Today the challenge for Crumpets Nail Tarts 31 day challenge is decals. *Le sigh*...decals....so let's talk about that for a minute. You have a few options when it comes to decals for your nails. You have your basic sticker type, water decals which work similarly to temporary tattoos, sticker type which are made with actual polish, Minx heat activated type, and the DIY options which include making them on plastic OR a stamper. A lot of options right? I hate the stickers so we'll just get that out of the way right now. I've never seen them look like anything other than what they are; a sticker on your nail.
I have a few water decals I like fairly well but they're not full coverage and let's face it, I'd find a way to screw that up! So those are out too. Then there are the sticker type which are made of polish which CAN actually look pretty decent. Notice I said CAN. Yeah....IF you have the exact perfect shape and size of nail for it and manage to get it stuck on just right and smooth it out before it's too late and then your top coat doesn't eat the top half and blah blah blah...no matter what size I choose I always end up with either half my nails naked or not enough large ones left to do my thumb becuase I had to cut them all down. WHO are they making these things for?
SO....having already tried and failed numerous times at decals on plastic I decided to go the stamper route. It actually worked fairly well though I did have some issues. For my first time doing it I feel very happy with the results. I started with my ring finger and the decal was obviously too short so I improvised with the white at the bottom. You can tell that I let that one dry too long (I used a fast dry topcoat which I know is meant to be a no-no but I've only got so much time!) and it cracked JUST slightly. For my next several I only let them dry between three and five minutes before applying. There is a touch of smudging which is blah but overall I'm satisfied. In the future I think I'd wait a hair longer to apply the colors and the final topcoat layer. I applied these directly to dry polish too since the decal was still tacky and I think that made things MUCH easier than my first attempt to apply one on wet polish. I hope you enjoy them! :)
Awesome design! I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with those things!
ReplyDeleteThese turned out pretty awesome anyway though, I love the colours you chose.
ReplyDeleteFor next time though, definitely have a go at using foil glue to do apply your decals, it's way easier, and you don't have to wait for anything to dry.
You just pick the image up on the stamper, then apply a layer of foil glue to your first nail. Then while that glue's drying, you fill in the coloured sections of your decal, (no top coat or anything needed) and then just stamp onto the foil glue as if you're doing normal stamping.
The decal will stick to the nail no matter how wet or dry the decal is. It's thinner on the nail, clean up is way easier, and it never bubbles on you. I tried it a few days ago myself, and now I can actually do decals, so I'm preaching it all over the place :D xx
ooooh top tip! tryng this x
DeleteGreat idea! Will definitely be trying this!
Deletei really like these - neon tribal rules!
ReplyDelete