I love having my nails done, but for one, it gets expensive as h…heck to keep them done, and I hate going to the salon, dying from the fumes, waiting for forever, and dealing with the awkwardness of not being able to understand anyone in the room.

So, let’s try this at home! We’ll be using this Quick Dip acryil nail system, you can get it at Sally’s for $15 or so.

This is everything we’ll be using. I wont waste time listing everything, you have eyes.

A close up of the bottles, so you can read them!

This is what my nails looked like when I got started. My poor nails are looking a little beat up right now, since I just took my old acrylics off last week. I also have them cut just about as short as I can. I do this when I apply acrylic nails, so that the natural nail doesn’t sneak up behind the tip and look ugly.

This file comes in your Quick Dip kit. You’ll want to file your nails, the tops of them, and also the edges.

Next, take this handy little tool here, (which unfortunately doesn’t come with the kit) and very gently push down your cuticles. (The skin that folds slightly over the bottom of your nail.)

So you have something like this.

If you have any little pieces of skin around your finger nails, just go ahead and clip those off with finger nail clippers. Clipping them off will make sure that they wont get any worse and get to the point where they hurt… because they reallllly hurt.

Next you’ll need your white nail tips. This is an extra pack I bought from Sally’s for around $5 or so, but there are nails that come with your kit as well.

At this point, it would be a good idea to go ahead and check out all the tips and see which ones fit on which fingers. If some of them are a little big, just take your file and file them down until they fit.

Normally I lay out all of mine in rows of five to make it easy to just grab them, but I’m only doing one here… for time’s sake. Get out your little tube of nail glue.

And add glue to the tip of the tip.

Stick it on there. Make sure that the smile line ) is straight, and you don’t put it too far down on your nail. You have to work kind of fast with this, the glue will dry quickly.

When the glue has tried completely, take large finger nail clippers, and clip one side of the nail tip. DO NOT try to cut the whole thing at once. That will result in a fat, or maybe even cracked, nail tip.

Go to the other side and do the same. It probably wont reach all the way across, but that’s okay.

Now you can just twist…

And off it goes! Use some clippers to straighten it up, or adjust the length.

File the tip down, making sure that the top edge is smooth, and also straight. Make sure that you also file on the corner edges of the nail as well, removing all sharp surfaces.

You can also round the corners more or less than I did. Although, I don’t think less is possible! :)~

File the nail tip down a little, making the transition from nail to nail tip a little more smooth.

Next we’ll apply the acrylic.

First we’ll start out with the glue…

Brush the glue on, over your actual nail and also the white tip. Cover your entire nail, but DO NOT get this on the skin around your nail. If you do, make sure to whip it off with a damp paper towel before doing the powder dip.

Dip your finger in the acrylic powder, applying a little pressure, and moving it around to make sure you coat the entire nail evenly.

Okay… why does my finger look like a very large old lady’s arm? Am I the only one seeing this?

Tap of the excess powder by, kind of, shaking your finger over a paper towel… or something. I didn’t get a picture of this but when you first pull your finger out, some of the powder will probably be touching your skin. Try to take your little wooden… thing, and clear all powder from around your skin, as pictured.

Then, move your hand away from the other products and spray the nail with the acrylic solution. I normally do two or three sprays, just to make sure it hardens properly and turns out right.

But I’m probably wasting half of it doing it that way.

Allow the nail to dry completely before touching it or working with it anymore. This should only take about a minute.

Ta-da!

File the nail down, making sure you don’t over-file. Just do it until the nail is smooth, and you are satisfied with the results.

But me? I use this baby. I have had this nail file for FOREVER, because it is awesome. It’s four sided, and awesome. Did I mention it’s awesome?

Here’s my nail after I used my four-sided block. Which you can find at bath and body works, if you are dying to have one.

Wash your hands to remove all nail/acrylic dusty junk.

Whip out a clear coat. This is Revlon’s top and base coat in one. Do I really have to tell you what comes next?

Paint the nail! Allow them to dry, and you are done!

This does take some time, and the first time you do it, you will probably mess up, or they’ll probably look ugly. Don’t worry! (Mine were horrendous the first time!) You’ll get better with practice.