Acrylic Fill-Ins in Florence, KY

When is it time for a fill?

Look at the cuticle line. When there is a visible band of natural nail between the cuticle and where the product starts — roughly two to three millimetres, usually two to four weeks after the set went on — the balance point of the nail has moved forward and it is time. Left longer, the weight sits too far out and the free edge starts to lever the product away from the nail plate.

Three other signals worth acting on: a hollow tap when you tick a nail against a mug, which means air has got under the product; a lifted corner you can catch a fingernail under; and a set that has gone dull all over rather than in one spot, which is surface wear rather than a structural problem.

People who type all day tend to be at the two-week end. People whose hands are mostly dry and still get closer to four.

What actually happens in a fill appointment

1. The old top layer and any lifted product are filed back. Nothing is pried.
2. The regrowth area is prepped and dehydrated so the new product bonds to nail rather than to oil.
3. New product is applied into the gap and blended so there is no ridge where old meets new.
4. The whole nail is refiled to the shape you already wear, then buffed level.
5. Color or gel goes back on and the set is finished.

The blend in step three is the part that separates a fill you can wear for another three weeks from one that shows a visible step by the weekend. It is also why a fill takes about as long as it does — the filing is the work, not the product.

Why fills cost different amounts

Four fill prices sit on our menu and the difference is filing time, not materials:

• Fill In Gel — $45 & up. A square or squoval set in a single color.
• Fill on almond, coffin or stiletto — $55 & up. A tapered sidewall has to be re-cut on every nail to keep the point true. Skip that and the shape widens a little with each visit until it is not the shape you asked for.
• Ombré fill — $60 & up. The fade has to be rebuilt into the new growth so the blend still starts where it started.
• Pink & white fill — $65 & up. The smile line is re-cut by hand on all ten nails. It is the most technical thing on this list.

How many fills before a new set?

Three or four, for most people. Each fill leaves a little more product on the nail, and by the fourth the set starts to read thick at the cuticle and heavy on the hand. At that point soaking off and rebuilding gives a better result than another fill, and it costs $55 & up for a full set gel rather than $45 & up.

Two things shorten that run. Lifting that keeps coming back in the same spot usually means moisture has got in and the bond is compromised — better to start clean. And a change of shape or length is a new set by definition; a fill cannot make a square set almond.

Booking a fill somewhere new

We fill sets applied elsewhere, and it is a very common first appointment. Two honest caveats. If the previous set is thick, badly lifted, or has been drilled thin at the cuticle, we will tell you a soak-off and a fresh set will look better and last longer — and we will show you the nail we are looking at rather than just asserting it.

And if you are not sure what you are wearing, we can tell in about ten seconds. Acrylic, dip and gel all fill differently, and the one thing that never works is treating one as the other.

A single broken nail on an otherwise sound set is not a fill — that is a repair, from $5, and you can walk in for it.

Acrylic Fill-Ins pricing

These are the live prices from our booking system. Prices marked “& up” change with length, shape and how much art you choose, and we quote before we begin. See the full price list.