Nailed It? - My attempt at DIY Acrylic Nails

I don't know about you guys, but I love having my nails done. Even if I don't have anything else together that day, I always feel a little bit better when my nails are new and fresh! That being said, there are a couple of things that stop me for running to the nail salon every few weeks for a refresh. In reality, I only get my nails done about twice a year for events such as a family wedding or a vacation - here's why:

1. As I mentioned earlier, I love long nails but don't get me started on the challenges that it creates creates for everyday contact wearers like myself. Yes, it is very possible to take lenses in and out safely with long nails but it kind of freaks me out. I've also been that person who has flung a nail across the change room while trying to untie my running shoes at the gym (yikes).

2. Maintenance and upkeep of a manicure can also become a budget drain really fast if you're looking to keep your manicure looking great long term.

So - when Christmas party season came around this year, instead of going to the salon, I opted for a DIY job instead. For a budget-friendly option I decided to try an acrylic nail manicure at home using the Kiss acrylic nail kit I found at Walmart. Please note that this is not a review of the kit itself, I just wanted to write about my experience using it. I've used nail kits before and have had success simply gluing on fake nails, but I liked the idea of this better because acrylic would hopefully be more sturdy and have better durability.

Knowing that it probably wouldn't look as nice as the salon, I went ahead and followed the instructions on the package to a T. The process was pretty close to how a salon would apply them; buff nails, glue on and shape the artificials, paint on the acrylic powder and then paint to finish. About 3 Hallmark Christmas movies later my nails were finally done, and thank goodness because the fumes from the acrylic liquid and powder got to be pretty intense. The quality of the nails and glue seemed to be pretty decent and were easy to apply. I also loved that it came with a file so I could shape the length and style of the nails myself. It was all going well until it was time to paint on the acrylic powder. Personally, I found it to be globy and very difficult to paint on evenly. This was however, my first time attempting this type of manicure so it's possible that with practice I could make it look perfect. On the plus side, they dried really quickly and I tried to smooth out y=the tops the best I could by buffing it with a nail file. The last step of the manicure was to top it off with some polish. For this, I chose to use an Essie polish colour called Chinchilly which is a perfect shade of winter grey.

Once two coats of the polish had dried, it was clear that the top layer of my nails were uneven due to the uneven acrylic I painted on earlier. They looked okay from a distance but you could definitely tell up close that they were done by a professional. I'm glad I gave it a shot, and I think I should try again to see if I can improve my manicure skills but next time I think I'll stick with the salon. Have you ever tried an acrylic manicure yourself? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments below!