How to wear
Ten minutes on. One minute off.
Everything you need is already in the box: adhesive tabs, a prep pad, a mini file and a wooden stick. Below is us doing it — our hands, our studio, no edits that hide the fiddly parts — and then the tips that actually decide whether a set lasts two days or two weeks.
Application
Seven tips for a set that stays on
In order, because the order matters. Number five is the one nearly everybody rushes.
- 01
Match all ten before any glue
Lay the set out and hold each nail against yours dry. It should cover edge to edge without pressing into the skin. Sizes do not run in finger order — your ring finger may want the same nail as your index.
- 02
Dry, dull, dust-free
Push the cuticles back, take the shine off with the mini file, then wipe with the prep pad. Oil left on the nail is the single most common reason one lifts on day two.
- 03
Bond the tab to you first
Press the tab onto your natural nail and rub it firmly for a few seconds before peeling off the top film. A tab that never bonded underneath comes away with the press-on.
- 04
Cuticle first, then roll down
Set the press-on at the cuticle and roll it toward the tip, squeezing the sides as you go. Any air trapped under the nail is a lift already waiting.
- 05
Thirty seconds each. Count them.
This is the step people shorten, and it is the reason most sets come off early. Thirty seconds of firm pressure per nail — five minutes total, and it buys you the fortnight.
- 06
Shower before, not after
Tabs keep bonding for about a day, so give them the first hour dry. Apply in the evening after your shower, not before it.
- 07
For a wedding, add one dot of glue
A small dot of brush-on nail glue under the tab takes you to two or three weeks. It costs you the ability to reuse the set easily, so keep it for the occasion and use tabs the rest of the time.
Removal
Five tips for taking them off with nothing lost
Removal is where natural nails get damaged, and it is entirely avoidable. It takes about a minute.
- 01
Warm, soapy, ten minutes
Soak your hands and let the water do the work. A drop of cuticle oil around the edges gets underneath and speeds up the release.
- 02
Lift from the side, never the tip
Slide the wooden stick under one side edge and rock it gently. Pulling up from the free edge is exactly how the top layer of your own nail comes with it.
- 03
Roll the old tab off the back
The leftover adhesive rolls off the press-on with your thumb. If you used glue, soak the set in our glue remover rather than picking at it.
- 04
Straight back onto the card
Put each nail back in its place on the card. With a fresh sheet of tabs the set is ready for its next wear — that is the whole point of buying handmade.
- 05
Give your nails a day off
Cuticle oil, and a day bare between wears if your week allows it. Your natural nails stay in better shape and the next set grips better.
Care
Make them last
- Wear gloves for dishes, cleaning products and long baths. Heat and soaking are what loosen a tab.
- Open cans and tabs with the pads of your fingers, not your nails.
- Wudu: a set on tabs comes off in under a minute and goes back on with a fresh tab. Many of our customers keep a sheet in their bag.
- Store sets out of direct sunlight so the cat-eye and chrome finishes keep their shine.
- Out of tabs? Restock here.