Nail Tips, Wraps, and Enhancements
Tips and wraps are the oldest enhancements and still appear on exams because they demand precision. This domain tests sizing, blending, the stress area, and safe removal.
Tips
- Choose a tip that matches the free-edge width; it must not overlap the sidewalls or spring off.
- The well sits at the free edge; the tip is bonded, then cut and blended so the seam disappears.
- Blend with a fine file, feathering only the tip - not the natural plate.
- A tip that is too large or glued under tension lifts within days.
Wraps
- Fabric (silk, linen, fiberglass) plus cyanoacrylate resin.
- Apply resin, lay fabric, press out bubbles, add 2–3 layers, let cure, then file smooth.
- Bubbles are the main failure: they trap moisture and cause lifting.
- Wraps add strength and repair splits; they do not replace proper plate preparation.
- Remove by soaking in acetone or filing down; never pry.
Structure
The apex sits over the stress area, the free edge is thin, and the sidewalls are thin. Bulk in the wrong place causes lifting and breakage.
Worked example. A client's wrap lifts at the cuticle after four days. Reasoning: lifting at the base is usually moisture or product on skin - resin or fabric touching the eponychium creates a ledge that peels. The fix is to leave a hairline margin of bare plate at the base, dehydrate the plate, and press the fabric flat before curing.
Traps: sizing a tip by eye; filing the natural nail plate while blending; applying wrap over a green or lifted nail; using MMA-based products.