Four steps, about ten minutes, and one rule that matters more than the other three: prep. Most sets that lift within a day were applied to a nail that still had oil on it.
1. Prep
Push the cuticles back with the wooden stick. Do not cut them. Lightly buff the surface of each nail with the buffer block — just enough to remove the shine, not enough to thin the nail. Wipe every nail with the prep pad and wait until it is completely dry. If you are applying after a shower, wait twenty minutes.
2. Size
Lay out all fifteen sizes before you glue anything. Match the widest point of each tip to the widest point of your nail. The correct tip spans your nail side to side with no skin visible and no overhang. If you are between two sizes, take the smaller one — a tip that is slightly narrow looks natural, a tip that overhangs catches on everything.
3. Attach
For a two-to-four day wear, use an adhesive tab: press it onto the nail, then press the tip on at a 45 degree angle from the cuticle and hold for fifteen seconds. For up to two weeks, use a thin line of glue at the base and along the centre, never a full flood — glue that squeezes out at the sides is what makes removal difficult.
4. Finish
File the free edge flat if the tip is longer than you want. Avoid water for the first hour. After that, treat them like your own nails: gloves for washing up, and no using them as tools.
Removal
Soak in warm soapy water for ten minutes, then work the tip loose from the side with the wooden stick. Never pry or rip a tip off dry. That is what takes surface layers with it and leaves the nail looking worse than before you started.
Full instructions ship in every box. If your set behaves differently from this page, tell us — results vary with nail type, prep and daily wear.