Frequently asked questions
What is in a DND Full Clear Gel Tip box?
1,000 clear, full-cover soft gel tips of one shape and one length, sorted into 15 sizes, with extra tips in the mid sizes 4 through 6 that a salon uses most. There are 25 boxes on the page, numbered 01 to 25: coffin, square, stiletto, almond, and round, each in X-short, short, medium, long, and X-long, all at one price.
Are DND soft gel tips clear or pre-etched?
Clear only. Every DND box is the glossy, un-etched tip, so the tech buffs the inside of the tip where the adhesive will sit before bonding it. Clear is the finish for encapsulated art and a glass look; a salon that wants a pre-etched matte or half matte tip picks those from the LAVIS or LDS soft gel tip pages and uses the same adhesive.
Which DND tip boxes should a salon buy first?
Coffin medium (box 03) and almond medium (box 18), the two most-booked extension shapes at a wearable length, then square short (07) for the natural-looking straight edge and stiletto medium (13) for the client who wants a point. Long and X-long coffin and stiletto follow for the long-nail book, and the X-short boxes serve the client who wants strength at her own length.
How are soft gel tips applied and removed?
Fit the tip sidewall to sidewall, prep and buff the inside of the tip, a thin layer of soft gel tip adhesive on the nail and in the well, seat from the cuticle side, flash-cure, then full-cure through the tip under the lamp, and finish with base, color, and top. Removal is a soak: file through the top and color, wrap in acetone, and let the tip and adhesive soften rather than prying.
Is the adhesive included?
No. The boxes hold tips only. The LAVIS Soft Gel Tip Adhesive on the soft gel page is the bonder ND sells for these tips, and one bottle covers many full sets; a lamp is needed to cure the adhesive and the gel over the tip.
DND soft gel tips: 25 full-cover clear boxes, five shapes in five lengths
This page holds every DND Full Clear Gel Tip box at ND Nails Supply: 25 boxes, one for each combination of five shapes, coffin, square, stiletto, almond, and round, and five lengths, X-short, short, medium, long, and X-long. Every box is the same format, a clear, full-cover soft gel tip in 15 sizes, 1,000 tips to the box with extra tips in the mid sizes 4 to 6 that a salon uses most, and every box is the same price, so the shelf is built on the client book alone. The tips are the light, flexible kind that bond with a soft gel adhesive and cure under the lamp, worn as the nail with base, color, and top over them. The boxes are numbered 01 to 25 in the listing titles, coffin first and round last, which is the order they sit in on the shelf. Everything is wholesale-priced for everyone, no license and no minimum.
What is on this page
| Shape | Box numbers | Lengths |
|---|---|---|
| Coffin | 01 to 05 | X-short, short, medium, long, X-long |
| Square | 06 to 10 | X-short, short, medium, long, X-long |
| Stiletto | 11 to 15 | X-short, short, medium, long, X-long |
| Almond | 16 to 20 | X-short, short, medium, long, X-long |
| Round | 21 to 25 | X-short, short, medium, long, X-long |
Eight of the 25 boxes are out of stock at the time of writing, so a salon that wants a full run of one shape should check the five lengths before ordering; a length that is out is usually back within the month, and the other shapes in the same length are the stand-in. The grid is the reason to stock DND tips: one brand, one price, every shape in every length.
Why the DND grid matters on the tip shelf
- Five shapes, complete. Coffin, square, stiletto, almond, and round each run all five lengths, so a salon that books almond can stock X-short to X-long in almond alone rather than mixing brands to fill a length.
- 1,000 tips a box. Fifteen sizes with extra tips in sizes 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, and 6, the middle of the range that empties first, so a box lasts through more full sets before a size runs short.
- One clear finish. Every box is clear, the glossy un-etched tip that the tech buffs on the inside before bonding; it is the finish for encapsulated art, a glass finish, and a tech who prefers to etch her own bond zone.
- One price. All 25 boxes sit at the same price, so shape and length are chosen on the client, not on cost, and a new shape is a low-risk add to the shelf.
Which boxes to open first
A salon opening soft gel with DND starts with coffin medium (03) and almond medium (18), the two most-booked extension shapes at a wearable length, then adds square short (07) for the client who wants a natural-looking straight edge and stiletto medium (13) for the client who wants a point. A salon with a long-nail book adds the coffin and stiletto long and X-long boxes; the round boxes join for the client who wants a natural overlay length in a soft shape, and the X-short boxes in every shape are the strength-at-her-own-length set for a nail biter or a client between sets. Because the mid sizes empty first even with the extras, keep a second box of the shape and length booked most.
Reading the shapes and lengths
| Shape | What it is | Book it for |
|---|---|---|
| Coffin | Tapered sidewalls, squared-off tip | The most-asked-for extension; long and X-long for the full set |
| Square | Straight sidewalls, flat edge | Short and X-short for the natural-looking set; the French tip shape |
| Stiletto | Tapered to a point | Medium for the everyday point, long and X-long for the photo set |
| Almond | Tapered sidewalls, rounded point | The slimming everyday shape; medium is the most-booked length |
| Round | Rounded edge, little taper | Natural overlays, older clients, and toes |
Length names are the brand's own, so a salon fits a client from the box rather than from a chart; a practice hand at the desk with one tip of each shape in medium lets her pick a shape she can see, and the length is then chosen by how she uses her hands.
Soft gel tip or acrylic tip
A soft gel tip is a full-cover extension bonded with a cured adhesive and worn as the nail, with base, color, and top over it; it is light, flexible, and soaks off, and a full set takes a fraction of the time of a sculpted set. An acrylic or hard gel tip is a half-well tip glued on and then built over with product, which gives a stronger, thicker nail that files off rather than soaking. The DND boxes are the soft gel kind. A salon usually runs both: soft gel for the client who wants length quickly and removes it in a few weeks, built tips for the client who keeps her set for months, and the DND clear tip can also sit under a builder gel layer for the client who wants the shape of a tip with more strength.
Fitting and applying a DND tip
- Size. Fit a tip so it sits sidewall to sidewall with no gap. Between sizes, take the larger and file its sidewalls; never file the natural nail to fit a tip.
- Prep. Push back, remove shine, dust, dehydrate, then a bonder. Buff the inside of the clear tip where the adhesive will sit so the bond has a key.
- Adhesive. A thin layer of soft gel tip adhesive on the nail and a little in the well of the tip.
- Seat. Press on from the cuticle side at an angle, push toward the free edge to clear air, flash-cure a few seconds, then full-cure through the tip under the lamp.
- Shape. Keep the length or trim it, refine the edge with a file, then base, color, and top as for a gel manicure.
The adhesive is not in the box: the LAVIS Soft Gel Tip Adhesive on the soft gel page is the bonder ND sells for these tips, and one bottle covers many sets.
Why a soft gel tip lifts or pops, and the fix
- Lifting at the sidewall in the first week: the tip was a size too small and bridged the nail, or the sidewalls were not pressed down before the flash cure. Refit one size up and file the sidewalls to width.
- The whole tip pops off: the inside of the clear tip was not buffed, or the adhesive was applied thick and never cured through. Buff the well, apply the adhesive thin, and hold the flash cure before the full cure.
- Air bubbles under the tip: the tip was pressed straight down instead of rolled on from the cuticle side. Seat at an angle and push toward the free edge.
- A cloudy well after curing: the adhesive was cured under a weak or old lamp. Cure through the tip with the lamp that cures the base, and replace bulbs on schedule.
Removal and refits
A soft gel tip soaks off like gel: file the top coat and color through, wrap in acetone, and let the tip and adhesive soften rather than prying the tip up, which takes the plate with it. For a refit at two or three weeks, the tech files the old product flush at the cuticle, preps the growth, and either fills over the same tip or removes and reapplies, depending on how the tip has lifted. A client who is hard on her hands wears a shorter length in the same shape rather than a thicker product, since the tip itself carries the strength.
Storage and reorder
Keep the boxes as the sorted trays they arrive in and reorder the shape and length that empties rather than a mixed order; the box number in the listing title is the fastest way to reorder, since 03 is always coffin medium and 18 is always almond medium. Store the boxes closed and out of sunlight so the clear tips do not yellow, and keep the lids on between clients, because a clear tip picks up dust that shows under the adhesive. A cured swatch of each shape and length at the desk, tips applied to a practice hand, lets the client pick a shape she can see rather than a name.
Wholesale pricing at ND Nails Supply
Every DND soft gel tip box is wholesale-priced for everyone, with no business license, no minimum order, and no membership fee, and all 25 boxes sit at one price, so shape and length are chosen on the client book rather than on cost. There are no kits or bundles on this page; a salon builds its shelf by the box, 1,000 tips at a time. Free shipping on orders $100+, and in-stock boxes ordered before 2pm PT on weekdays leave the same day.