If you suddenly find yourself out of nail glue, it can feel really frustrating – particularly if you’ve got an event to get to, and you want your nails to look their best. What can you use instead? Particularly, can you use eyelash glue for fake nails?
In short yes, you can use eyelash glue for either fake or press-on nails. Eyelash glue works in much the same way as nail glue, but it might be slightly less strong, so don’t use eyelash glue for fake nails on a repeat basis, or if you want them to last.
What Does Eyelash Glue Do?
Eyelash glue is a tacky adhesive. It’s designed to attach false eyelashes to your eyelid, adding a little drama, volume, and body to your natural lashes.
Eyelash adhesive typically contains the chemical bonding agent cyanoacrylate, which is widely used across the beauty industry thanks to the fact that it dries so quickly and has such adhesive (sticky) properties.
Remember to always patch test your eyelash glue before use. This will help you to avoid the risk of irritation, infection, or allergic reaction to eyelash glue.
It’s also wise to stay away from eyelash glue that contains substances including formaldehyde, benzoic acid, ammonia, lead, and certain parabens.
These are linked to infection and problematic skin conditions, and formaldehyde is even known to cause cancer.
Can You Use Eyelash Glue For Fake Nails?
You technically can use eyelash glue for fake nails. They’re both adhesives, so they work to bond something to another surface, which means that eyelash glue can be used for fake nails in a pinch.
However, the products do work differently, as they’re designed for slightly different areas of the body.
Eyelash glue is designed to stick false eyelashes to the thin layer of skin by your natural lashes.
The skin around your eyelids is sensitive and delicate. As such, any adhesive used around the area also needs to be specially formulated to minimize irritation and sensitivity.
It also means that the level of the stickiness of eyelash glue tends to be lower than that of fake nails.
By contrast, nail glue is tougher and stronger than eyelash glue. After all, it’s there in order to stick durable acrylic fake nails onto the keratin of your natural nails.
As such, although you can use eyelash glue for fake nails, the glue is unlikely to stick for too long.
Using eyelash glue for fake nails should therefore only ever be a short-term solution until you’re able to find yourself some proper nail glue.
How To Use Eyelash Glue For Fake Nails
1. Clean your nails
If your nails have any kind of polish on them, you need to clear this off before applying fake nails.
2. Soak your nails
Now you need to soak your nails in warm water. Aim for at least five minutes, but ten minutes is best. This is to soften both your nail bed and the skin around your nails.
3. Clip your nails
You need to trim your natural nails before applying fake nails so that your natural nails don’t grow out under your fake nails and look strange.
Use nail clippers or scissors in order to trim your nails down. You can then follow this by filing your nails down into shape.
Remember to only use the nail file or emery board in one direction, avoiding a sawing motion.
4. Push your cuticles back
Fake nails need as wide a surface as possible to attach to. Use a cuticle pusher to push your nails back. You can then use nail scissors to trim the pushed-back cuticle.
5. Apply the fake nails
Grab your eyelash glue, and add a small dot or brush swipe onto the surface of your natural nails. Add another small dot or brush swipe onto the lower half of your fake nail.
Before applying the fake nail to your natural nail, take care that you’ve lined the base of the fake nail up with your cuticle.
Once you’re sure this is aligned, you can gently press the fake nail down onto your natural nail.
You probably need to gently press it down in order to ensure that the glue sticks. You may need to do this for a minute or so, and take care that you don’t apply excess pressure.
Can You Make DIY Glue For Fake Nails?
If you’re in a pinch, and you don’t have any nail glue or eyelash glue, then you can use DIY glue for your fake nails.
However, whilst you may see certain blog posts on the internet saying that you can use Super Glue for fake nails, we recommend not doing so.
Super Glue is extremely sticky, and it is not designed for use on the surface of the body. As such, it may cause serious dehydration, brittleness, and damage to your nails if you use it.
We’d therefore recommend using eyelash glue, DIY glue, or other alternatives for your fake nails.
How To Make A DIY Nail Glue For Fake Nails
Simply follow these instructions in order to make an at-home alternative to nail glue. This at-home DIY glue should ensure that your fake nails stick for anywhere up to two weeks, depending on how well you take care of them.
You will need:
- PVA glue
- Clear nail polish
- A cotton swab stick or Q-tip
- An old kitchen bowl
Once you’ve grabbed all of these components, follow these instructions:
- Mix together one cup of PVA glue and around ¼ ounce of clear nail polish. The PVA glue can be either white or clear – it won’t have an impact on the glue’s sticking ability.
- Use your Q-tip to mix these substances together in your bowl. You probably want to use an old bowl and ensure that you reserve it for beauty purposes, as you don’t want to be eating off it.
- Once the mixture is thoroughly combined, you can use it as nail glue. Brush a small amount onto your nails using a Q-tip or a clean brush. Pop your false nail on top, and leave for around ten minutes so that the glue can set properly.
3 Alternatives To Nail Glue
Double-sided tape
If you have double-sided tape at home or are able to pop out to a store to get some, this is a cheap and easy alternative to nail glue, provided that you don’t want to wear your fake nails for an extended period.
In fact, you may be able to find nail tabs, which are designed after double-sided tape, and usually come in various different shapes and sizes so as to work with various kinds of press-on and fake nails.
If you can’t find nail tabs, you can cut the double-sided tape into shape, and press one side down into the fake nail.
Once you’re ready to apply the fake nail to your natural nail, peel back the other side of the tape and press down.
Hold the nail onto your fake nail in order to ensure maximum purchase, and off you go.
Be aware that double-sided tape is not the stickiest option around, so your fake nails might peel off after a fairly short time.
However, it is an affordable alternative, and it won’t damage your nails, either.
If you’re ready to remove your fake nails, you can soak them in warm soapy water for a few minutes.
Gently wobble them from side to side in order to get the fake nail loose, and peel it back from your natural nail.
Acrylic mix
You can use an acrylic mix to secure either your press-on or fake nails to your natural nails.
As acrylic is so strong, this is one of the longer-lasting ways to attach your nails but be aware that this also makes it harder to remove.
You also might need a little bit of technical know-how in order to work with the acrylic mix.
Before applying the acrylic mix, you’ll need to buff your nails and clean them with rubbing alcohol or acetone.
Next, you’ll need to grab a nail brush and dip it into an acrylic bonding mixture, before dipping it into your acrylic powder.
This should form a bead-like substance, which you apply and brush over your nail.
You can then grab your fake nail or press-on nail, and pop it over your natural nail, holding it down for around ten seconds.
To remove the nail, you’ll need to soak it in acetone for ten to fifteen minutes.
Gel or poly gel
Gel nails rely on UV light in order to harden and solidify. So, if you’re planning to use gel nail polish or poly gel instead of nail glue, you’ll only be able to do so if your fake nails are light in color and translucent.
Otherwise, the UV light won’t be able to penetrate the nails. Using a clear poly gel will also work best.
Can You Use Nail Glue For Eyelashes?
Do not ever use nail glue for your eyelashes. As described above, nail glue is thicker, stronger, and stickier than eyelash glue.
It is formulated in order to stick a strong, durable, probably acrylic fake nail to the keratin of your natural nails.
It is not formulated for an area of your skin that is delicate and prone to breakage, and it should not be used around your eyes.
If you must find an alternative to nail glue in order to stick on your fake nails, look to any of the alternatives we list above.
If you experience symptoms including redness, soreness, swelling, and irritation, then you may have an eye infection.
You should seek medical advice, and you can use a cold compress to ease any itching or pain in the meantime.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Don’t use Super Glue for your nails. Doing so will likely cause serious damage to your nails, and may be extremely difficult to remove. There are far better alternatives to use than Super Glue, which is not designed for use on the body.
If you’re looking to add some texture and sparkle, adding gems to your nails can look fantastic. You can use eyelash glue to stick these down in much the same way that you would use nail glue.
Do not use Gorilla Glue on your nails. Much like Super Glue, Gorilla Glue is not designed for use on the body, and it will cause serious damage to your nails. It also expands and forms bubbles as it dries, which will raise the fake nails from the surface of your natural nails.