Try using a little less liquid to prevent it from running. Also you want to apply the product about 1/2 of a centimeter (approximately the length of a one-week grow out), and then use the tip of your brush to flatten the product and it will spread toward the cuticle without touching it. Be careful not to file into the sidewalls as this will remove the product and cause breakage. Instead hold your file at a 90° angle as if you are almost filing underneath the nail. This will file the free edge of the nails and not the sidewalls.
— Dalonnie Preato is an educator for Light Elegance and owner of Dalonnie’s Hair & Nail Studio in Las Vegas.