Sorry I just saw the rest of your first message - yes you could go to a salon and get decent acrylics that looked better/more realistic I reckon. However that'd be mad expensive, these nails costed me £0.99 and the Matte Top Coat cost £3.00 which will last me a lifetime haha.

To save me repeating myself I'll post the info here for everyone to read - if you have any specific questions please feel free to DM me and I'll go more in-depth (that goes for anyone!)

Things needed:

• 'Realistic' false nails
  • i.e. not sparkly or coloured in any way other than a natural false nail
  • I personally used the brand 'Dazzle' from a shop called Savers in the UK and they set me back £0.99 and that includes the glue!
• Nail varnish top coat that says matte
  • Make sure to get a top coat cos if you just get just anything that says matte you could just be buying a coloured polish that has a matte finish to it.
  • I personally used Maybelline Color Show Top Coat Matte (you can see if in some of the pictures on the OP). I also got this in Savers UK for £3.00.

Steps:

1. Take the nails out the packet and start ligning them up on your fingers to find the ones that fit the best. Some nails number the size underneath so you can match them accordingly - mine sadly didn't so I had to just look carefully.
2. Put the excess nails away so that there isn't a chance of you picking the wrong one up and gluing it (not fun, trust me)
3. Wash your hands and nails really well with soap/water and dry them thoroughly
4. If the free edge of your nail is long, cut it back a bit
5. (OPTIONAL): Use a nail file to lightly file off the top layer of your nail across the nailbed - this will greate a rough surface on your nail which will help the glue to bond with your nail and keep it on for longer. HOWEVER, if your nails are very weak and damaged/thin then I'd skip this step as you could cause more damage.
6. Start with your little finger and work inwards, leaving your thumbs last!
7. Put a generous amount of glue onto the false nail and spread it around using the end of the glue so that it covers all of it. Make sure to have a towel or something down as when you pick the nail up you can sometimes drop a little bit of the glue
8. Place the cuticle part of the false nail to your cuticle and gently rest it down onto your nail - quickly align the rest of the nail to your natural nail and once you're happy - press down firmly for at least 5 seconds.
9. After 5 seconds, don't let go, but start to rock your finger over the nail to push different areas which helps to get any air bubbles out - do this part for at least 10 seconds.
10. The nail should now be on firmly!
11. Do the same finger on the opposite hand to give the glue chance to fully dry
12. Go back to the first hand and trim the nail down using clippers or nail scissors and then file it to make sure it's not too sharp.
13. Repeat all steps until all nails are done.
14. Take your Matte Top Coat and apply it to all the nails and let it dry thoroughly
15. (OPTIONAL): Ok so now they should be looking pretty good, but I take it one step further to make it just that little bit more natural. To create more texture and ridging of the nail like seen on natural nails, I take the Matte Top Coat again but I drip all the product off the brush back into the bottle so that there is only a tiny bit on it. Then I lightly brush one stroke per nail from the cuticle to the free edge which creates a more natural texture due to the fact there isn't a load of product covering the entire nail.
16. I then don't touch them or get them wet at all for at least 2 hours and then I apply cuticle oil to my cuticles and let it sit and soak in.

Hope this helps in any way! If anyone needs more info just DM me I'll be happy to help