, the amount of pens you need for your nails, and your poster putty. Cut enough piece of poster putty for your number of pens.
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Second
Now roll your little putty piece into a ball. Then squish them lightly into a thick oval. Next turn the putty on it’s side and gently press it to the top of your pen. You don’t want it to cover the top of the pen and be squished flat.
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Next
Now that you have your bit of putty on the top of your pen, press a blank nail onto it. Set up enough pens with nail blanks for your set. File off any burs or sharp edges and paint as normal. I found that I could skip a base coat with these.
Ta-Da.
Paint before you press.
Okay but now what?
The Fun Part.
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First
Do your nails one at a time. Gently pry the painted press on off the putty.
The putty is reusable.
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Next
Locate the right size jelly sticker for your nail bed and apply to your nail bed. Selecting the right size might take some trial and error depending on the curve of your nail.
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Finally
Peel the protective film off the jelly sticker, line up your press on nail, and press firmly for several seconds. Ta-Da.
I used a photo with them unpainted so you can see the stickers underneath.
Wait. How are these reusable?
I’m so glad you asked!
For me the glue lasts for about a week and then it starts to loosen up. I like to change my polish once a week so this works great for me. A good hot bath and they’ll peel right off.
The jelly sticker might be stuck to either your nail or the fake nail but it will scrape/pull off. Or you can carefully use a bit of acetone on a cotton swab.
Or let’s say you pop one off while trying to get the stupid box of kitty litter open. Clean up the glue. Apply a new jelly sticker. Press and hold and you are good to go again!