Artificial nails are well known and commonly employed, mainly by women desiring the appearance of having longer finger nails than their natural ones and/or to repair or obscure a broken nail. Generally speaking, the artificial nails of the prior art can be characterized as falling into one of the following two classes: (1) preformed nails; and (2) nails which are applied as a viscous solution or paste with the aid of a suitable form affixed to the digit during application.
As examples of preformed artificial nails, mention may be made of those described and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,633,139; 2,746,460; 2,764,166; 2,979,061; 3,277,900; 3,487,831; 3,552,401; and 4,106,614.
Generally speaking, preformed nails such as would be purchased in a package have an inadequately short life. Whether they are provided with an adhesive backing or applied with the aid of an adhesive coating composition, they tend to break off or separate from the natural nail too shortly after application. Moreover, preformed nails usually are not the precise size, particularly when one desires to apply artificial nails to less than all of the digits. In other words, they frequently do not have the "natural" look of the real nail, especially when comparison is made with a natural nail on another digit.
Consequently, virtually all artificial nails applied by professional beauticians fall into the latter class, i.e. application by brushing or "painting" on a suitable artificial nail composition with the aid of a form secured to the digit. After the composition has hardened, the form is removed. Artificial nail procedures of this latter class are described and claimed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,756.
Since the present invention is directed to novel procedures and articles for providing artificial nails by the latter techniques, these procedures heretofore employed in the art for coating artificial nails onto the digit will now be described in more detail for a better understanding of the nature and objects of this invention.
In a typical commercial procedure such as would be employed by a manicurist in a beauty salon, any existing nail polish is first removed and the nail is then lightly sanded to remove the shiny nail surface (top layer). A nail form such as is shown in FIG. 1 and which will be discussed in more detail hereinafter, is then placed on the finger. After the form is securely in place, a primer coating is applied to the natural nail with a small brush to increase adhesion of the applied artificial nail. After the volatile solvent for the primer has evaporated, a so-called "white tip" is then applied over the primer by first dipping the brush into a suitable organic solution, then picking up a ball of powder to form a paste which is rapidly applied in a series of steps, first on the form beyond the natural nail tip and then over the natural nail. Polymerization and hardening to form the plastic artifcial nail occurs very rapidly in situ once the solution and powder are admixed and the operator must be highly skilled and move rapidly to shape this "white tip" into the desired shape of the nail. Controlling the amount of the liquid on the brush is a very critical part of this step and moreover care should be taken not to touch the natural nail with one's fingers to avoid transfer of oil and moisture which may cause the artificial nail not to adhere properly.
Following application of the "white tip", a clear top coat of plastic is applied over the natural and artificial nails to increase the strength of the bond of the extended artificial nail to the natural nail and to give a smooth uniform appearance. The nail is then finished by removing the form, sanding, shaping, cleaning and, if desired, application of nail polish.
Because the polymerization and hardening to form the artificial nail occurs in situ shortly after admixture of the ingredients including the monomers, polymerization catalyst, etc, and the practitioner therefore has no control over the timing thereof, the artificial nails must be applied sequentially. A typical such procedure may take, for example, on the order of an hour and a half by a skilled operator to apply nails to all ten fingers.
These prior art procedures suffer from certain noted deficiencies. The operator must be trained and skilled in the shaping of the artificial nail in the short time between mixing the ingredients and hardening. As mentioned, each nail must be applied sequentially and further time is required for the finishing touches. Moreover, the known commercial procedures require the use of volatile organic solvents, the disadvantages of which will be readily apparent. For instance, some operators and/or their clients find the odor extremely objectionable. Technical problems may also occur. For example, occasionally the monomers in the composition do not polymerize uniformly.
In addition to the above-noted difficulties, the applied artificial nail is usually thicker in appearance and can therefore be detected on closer scrutiny. Further, they tend to soften the underlying natural nail. Other problems which sometimes occur include allergic reaction to the artificial nail composition, water mold, fungus, and lifting or separation of the artificial nail.