Wednesday, December 13, 2017

UNT base coat - testing

Okay, so here's a real review of the UNT base coat.  Mine came super fast (maybe 3 days?) because it wasn't far away.  So I open up the packaging, looks like any other base coat polish inside of a box.  I just apply right to my nail, no prep.  Obviously it's not going to look great because I have ridges.  First try, it pooled a lot and didn't want to dry so I got uneven coat.  I applied a second coat to spread it out better.  Took a good 5 minutes to thoroughly dry.  Of course this can be sped up with air blowing over it.

 Now for the real test.  Would it peel just like the youtube videos show?  Yes.  Now I don't have a wooden cuticle tool, so my next best option is an x-acto knife.  All of the coating pretty much stayed together as it peeled.  Best way I can describe it is it felt like shrink wrap like you might find on a case that has acrylic, or a new appliance.

 Now it was time to try sanding down my nail smooth and trying another coat.  You can see below how it goes on glossy:

 Seems like a smoother nail dries faster, and of course after it's dry it looks shinier:

Time for polish.  I have a hologram glitter polish I bought a little while back.  I don't typically wear it because it doesn't all remove so easy.  Will it peel?

Here it is half off, peeling away just like the videos show:

And finally, a minute later, here's my nail with all of it removed.  Other than the fact that my nail is smooth from sanding, you would never know I had polish on.  This stuff really works well.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

false nails - ultimate solution?

Ok, so like my last post stated, UNT is the ultimate peel off base coat.  Like this review video shows, there are a LOT of brands, and nearly all of them are basically watered down PVA (elmers glue):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDNdyQnmdrU

UNT is the only one that is.. something else, perhaps some sort of clear latex?  Anyway, even on amazon, there is no prime.  Seems this comes directly from china, hence the "estimated 2-3 week delivery window".  I don't have the patience, so I ordered a bottle off ebay for $2 less, and an estimated shipping time of one week (may get here sooner).

Anyway, my plan was to put on this base coat, then use nail glue to attach my nails in hopes it will bond between the base coat and the nail strongly, yet I still have the option to peel the base coat off.  I have a crapton of false nails precolored all the way through.  Not painted, molded in a color (I have red, black, purple, neon green, pink).  Go look on ebay, you can buy 100 nails for like 99 cents from china if you don't mind waiting (some USA sellers also sell them this cheap):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-French-Acrylic-nail-tips-False-Half-tips-Art-UV-Gel/121192426820?var=420183172226&hash=item1c37a1ad44:g:1WIAAOxyOypSVp7f

Obviously the one downside is they aren't pre-trimmed to length, so you will need a clippers like the salon uses (also cheap), and in my case the thumb nail isn't wide enough so I have to turn mine around so I get the width and cut the shape I need.

Anyway, I decided to try a little experiment tonight:
A. Could I use hot glue to attach a fake nail
B. Would the heat hurt?
C. Would the nail be secure or would it feel like it's been attached by silicone
D. How would it hold up.

Well..


A. Yes, hot glue will attach a nail (press and hold for 10-20 seconds)
B. I've done many hot glue projects, and on the skin it doesn't feel very good.  Your nails are pretty protective of the skin underneath, really could barely feel the heat
C. Well I put a small dab on the first try.  Held REALLY good!  So good in fact that it sort of freaked me out when it didn't pop off right away seeing how I still have work tomorrow, but then did after I split it in haste.  The glue came right off my nail, didn't damage my nail, stuck to the artificial nail, but could be easily removed without damaging the artificial nail.  Tried a second application, this time instead of a dot, I made a little circle of glue and held the nail down.  Holding good this time.  I want to wear it a while to see how it holds up.  I do some tasks, in the back of my head I'm thinking worse case scenario if it doesn't pop off, I can trim it back, put on a band-aid, nobody will know it's under there.  After about a half hour, I try the ultimate test.  Run my nail under warm water for 30 seconds.  Dry it off, still holding on.  Try prying it a bit, comes off.

So what does this mean?  Well this might be the best solution for a crossdresser:

A. I can attach nails very quickly (if I prep them for the proper length and sort by size).
B. They are very secure, they feel very attached and stiff
C. If I need to remove them quickly, no acetone needed.  Some warm water, pop right off
D. Since this isn't nail glue, the fake nails won't get ruined.  In theory, they can be re-used over and over.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

acrylic nails, easy removal with strength??

So the 3M adhesive doesn't seem to be working like it did initially.  I mean it holds pretty good at first, but minimal forces seem to pop them off (and water really does a number on it).

Somehow I stumbled upon something called a "peel able base coat" for nails.  Initially it sounded like it was designed for those that wanted to swap out polish a lot.. put the base coat on, put on the color.. then peel it off (so you don't have to use chemicals to remove the polish).  Well looking around, it appears this can also be used for acrylic nails:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPAbwe5snc

It creates a strong bond between fake nail, and your real nail, without causing damage like glueing directly can.  This isn't just a clear base coat, this is literally a layer that creates a peelable base.  I'm guessing it holds well, but can be finessed off.  Looks like amazon sells this for $12 a bottle, I may have to buy a bottle to try.
https://www.amazon.com/UNT-Takeoff-Peelable-Non-glue-Bloggers/dp/B002BZ361W/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1512624422&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=nail+glue+barrier&psc=1