How long do acrylic nails last for? If you maintain them properly, you can have them on for as long as two to three months without damaging your fingernails.
Press-on nails can be great in a pinch and gel nails have their benefits, but there’s nothing like a full set of well-maintained acrylic nails. They’re a lot more durable than other kinds of artificial nails, but they’re also a lot fussier and need a little more TLC.
If you need help with taking care of your acrylic nails, you’re in luck as we’ve got seven awesome tips for maintaining your acrylic tips! But, before we get to our tips, we need to go over what these nails actually are.
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What Are Acrylic Nails?
These are fake nails made from a powdery polymer and a liquid monomer. Together, these two components make a dough-like ball that gets glued on to your fingernail and later sculpted into whatever shape you want. Most people use them to fill out broken or bitten nails, but a lot of people also use them as nail extensions.
Acrylic nails are also usually safe to wear as long as they’re well-maintained and kept healthy, but they can also act as breeding grounds for skin infections if you aren’t careful with them.
How To Make Your Acrylic Nails Last Longer
1. Do Your Research
If you want the best acrylic nails you can have, you need to scout out your area for the best salons with the best nail technicians. We know this can seem like a lot of work at first, but you’ll be thanking yourself later once you’ve got the perfect set of nails done.
When you’re looking for the perfect salon, keep an eye out for positive signs like clean working spaces, clean tools, and VET certificates on display. You can also look up their technicians online and see if their work fits your needs and style.
2. Don’t Skip Out On Regular Fills
Unless you want broken and even painful nails, you need to perform some maintenance every couple of weeks.
Since your fingernails will continue growing under your acrylic nails, you need to have your fake nails regularly filled. You can do this on your own at home if you know what you’re doing, but it’s generally safer to have a professional do it for you.
For most people, acrylic nails need to be filled every two weeks, but the time can vary as it depends on how many days it takes their nails to grow out. That said, you still shouldn’t wait too long before a fill – unmaintained acrylic nails can eventually break and even damage the actual nails underneath them.
3. Regularly Clean Your Acrylic Nails
Since acrylic nails can contain more bacteria than your fingernails, you need to make sure they’re as clean as they can be. Use a soft brush to clean out any gunk on and under them and make sure your hands and nails are completely dry after you wash them.
4. Keep Your Hands Moisturised
For stronger acrylic nails, you need to take care of your real nails too. Keep your hands and fingers healthy with a daily moisturiser routine and apply a little cuticle oil to your nails whenever they’re looking a little dry.
5. Wear Gloves While Doing Manual Labour
Your nails may eventually wear out over time, but you can delay that by wearing protective gloves while you’re doing chores around the house. Acrylic nails are sensitive to high temperatures and volatile chemicals, so you need to minimise their contact with the chemicals from cleaning products and hot water.
6. Be Gentle With Your Nails
We know how tempting it can be to use our long nails for breaking stuff open, but they’re not all that strong. A little too much force can break your acrylic nails and damage your real nails underneath, so try to be a little more gentle with them.
7. Let Your Nails “Breathe” Every Two To Three Months
While nails don’t actually need to breathe, they do need time without any enhancements to heal and grow stronger. If you want to keep your nails healthy and ready for acrylic nails, give them time to grow on their own without your artificial nails.
Removing Acrylic Nails
When the time comes to remove your acrylic nails, you’ll be better off having a professional do it for you because improper removal can be really bad for your real nails.
However, if your nails have to come off before you can set an appointment, you can remove them at home by clipping your acrylic nails as short as possible, filing as much of the acrylic out, and soaking them in acetone for 15-20 minutes. After doing all of that, your acrylic nails should be soft enough to safely remove.
How Long Are Acrylic Nails Supposed To Last?
While acrylic nails can last a couple of months, it really depends on you and how well you take care of them. If you’re willing to put in the work and time, you can make your sculptured acrylic nails last for as long as your fingernails can safely wear them.
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