Dressed In Lace

First off, I just want to do a quick update on the last design I did. I was SO surprised at how long my polish lasted! Because of the thickness of the polish on the tips I was convinced they would chip after a couple of days. Alas, they lasted 5 days without chipping. I was in shock. None of my little pearls fell off either which surprised me after so many of the diamontes fell off my Crown Jewel design after just 24 hours. Guess I just got lucky with that one, which I was so happy about because I really did feel very pretty with that design on my fingers. I had minimal tip wear, but that was to be expected.

So on to my next design. You might remember back in April I did a post on water decals and mentioned that in addition to the swirl design that I showed in the photo that I liked layering a lace design over my lilac purple polish. Well since last night I needed to do a design that wouldn't take too long to dry before bed, here it is!

This time I've taken step by step photos so that you can understand a bit better how the decals work. The ones that I've used are from this seller on ebay, but if you search 'lace water decal' there are are lots of other ones available. Some of them work slightly differently, so make sure you check the instructions before starting.

Step 1: Choose your nail polish colour based on what colour your decals are. If your decals are a dark colour pick a light coloured base, and vice versa. My decals are black, so I've picked OPI's 'Do You Lilac It?'.

Step 2: Cut your decals out individually, cutting as close to the edges as possible. Then cut each one down to size for the nail you'll be placing it on. Make sure you do this before you paint your nails, because I guarantee you'll smudge them if you wait. At this point I also suggest filling a glass or small bowl with water, and keeping that and some tweezers close by.

Step 3: After applying your protective base coat, apply your coloured nail polish. Wait for it to become touch dry (or completely dry if possible) before continuing.

Step 4: For the next two steps, I highly recommend doing this one nail at a time. Using your tweezers, pick up a decal by the top corner and dip it into your water for 20 seconds or so. Place the decal onto your nail and slowly slide off the backing paper. If the backing doesn't come off easily, dip the decal into the water for a little longer. While the decal is still wet, slide it around your nail until you're happy with it's placement.

Step 5: Once the decal is dry enough that you can't freely move it anymore, use your nail file to gently file away the excess. I suggest using more of a 'swiping' motion and going from top to bottom rather than side to side, as going side to side can cause damage to the design. I find that once the design is sort of perforated at the edge of your nail you can gently tear the excess away without much trouble. (I hope that made sense, if you're still unsure please leave a comment and I'll try and explain it another way!).

Step 6: After repeating steps 4 and 5 for all your nails, make sure there is no water left on your nails and that the decals are dry, then apply your clear top coat. Make sure you cap the tips to really keep the decals in place.

So that's it! Very easy, so it's great for beginners. The first time I did this was back in November last year, I was just starting out and my nails were fairly short, so it works on short nails too. On short nails though I found it looked better with the decal placed just on the very tip for a french tip effect rather than having it cover the majority of your nail. Enjoy, subscribe, and if there's anything in particular you want me to try please don't hesitate to ask :)

UPDATE: One of my nails broke, so here's a picture of what the design looks like on short nails compared with long nails: