Application Procedure
Pour a small amount of monomer into a dappen dish -- use only what you will need for the particular service you are performing. Totally immerse and 'swish' your brush in the monomer to thoroughly wet the hairs and to remove any trapped air that may result in bubbles in the finished product. Air bubbles compromise the strength of the product and can lead to service breakdown.
As you remove the brush from the dish, flatten hairs on both sides to shape the brush for sculpting and to drain excess liquid from the brush. Now you are ready for sculpting.
More monomer = a larger bead, less monomer = a smaller bead. Dip the brush into the monomer according to the desired bead size. For a small bead, slide the flattened brush down the side of the dish and submerge only the tips of the flags (the darkest hairs) into the monomer. For a larger bead, moisten the entire flag area of the brush.
Draw a line in the powder to the depth of the liquid line on your brush. The longer the line, the bigger the bead. Allow the monomer to surround the polymer particles. The bead should be medium in size and a medium-wet consistency. A medium-wet mix ratio will not immediately 'melt' down, it will have a slight 'textured glass' appearance, and maintain its shape when placed on the nail, tip or form.
Place the bead at the smile line and in the center of the natural nail. Press the bead with the flags of the brush to flatten and separate the bead, then stroke to the extension edge. Press either side of center to flatten the bead and stroke to the extension edge, being sure that the level of product is evenly distributed. This section will be higher at the smile line (upper arch) and tapered to all edges.
As you smooth with the brush from smile to extension edge, it is important to 'follow-through- with the stroke in a downward motion.
With the entire section 1 covered from side to side with product, the remaining 2-2 1/2 minutes of working time can be spent on perfecting the smile line for symmetry.
Perfect the line when the product is very wet. Use a fluid motion to actually draw in the smile. Use baby presses to perfect the line and to ease the product further into the corners of the smile. Use 'prep' on a dedicated prep brush to clean up the smile line on the nail plate if needed.
Pick up a medium size, medium-wet consistency bead (pink, clear or natural) and place on the nail surface just behind but still touching your previous section. Press the bead to flatten and stroke to smooth and blend with section 1. Continue in this manner until the entire section is blended and smooth.
Pick up a small, medium-wet consistency bead and apply to section 3 in the same manner. Be sure this section tapers into the nail plate to avoid a ridge of product at the cuticle line. Leave a tiny margin all around the cuticle and sidewall line free of product. This will allow the product to properly shrink when cured (polymerized) and create an air-tight seal to the nail plate.
Pressing and smoothing will assure total product control, eliminate bubbles in the product, allow for complete contact of the product to the natural nail plate, and eliminate excessive filing. Work with the brush flat, and keep the flattened surface parallel to the section you are working on. This means that the angle of the brush will change with each section.
Finishing
Using a 180 or 240-grit soft file, shape the free edge and sidewalls to the desired form. Smooth the surface of section 1, perfect the 'C' curve and taper to a thin edge. Perfect the upper arch of section 2 and blend smoothly with section 1. Blend cuticle area flush to the natural nail, but do not over-file the natural nail. Perfect sidewalls to a thin edge and blend with section 2. Remove all dust filings. Apply a small amount of cuticle oil to all 10 nails. Massage into the cuticles and the overlay. With a finely padded buffer, buff the oil into the surface of the overlay to remove scratches. Buff to a high gloss shine with a 3-way buffer: black side, white side, then the gray side.