Preparation is key before you apply acrylic nails. A little forethought can save you a lot of headaches.
Lets look at a step-by-step below:
*Thoroughly clean your hands with an anti bacterial solution or soap of your choosing. Failure to do this before can trap bacteria under your acrylic nails which will remain there until you remove them, possibly weeks later.
*Pour a small amount of acrylic liquid into a shallow container.
*Push your cuticles back and file your nail tips and roughen the surface of the nails to prepare them for the acrylic. Make sure there are no glossy areas of the nail that you missed.
*Next use a pre-primer sparingly on your nails as a final preparation, before you apply acrylic nails to the nail. Wipe an excess off and be careful not to put it anywhere but your nails.
*Now you can remove the sticker from the form on the first acrylic nail and trim the bottom of the nail to line up with your cuticle.
*Put nail glue on your nails and apply acrylic nails to each finger.
*Now mix liquid acrylic and powdered acrylic together and coat each nail from cuticle to top of acrylic nail. Allow to dry.
*Once the acrylic mixture has dried: Buff your new nails smooth and apply your favorite polish.
Maintenance
Try to keep from getting your nails dirty and gently clean them several times a week with a nail brush. Fungus can grow almost anywhere that bacteria can hide, so the cleaner the better. Better yet, wear gloves whenever your doing anything that might get your hands dirty, or wet. Moisture from washing your hands won't cause a need to re-apply acrylic nails, but prolonged exposure to water will certainly do you no favors. As your nails grow, you will want to fill the gap with more of the liquid acrylic and power mixture and re-coat your nails.