Everything You Need to Know About Acrylic Nail Brushes
When it comes to creating awesome nail extensions, the technique is only one element of the story. Having the proper tools can make or break a manicure, and no issue how skilled you are, if you’re aiming high, good equipment, such as nail files or clippers, will help to get you there.
Most acrylic nail kits include a brush or two, and these are perfect for newbies just beginning to get the hang of things, but as you gain experience, you’ll inevitably develop choices on what type of brush you can perform with. A longer shaft, shorter or sharper tips, more weight, all of these can make a distinction in how comfortable the brush is to have, and how accurately you can wield it.
How to choose an acrylic nail brush
Before you make your determination on which brushes to think about, it helps to comprehend a little about how meetings work.
Many acrylic nail brushes are made using kolinsky hair, occasionally called sable. This comes from a species of weasel born in the colder parts of Russia and China and is selected for its capacity to ‘hold’ liquid, releasing it when necessary. It’s also firm sufficiently to keep a nice, sharp tip. However, a growing numeral of us choose to use man-made fibers rather than those harvested from animals, and manufacturers have catered for this by creating high-quality nylon brushes that have similar, if not better effects than kolinsky hair.
Whichever option you decide on, your brushes will only be as useful as the care you show them. After every use, they should be exhaustively cleaned, removing every bit of acrylic. This stops the brush from stiffening and provides it remains soft and flexible whilst keeping its shape for longer.
Brush sizes run on a numbered scale, from 000 for the smallest all the way up to 30+, and for acrylic nails, a 6 or an 8 are the best sizes to consider. Being able to lift a smaller ball of acrylic, this size brush allows you to master the methods without having too much acrylic to move around. It also makes gauging the correct ratio of liquid to powder much easier by permitting more control.
If you do choose a shorter brush, be aware that the hairs tend to flatten with less stress, and this can trap the acrylic ball, making the application that much more difficult.
As you gain experience, or you are a skilled manicurist, you may well prefer to go up a few sizes, to a brush that can mix and apply the acrylic in larger quantities. By picking up a giant ball of acrylic, you can cover the nail with fewer strokes, and still finish with a great-looking nail that brought you less time, thereby maximizing your earnings!
The other benefit to using a larger brush is that, with a larger ball of acrylic, there is less likelihood of any areas of the nail drying before you finish, and it reduces the likelihood of overlapping the sections of acrylic, ending up with a lumpy ‘joining point’.
Now, this may not seem that significant, but too heavy or long a brush can make them unwieldy and tiring, particularly if you are carrying out a lot of manicures every day.
You can, of course, use traditional artists' brushes, and many nail techs working with fine details will choose these over specialist nail brushes, due to the wider range of sizes available. However, due to the length of the handle, art brushes tend to be cut down for detailed nail work.
