Every press-on we tried asked us to give something up.
Glue meant damage — the filing, the acetone soak, the thin, tender nail underneath that took weeks to come back. Adhesive tabs meant a set that lifted by lunch. And a salon meant an appointment, two hours, and a look you were committed to whether or not you still liked it on Thursday.
None of that is a fair trade. So we stopped making it.
What we make
Artisan Nails are hand-finished press-on sets, made to order in our atelier. Not stamped, not pulled off a shelf — shaped, painted and sealed by hand, in your size, after you order them. That is why they take 10 to 14 business days, and why no two sets sit exactly alike.
Twenty-four nails across twelve sizes come in every box, so you can mix across your hand instead of settling for an average fit. Your thumb and index decide your size. The rest follows.
The part that changes things
Nail Binds are our own adhesive, and they are the reason a set is not disposable.
They lift away from the nail plate rather than bonding to it. No filing to prep, no acetone to remove, no thinning underneath. Waterproof enough for handwashing, the gym and the pool. On in ten minutes, off in a few — and a set comes back for ten wears or more with care.
Which means the maths of a manicure changes. A set you wear once is an expense. A set you wear through autumn, put away, and pull out again in spring is a wardrobe.
How we work
Small batches. Made after you order, never before. Seven sheets of Nail Binds in every box, one wear per sheet, so the first ten wears are already covered.
It is slower than the alternative. We think the difference shows up on your hands.
What we will not do
We will not pretend a made-to-order set can be returned because someone guessed their size — it cannot go back into stock, because it was never in stock. So we put a size guide on every product page and we answer every email about it.
We will not invent a number to make a claim sound better. Ten wears is what careful use gets you. Some people get more.
And we will not sell you glue.
TipCouture is hand finished in small batches. If you have a question about fit, an order, or whether a shape will suit your hand, write to us — we read all of it.