Nail Tips, Wraps, and Sculptured Nails
Nail tips
A tip is a pre-shaped plastic extension with a well - the thinner contact area - that bonds to the free edge. Size it to reach sidewall to sidewall without pressure: an oversized tip blanches the bed and lifts, an undersized one leaves a ledge that traps moisture. Attach with cyanoacrylate nail glue, never with monomer, and press out air bubbles. Blend the seam with fine grit so there is no visible transition. Keep the extension proportional; a tip much longer than the natural nail bed becomes a lever and pops off.
Wraps
Wraps are fabric plus resin. Silk gives the most natural look, linen the coarsest texture, and fiberglass the most strength. The resin is cyanoacrylate-based and cures with an activator. Wraps reinforce the natural nail; they add strength, not length.
Sculptured nails
Built on a form or a tip using acrylic or gel. Structure decides durability: an apex over the stress zone where the free edge meets the nail bed, thin sidewalls, and a defined C-curve. Too thin and the nail cracks; too thick and it lifts or looks lumpy. Check form fit - too tight pinches the sidewalls, too loose lets product seep underneath.
Rule of thumb: natural-nail thickness at the cuticle, roughly a dime's thickness at the apex. Nails that break in the same spot every time need a thicker apex, not more glue.