Exciting and new (to me, and looking relatively new for everyone – but I don’t actually know how long these have been around) nail adhesive technology.
There are a few things about nail glue that I have found rather frustrating. Firstly, it is fundamentally superglue – it’s the same chemical cocktail. But whereas superglue comes with all sorts of dire warnings splashed all across the tube and packaging, nail glue just gently suggests maybe not getting it on your skin or eyeballs if you can conveniently avoid it.
Secondly, whilst it holds the nails firmly, it can be difficult to remove the nails, and it’s neigh on impossible to get a whole set of nails off sufficiently intact to re-used them – particularly frustrating when one has to revert to boy-mode the next day 95% of the time.
Thirdly, even if you do get the set of nails off, it tends to leave very difficult to remove patches of glue attached to one’s real nails. These can be difficult to explain away in boy-mode to those unfamiliar with one having an alterego.
Glue Tabs
Despite sounding like something sold by the local neighbourhood dealer, the alternative is “adhesive glue gel tabs” (no consistency in terminology here – they’re called a lot of different things). But this is what they all look like:
Small thinish rectanguloids of a sticky glue-like substance. Whilst they do not hold nails on as robustly, this is not necessarily a bad thing – ripping a nail off by catching it on something becomes a less-painful process and usually both the acrylic nail AND the real nail survive uninjured.
| Technology | Nail Glue | Glue Tabs |
|---|---|---|
| Max Realistic Duration of Use | 14 Days 336 Hours | 14 Days 336 Hours (Updated, based on actual use, from 2 days / 48 hours) |
| Ease of / Time for Application | Simple. 10 mins[1] | Simple/Fiddly. 10 mins[2] |
| Removal | Small cold-chisel. 2-Propanone[3] solvent. Soak in solvent, swear profusely as the last two refuse to budge until they become blobs of semi-dissolved gloop staining your fingers for days. | Soak finger tips in warm water to soften glue, then remove. Simples. Peel off residual glue from real and false nails. |
| Reuse of Nail Sets | Hahaha! Very funny. | Many times if careful[4] and/or lucky |
| Suitability for girl-mode/boy-mode switching | Low | High |
| Suitability for lovingly and painstakingly designed & constructed nail sets | Very Low | High |
Preparation is Key
What is clear is that the glue tabs are more sensitive to nail preparation: if you don’t prepare the surface of the nail carefully, they don’t stick well and you end up with the situation in [2].
Preparation involves both roughing up the surface[5] and using an alcohol wipe or similar to ensure that the nail is free from dust, debris and any other gunk.
Conclusions
After starting to make my own nail sets, it would feel wasteful to have to bin each set after a single use. Thus, I think I’m a convert.
Footnotes
[1] Plus 20 minutes replacing nails you’ve managed to ruin with glue on the top surface, plus 10 minutes peeling apart fingers which have got stuck together. Plus the bottles of glue which either refuse to open (having glued themselves shut – how does that even work?!) or refuse to close properly, and leak their entire contents inside you favourite handbag.
[2] Or an hour if you have a set of tabs which, mysteriously, stick better to the top removable plastic layer than they do to your actual nails.
[3] Acetone for the old-fashioned
[4] You may lose the odd nail and have to replace. They can still split if unlucky. But with a little maintenance you may get 5 or more uses out of them.
[5] With a nail file. No violence!
Sophie Baskerville 