I’m a SHORT nail girly forever because of rock climbing and BFRB/anxiety girl vibes. How do y’all cap the ends of shorties without making a complete mess all over your finger? I’ve just been dealing with shrinkage, but would love to figure out how to cleanly cap my nails for greater aesthetics and longevity.
On the nails:
1x zoya anchor base coat
2x mooncat getting even primer
2x cracked shut the front door
1x Essie gel setter
by Worried-Flatworm9464
15 Comments
Oof, I cannot help you (capping the edge is always messy business for me when I’m rockin’ shorties so I typically forego it), but just have to say you have ***gorgeous*** shorties! So clean, so crisp, so well shaped! Remembering you and your lovely nails for when it comes time for my next chop!
It’s kinda impossible, but i recommend adding some liquid latex to the skin under the edge if you can and then adding your top coat. If you don’t have any you could always make a mess then wipe it off with acetone or scrape it off with something!
heres a holo taco video for painting short nails. it requires a lot of cleanup though so im curious to see other responses.
https://youtu.be/DU1dmGFHqdM?si=E8MlKhJmi8a6tHik
Don’t try to cap shorties with a full brush, and cap them before you paint the rest of the nail.
So after you’ve painted your index finger, take what’s left on the brush and cap your middle finger. Then re-dip the brush, paint your middle finger, take what’s left on the brush and cap your ring finger, etc.
Use a post-it/piece of paper/etc (nail form is ideal but anything flat should do), and tuck it under the edge of the nail to sort of pull the skin back away from the nail and keep the polish off the skin
when my nails are nubby i just do my best capping the ends—they never look perfectly neat immediately afterward, but that skin moves/flexes so much that the polish comes off quickly anyway. you could definitely use a cleanup brush with a little acetone, but I’m lazy and i HATE when the acetone spills onto the manicure a little.
i just always make sure to like—okay, this is gonna sound weird, but i have no other way to say it, so bear with me—pull the flesh of the finger pad back? away from the nail? when the polish is maybe halfway dry. like, just pull the fingerprint part down toward the knuckle slightly. If you let it dry completely without doing that, sometimes the polish is fully flooded in the seam between nail and fingertip, and when it does inevitably crack it can take the polish on the end of the nail with it. If you make sure to separate the polish on the skin from the polish on the underside of the nail before it’s fully dry, the polish on your skin flakes off without affecting the mani. At least in my experience!!
you might be surprised at how much control you eventually get when you’re capping your ends! wiping the brush so there’s visible polish but no visible roundness/drop/bead at the very end of the brush helps.
sorry for saying “flesh” lol. hope this helps a little?
i get a teeny amount of polish on the brush, gently press down the skin near the free edge with my thumb or finger from the same hand to get better access to the nail, carefully paint a line on the edge with the side of my paddle brush, then re-dip the brush and paint the surface of the nail. i usually get some on my skin and use an angled eyeshadow brush with acetone to clean up. with practice will come improved precision & less clean up will be necessary. a good light will help.
I haven’t had nubs in a while but when they’re really nubby, i hold the brush so the bristles are out away from me and kinda tap the free edge at an angle
My nails are super short too. I don’t usually bother to cap them, but I have in the past. What worked was after putting on your base coat, if you get most of the polish off your brush and just tap it gently over the tip and then put your first coat of polish. I’ve attached a picture that hopfully makes sense
https://preview.redd.it/cjac2sj4916g1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1753c680f64687ce12f7e49263af6e3f106005f
I keep my nails short because of my job, I appreciate you asking this! I gave up capping a bit ago because of the mess, but I might give some of the methods commented here a try 🙂 I love this sub!!
I resign myself that I’m going to get it on my fingers. After drying a bit, I put Vaseline all over my hands and that loosens up the excess enough so I can pick it off. That’s why I don’t do gel! 🫣
Honestly, as a similar level of shorty nails person, I switched top coats and never looked back. Essie Gel Setter gave me crazy shrinkage at the tips, though I loved everything else about it (I know it’s so popular in this sub). I switched to BKL’s I’m Fast Very Fast QDTC and have never had shrinkage again. I don’t really cap my tips, just try to make sure to get full coverage to the edge, especially with the top coat. I also don’t have shrinkage with Mooncat Speed Demon, but I wouldn’t repurchase for the price now that I love BKL’s. I have also found that doing another layer of top coat 24-48 hours after the initial manicure extends my longevity and helps with tip wear. Maybe try some other top coats if these other tips don’t work out!
I clean up with q tips dipped in nail remover. Before I let the nails dry I clean up whatever went over.
I do the caps first, like many others suggested here
I only started capping my tips when my nails were a millimetre past finger tips, but turning your palm up so you’re looking right at your tips or slightly under them, and have a better visual on the skin you’re avoiding helps.
As others have noted, do it before you paint the nail plate, and with less polish on the brush. Either with what’s left from painting the previous nail, or, as I do, re-dipped, but fully scraped on the neck, instead of scraped to leave a bead as you’d do for the nail plate.