How to Use Nail Form Stickers for Doing Acrylic Nails

Jan 26, 2012 / By Flora Richards-Gustafson

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When you use nail form stickers correctly, you'll have the perfect C-curve.

Photo: Creatas/Creatas/Getty Images

A nail form sticker is stiff sticker that you place at the end of your fingertip, between your nail and the skin, to help you sculpt acrylic nails. The nail forms give you a platform so you can seamlessly extend the length of fingernails with the powder and liquid solution that come in an acrylic nail system. If you don’t put the nail form sticker on just right, your acrylic nail might look droopy or lopsided — a total manicure faux pas.

Bend a nail form sticker between your fingers so it matches the curve of your fingernail. If your nail is long enough, you can use the free end as a guide to create the curve. If your nails are more like nubbins -- really short -- you’re going to have to use the curve of your nail plate (hyponichium) as a guide.

Center the longer part of the nail form with your fingernail so you can get a feel for how you need to place the sticker. Nail forms are shaped like a baby’s bib. The end of your finger goes in the hole the form makes, the longer part goes in the space between the end of your nail and your skin, and the “arms” of the bib form wrap around the sides and top of your finger. Nail form stickers come with guidelines printed on them; use the lines to help you center the form with your own nail.

Remove the backing from the sticker and re-center the nail form with your fingernail. The nail form should be in line with the growth channels on either side of your nail. Move the arms of the form up or down to adjust the sticker’s curve and align it correctly with the growth channels of your fingernail.

Stick the arms of the nail form to the sides and top of your finger after you are satisfied with the position of the sticker. Pinch the end of the bib shape on the nail form to help the sticker keep its shape.

Pat the monomer that creates the acrylic nails onto your fingernail and over the nail form sticker. Use the guidelines on the nail form sticker to help you create a nail that has an even tip.

Remove the nail form sticker once the monomer is hard.

Only use a nail form sticker on the nail you are going to work on instead of applying all the nail form stickers to your fingers at once. You will spend the same amount of time doing your nails, and the results will look better.