Collection: Soft Gel Tips, All Brands

What is a soft gel tip?

A pre-shaped, full-cover nail made of a flexible gel material. It covers the whole natural nail rather than sitting on the free-edge half, it is bonded with gel and cured under a lamp instead of glued, and at the end of its life it soaks off with the gel that holds it. The shape is already in the tip, so there is no sculpting and almost no filing: size it, bond it, press it, cure it, refine the edge.

That is why the category exists. Lavis puts a full set on soft gel tips at 30 to 45 minutes against 45 to 75 for a sculpted extension, and the result is repeatable across ten nails because the shape came out of a mold rather than out of your hand.

The two ranges

Every box in both ranges holds twelve sizes, which is what lets one box fit a whole hand and then the next client. Both are rated for gel, acrylic and dip systems, because the tip is bonded rather than built into.

Which shape and length do you order?

• The three that carry a salon: almond, square and coffin in medium. Between them they cover most of what walks in.
• Short lengths: for clients who work with their hands, and for anyone new to extensions. A short coffin or almond wears like a natural nail.
• XS coffin: the shortest box in the range, for a client who wants shape and strength with no added length at all.
• Long and stiletto: the statement sets. Build the apex properly underneath, because length levers against the bond.
• Half matte, from LDS: when every set gets color anyway. The surface takes gel polish without a shiny tip fighting it.
• Squoval and oval: the softer square, for clients who find a true square too sharp at the corners.

If you are unsure what suits a client's hands, our guides on choosing a nail shape and what a nail shape says are written for exactly that conversation.

How do you apply a full-cover soft gel tip?

1. Size every finger first. Lay out ten tips before you bond anything. The right size touches both sidewalls without pressing into them; too wide lifts at the corners, too narrow leaves the natural nail exposed.
2. Prep. Cuticle back, shine off the plate, dust, dehydrate. A full-cover tip hides the nail, so nothing gets a second chance.
3. Prep the tip too. Buff the inside of the tip lightly so the bonding gel has a key.
4. Bond. Gel into the tip, a thin coat on the nail, then press from the cuticle edge down toward the free edge so air escapes ahead of the tip rather than getting trapped under it.
5. Cure under pressure. Hold or clamp while it cures, flash first then fully, so nothing shifts.
6. Refine. Trim the length, shape the edge, and blend the cuticle line. An e-file from Nail Drills makes this the quickest step; a hand file works.
7. Finish. Color from Gel Polish and a top coat from Base & Top Gel, or leave the tip clear and paint the nail underneath before bonding.

Tips, half-cover tips or a form?

Most salons keep two of the three: tips for speed and a form or half-cover tip for the clients who want a custom shape. The gels that bond and build over all of them are on Builder Gel and Poly Gel.

Why tips lift, and how to stop it

• Shine left on the plate. The commonest cause. Buff every nail dull, including the sidewalls.
• Oversized tips. A tip pressed onto skin at the sidewall lifts within days. Go down a size and file the width.
• Air under the tip. Roll it on from the cuticle edge; do not drop it flat.
• Too little bonding gel. The tip should seat on a bed of gel, not on a smear.
• Length without structure. A long tip needs an apex built over the bond, or the stress point flexes until it separates.

Removal, reuse and stocking

• Removal: file the surface to break the seal, wrap in acetone for fifteen to twenty minutes, then lift the softened tip away in passes. Never pry a tip off dry.
• Single use. The tip comes off with the bonding gel; it is not re-bonded to another client.
• Restock by size, not by box. The middle sizes empty first. Note which sizes ran low before you reorder, and keep the box as the storage tray.
• Opening order: almond, square and coffin in medium, plus one short box. Add stiletto and the long lengths once clients ask for them by name.
• Keep boxes closed and dry. Dust on the inside of a tip is one more reason a bond fails.

Related collections

• Lavis Soft Gel Tips The full Lavis range by shape and length.
• LDS Soft Gel Nail Tips Numbered half matte boxes, 12 sizes each.
• Lavis Nail Tips Half-cover extension tips to build over.
• Builder Gel, All Brands The gels that bond tips and build the apex.
• Gel Polish, All Brands Color for the finished set.

Related reads

• Builder, hard, soft, polygel, rubber base compared
• Choosing the right nail shape for you
• What your nail shape says about you
• How to fix a chipped or broken nail