Extension with tips at home. Nail extension with tips at home with video and photos. Basic subtleties of working with tips

Not so long ago, many girls, whose nails are not durable, often flake and break, could only dream of a beautiful manicure on short nails. Extension technologies have made it possible for everyone who dreamed of long beautiful nails, intricate patterns and designs to finally make their dream come true. Modern methods of nail extensions allow this procedure to be carried out not only in salons, but also at home. It is enough just to buy accessories for this procedure and master the extension technology. One such technology is gel nail extensions. Nail extension gels allow you to create artificial nails of any length and shape, correct them, and work both in the salon and at home. The gel nail extension technique has many advantages, such as:

  • The extension process does not take long.
  • Hypoallergenic material.
  • The material hardens under the influence of ultraviolet lamp radiation, which makes it possible to adjust the shape of the nail until the desired result is achieved.
  • The gel does not have a negative effect on the natural nail plate.
  • The material does not have a pungent odor.
  • Nails extended with gel look natural.

Types of gels for nail extensions

Materials for gel nail extensions are divided into several types. We are talking about UV gel, biogel and LED gel. Gel nail modeling systems are divided into one-, two- and three-phase.

  1. In a single-phase system, the modeling process is carried out by a universal tool that combines functions responsible for the strength of fastening of the extended nail on a natural plate, as well as for modeling the artificial nail itself.
  2. The two-phase extension system is based on the use of two types of gel, the first of which is responsible for fixing the artificial nail on the nail plate, and the second for its modeling.
  3. The three-phase system involves the use of three types of gels: the first to ensure adhesion of the future nail to the nail plate, the second to form the artificial nail itself, and the third to protect the nail from external factors and give it proper smoothness and evenness.

It is quite difficult to answer unequivocally the question of which nail extension gel is the best, or which extension system (one-, two- or three-phase) to choose. Each hair extension specialist has his own preferences, focusing on the quality of the result and the cost of materials.

How to choose gel for nail extensions?

The technology of gel nail extensions is so popular that many brands are engaged in the production of gels for this procedure. The choice is so large that deciding which gel to choose is not easy, especially for beginners. So, what are the best extension gels? In order to decide on the choice of material for extensions, you need:

  • Find out as much information as possible about the brand whose gels you like. Large manufacturers such as KODI PROFESSIONAL have their own website where you can find any information you are interested in about the gel.
  • Pay attention to whether the gels you choose have instructions with recommendations for their use.
  • Look for reviews on the use of materials you are planning to purchase.
  • Decide what exactly you expect from a gel, which one you need: colored or transparent, how many gels you need, and so on.

Based on these selection criteria, you can purchase a good extension gel.

What is needed for gel nail extensions?

Before you begin the extension process, it is important to make sure that you have all the necessary tools to carry out this process. List of what materials are needed for gel nail extensions:

  • Tips or forms, depending on the method of extension, which we will discuss below.
  • UV lamp. This equipment is necessary for the job. Without it, the gel will not harden and nothing will work.
  • Directly gel for extensions.
  • Disinfectant.
  • Sticky layer remover.
  • File pressure or buff.
  • Orange stick.
  • Flat brush.
  • Primer.
  • Polishing pad.
  • Tweezers.
  • Glue for tips, if they are used as a method of extension.

This entire tool for gel nail extensions can be purchased either individually or in ready-made (basic) sets, which contain everything a novice master will need. Experienced craftsmen often use ready-made kits, replacing or expanding the number of materials and tools in them if necessary.

Step-by-step instructions for gel nail extensions

Gel nail extensions are carried out step by step as follows:

  1. Natural nails are treated with an antiseptic. The surface of the nails must be completely dry before starting work.
  2. An orange stick is used to push back the cuticle.
  3. Natural nails are filed. If the extension is carried out using tips, then the nails are filed to the selected shape of this tool.
  4. A buff removes gloss from the surface of the nails.
  5. The nails are again treated with an antiseptic.
  6. The size of tips or forms is selected, depending on how the extension will be carried out.
  7. The gel is applied to the tips or mold, and the shape of the nail is modeled.
  8. The resulting nail is dried in a UV lamp.
  9. The sticky layer is removed.
  10. When everything is ready, the cuticle is treated with emollient oil.

By following this sequence, you will get an impeccable result of gel nail extensions. Gradually you will gain the necessary dexterity and experience, and the building process will take less time.

Gel extensions on tips

Nail extensions are carried out in two ways: with tips and with the help of forms. Gel nail extensions on tips are carried out as follows:

  1. Before starting the procedure, hygiene procedures are carried out, the nails are treated with an antiseptic.
  2. Nails are filed to the chosen tip shape.
  3. The buff removes glossy shine from the surface of the nails.
  4. Tip size is selected for each nail. First, the nails are re-treated with an antiseptic.
  5. A little glue drips into the tip hole area. The tips are pressed tightly against the nail for at least ten seconds.
  6. Using tongs, the tips are given the desired shape, and the edges are carefully trimmed with a nail file.
  7. The surface of the new nail is treated with a buff.
  8. A primer is applied to the surface of the natural nail plate.
  9. After the primer has dried, gel is applied to the tips. It is dried in a UV lamp. Reapply and re-dry.
  10. The sticky layer is removed.
  11. The surface is degreased and coated with a finishing agent.
  12. Nails are dried in a lamp. The sticky layer is removed again.
  13. The cuticle is treated with oil.

Gel nail extensions on forms

Gel nail extensions on forms are done in two ways: on upper and lower forms. The lower forms are attached to the nail from below. The initial stages of the process are similar to extensions using tips. The nail is hygienically treated, the cuticle is pulled back, and the surface of the plate is degreased. The following steps follow:


Extension to lower forms involves the formation of an S-shaped bend. For extensions to the upper forms, this stage is not needed, because the shape of the nail already turns out beautiful and natural.

The above step-by-step instructions can be used both for self-building (on your own) and in working with clients. The process of modeling artificial nails into tips and forms cannot be called complicated. Many girls master these techniques and successfully use them at home. The maximum duration of this process is slightly more than three hours, but gradually, acquiring dexterity and using high-quality materials, the master works noticeably faster. The result of his work is durable, beautiful, natural-looking nails with the design chosen by the client.


There are so many manicurists, so many different approaches, techniques, and nuances in nail extensions using tips. It is not surprising for an inexperienced beginner to get lost in this flow of information. What basic stages does the procedure for such extension consist of, what materials are needed at the start, or what is the difference between top forms and liquid tips? Let's take it in order.

Tips are plastic overlays or template forms that are used by masters as a substrate or as a stencil for forming an artificial nail plate.

This is the most convenient and popular extension option for beginners. It is also popular among experienced craftsmen, especially if it is necessary to reduce time and simplify the procedure. There are several varieties of tips, each with its own peculiarity in operation and design nuances.

To form an artificial nail plate, acrylic, gel, biogel and acrylic acrygel, which is a combination of the first and second materials, can be used. Acrylic dries in air, and gels dry in a lamp.

Tips-tips

They come in different sizes within one set. It is necessary to select it individually for each nail, and, if necessary, pre-file it in width so that it perfectly matches the width of its plate. After gluing, the length is cut and filed. Next, everything is covered with camouflage extension material to create an outwardly complete nail plate.

White tips are very convenient for extending French manicure. This is a ready-made perfect smile line; you just need to cover the nail with a thin layer of base or camouflage gel or acrylic, and then with a top coat to add shine.

Many girls leading an active lifestyle are concerned about using gel tips at home. I really want to be more beautiful than everyone else, but it’s difficult to find a few hours today to go to the salon. By learning how to properly perform gel nail extensions at home, you can save not only time, but also money. Moreover, there are step-by-step instructions that make everything possible.

What are tips and how to use them?

In the nail industry, tips are special pieces of plastic close to the shape of natural nails that are glued to the nails to create the desired shape and length quickly, without waiting for the natural claws to grow.

Tips made of thin, elastic plastic are considered ideal. Of course, the material from which they are made must be non-toxic and hypoallergenic. Tips are made from various materials, for example, there are ABS tips, they are very durable. And there are products with nylon, they are more elastic, but take longer to stick.

Tips consist of two parts: contact (will be in contact with the nail) and free zone (will form the length and shape of the manicure). Accordingly, the free zone tips can have different shapes and different bends. Artificial tips can be transparent, plain, colored or with a ready-made design, which greatly simplifies the manicure procedure, because then you don’t need to paint the plates, just cover them with a fixing gel.

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Advantages and disadvantages

Tips are the basis for manicure. Acrylic or gel is usually applied to the nails.

Of course, they have disadvantages:

  1. When building up, the tips may become a little flatter.
  2. They are difficult to file. Some shapes, such as side or edge, are simply impossible to do with them.
  3. Gel nails on tips cannot be pressed.

But there are undoubtedly more advantages to gel nail extensions on tips:

  1. It's fast. The nail shape is already ready, so all that remains is to lay out the material and secure it. And if the tips have a ready-made design, then the extension procedure is reduced several times.
  2. Tips are a great option for brittle or painful nails. They can be glued even if the nail is broken at the root. They protect the nail plate from damage while they are on top. And experts say that nails grow faster under tips.
  3. The gel is odorless, does not affect the design, and is hypoallergenic.
  4. Plates extended with gel have a beautiful shine. They look expensive and elegant, even if a discreet design was chosen.
  5. Gel products can be removed, repainted, changed their shape, or even built up yourself at home.

Read also: How to remove gel nails at home

How to increase plates at home?

To apply extensions at home, you will need an orange stick, a soft and hard nail file, a brush, scissors, gel, alcohol liquid, primer, glue, tips.

The build-up includes the following steps:

  1. Preparing nails for extensions. Hands should be clean and nails should be free of grease. They need to be cut short and neat to fit the tip shape. There should be no cuticles or pieces of skin. Use a hard nail file to level the plate. Polish with a brush.
  2. Selection of tips. Good products are plastic. It is enough to bend them slightly lengthwise; if there is no white strip left, then they are suitable for extensions. It is necessary to ensure that the contact area coincides with the shape of the horny plate where it is planned to be glued.
  3. Gluing. To do this, just lubricate the contact area with special glue and press the tip for 15 seconds. Make sure there are no air bubbles under the plate.
  4. Sawdust. A rigid nail file is used to give the desired shape and adjust the length. Next, the step between the extended plate and the natural one is removed.
  5. Consolidation. It is necessary to brush off the dust after filing with a brush. Apply alcohol liquid for degreasing, and then primer.

Many tools allow you to do this yourself at home, but there are some nuances, we will try to take them into account so that the work looks natural and impressive. Let's look at two ways to grow your nails at home using tips and gel polish.

How to properly extend nails using “tips”?

T ips is a special material for lengthening nails. Every girl in childhood always had “false” nails, which she applied to her own ones, and she got long nails.

Tips are a descendant of such false nails. Only they are not applied to the entire nail, but continue it from the widest point of the plate.

How to choose the right tips for your nails:

  • Choose thin tips. The material of the tip should be as close as possible to your nail plate, that is, the same thickness as the nail and the same elasticity;
  • Select the material in size more precisely to the size of your nails, otherwise the appearance of naturalness will be lost;
  • The shape of your nails is also important when choosing tips. If your nails are too flat or convex, choose tips specifically for this nail shape.

To build up your nails at home step by step, you should take not ordinary decorative gel polish, but the following consumables and tools:

  • A special UV lamp allows gel polish to harden much better and faster.
  • Special gel for extensions.
  • Tips and tip cutter.
  • Glue, brush, file with surfaces of varying abrasiveness.
  • Degreasing composition.

How to properly extend nails: tips + gel

  • Prepare your hands. It is necessary to wash them thoroughly with soap and treat them with an antiseptic. Too oily or dirty nails will not allow the extension glue to dry, and you will only waste material;
  • Now apply a little glue to the tip in the place where it will be applied to the nail;
  • After the tip has stuck, you can begin processing it and bringing it to the desired nail shape;
  • Apply a base layer of gel to the resulting nail and fix it with a UV lamp. Apply the gel according to the rules so that it lays down in an even thin layer;
  • After the gel has dried, give the nail the desired shape and remove any irregularities from the surface using a nail file;
  • Now you can cover the resulting nails with tone varnish and then with top coat.

How to properly extend nails: video instructions

How to properly extend nails: gel polish on the form, video tutorial

Extended nails are ready! As you can see, the whole process is very easy and simple, and requires very little experience with extension tools.

Now you can make the most beautiful manicure design, look!

Appearing in the 70s? the first tips made a real splash in the nail industry. Today, nail extension using tips is very popular, although in some aspects it is inferior to a similar procedure using forms. We will tell you how to choose this material for creating artificial nails and give lessons on nail extensions with tips.

How to choose tips for extensions

The work of any beginning nail artist begins with the choice of material. It is believed that nail extensions using tips are easier, and therefore many experienced nail technicians recommend that beginners start with this technology. Before you buy tips for nail extensions, pay attention to the following criteria that they must meet:

  • In order for the result of your work to look as natural and not rough as possible, the substrates must be thin.
  • High-quality material should be soft, but should not break. You can check the elasticity of the material like this: squeeze the tip with your fingers; if white stripes appear on it, it means it is of poor quality. Such material will be fragile and heavy to wear. Today you can find substrates made of ABS plastic, nylon and polyflex on sale. The former are impact-resistant and meet all the requirements for tips. The latter are also no less durable, but gluing them will take longer, and polyflex has high adhesion to the gel.
  • It is also important how safe the material from which the substrates are made is. You are unlikely to be able to find out, so just choose manufacturers who have proven themselves well with experienced craftsmen. Such manufacturers can be found in different price categories.
  • The substrates should follow the shape of the nails; do not forget about this when choosing a material, since women's nails have different shapes.
  • Don't forget about the design, since the substrates are not all the same in appearance - they can be transparent, with a white tip, or colored. Transparent ones are universal, if you have not decided on a specific design, it is better to choose them. For a French manicure, you can immediately purchase tips with a white tip.
  • You can also find small-sized substrates on sale; they are intended for design; if you are just starting to comprehend this skill, you will not need them yet.

For beginners, more experienced craftsmen recommend choosing universal transparent or natural substrates with an undercut in the stress zone made of ABS material. The most popular companies among nail artists are Irisk (the price of a set of 400 pieces is about 500 rubles) and RuNail (the cost of a set of 500 pieces is about 300 rubles).

Nail extension lessons using tips

Before you master step-by-step nail extensions using tips, it should be noted that it can be done with either acrylic or gel. There is also , this technology is something between and substrate.

Materials for extensions

In addition to the substrates you will need:

  • Glue. It comes in liquid or gel form. The first one is cheaper and sets instantly. The second one is found in more expensive manufacturers; it will take about a minute to harden. Its advantage is that it ideally fills all the cavities between the substrate and the nail, and therefore it is recommended for use on uneven surfaces of natural nails. The cost of liquid glue is about 50 rubles, and glue-gel is about 150 rubles.
  • Tip cutter. A tool for cutting tips that looks like wire cutters. Its estimated cost is about 150 rubles.
  • Brushes for acrylic and gel.
  • Brush for shaking off dust after sawing.
  • Primer: acidic for working with acrylic and ethereal for gel extensions. The price is about 250 rubles.
  • Gel or acrylic, depending on your preference.
  • Ultraviolet lamp.
  • Stickiness remover. Cost from 80 rubles, can be replaced with nail polish remover.
  • Files of different abrasiveness.

In addition, you will need antiseptic for cleaning your tools and hands, as well as little things like orange sticks and cuticle oil.

Features of working with types

Before we talk about nail extensions with tips for beginners, it is necessary to note a couple of subtleties of working with the substrate:

  • All substrates have three parts: a free edge, a contact zone and a “stop” line located between them.
  • In a set, usually all the substrates are numbered from 1 to 10 - these are their sizes. Number 1 is the widest backing, number 10 is the narrowest. The number is usually indicated on the tip, which is filed off when adjusting the length. If necessary, you can erase the number with nail polish remover.
  • Before gluing the tips, natural nails need to be trimmed to zero.
  • The base should cover no more than 2/3 of the nail. The width and length are adjusted with a tip cutter and file.
  • Before work, select a base for each nail and lay them out in front of you.

Regardless of whether you apply gel extensions to tips or acrylic, the preliminary preparation of nails and cuticles will be the same; it is also important to treat the client’s hands and yours with an antiseptic.

The stage of gluing and processing the tips is also carried out in the same way:

  • Having selected the desired size, apply glue to the contact area, then apply the backing to the nail from its edge to the middle and press for 15 seconds.
  • When the substrates are securely fixed on the nails, you can give them the desired length and shape of the free edge using a file and a tip cutter.
  • You need to file the entire surface of the tips to ensure their subsequent adhesion to the selected material.

Nail extension with gel on tips

Subsequent tips are carried out according to the following scheme:

  1. Brush off the dust after filing with a brush and wipe the nail with a degreaser.
  2. Apply ether primer to natural nails. There is no need to apply primer to the substrate.
  3. Holding your finger at an angle of 45 degrees, apply the gel with a brush, retreating half a millimeter from the cuticle. The gel on the tips tends to spread quickly, use a brush to “drag” it to the desired area of ​​the nail: start from the free edge, moving to the side rollers and finally to the area near the cuticle.
  4. Turn your finger nail side down. The gel will begin to drain and a convex but smooth surface will form. Use a brush to touch up the gel in the desired places.
  5. Place your hand under the lamp for 3 minutes.
  6. We wipe off the sticky layer using a special product or liquid that is used to remove varnish.
  7. After this, take a file and adjust the length and shape of the free edge.
  8. Use a nail file to treat the side areas of the nail and the junction of the gel with the natural plate.
  9. Remove the dust formed after sawdust with a brush.
  10. Apply a thin layer of finishing gel and dry it under the lamp for 2 minutes.

After this, you can wash your hands and lubricate the cuticles with oil. Gel nail extensions on tips can be considered complete!

Nail extension with acrylic on tips

Before you start on tips, prepare liquid and acrylic powder by placing open jars in front of you. It would also be a good idea to put on a respiratory mask for yourself and the client, since acrylic has a pungent odor.

After this, gluing the tips and filing their free edge, repeat the following steps step by step:

  1. Apply an acidic primer to the natural nail, avoiding contact with the skin.
  2. Wait about 3 minutes for the primer to dry.
  3. Dip the brush in the liquid, let the excess product flow back into the jar.
  4. Dip the brush into the powder; a small acrylic ball will form at the tip.
  5. The ball is placed on the nail and a layer is formed with smoothing movements.
  6. Usually 3 of these balls are enough to model a nail, but their number depends on the length of the result.
  7. Having formed a plate, dip the brush into the liquid and go over the entire surface again, making patting movements. Acrylic dries quickly and does not require a UV lamp.
  8. After the material has completely dried, you can start working with a file: pay special attention to the side rollers and the junction of the acrylic and natural nail.
  9. Brush off the dust from the nails with a brush, and go through the polishing file again to give the plates a perfect smoothness.
  10. Nail extension with acrylic on tips is completed by applying oil to the cuticle.

As you can see, extending nails with tips at home is not such a complicated procedure, but in order to master it perfectly, you will have to practice more than once before you get the perfect result.

Video: How to properly glue tips