Create your own nail art decals
This post is well overdue! I guess better late than never. Back in February (yes two months ago), I saw two of my favourite bands in the same week Paramore and Evanescence!! So of course I had to create nail art for both occasions and couldn’t resist creating my own nail art decals!
For both Bands I decided to recreate their album cover art. This meant finding a way to get the logo onto my nails which proved to be a bit of a challenge as I just can’t draw free hand. So after searching the internet and seeking help from the nail art community on Instagram I finally found the product needed to be able to create my decals.
The paper and everything else you will need
So to achieve this design you will need the normal nail art items including
- Basecoat and Topcoat
- Coloured nail polish
- Waterslide Transfer/Decal Paper Inkjet Printer (NB: this may have slightly different names)
- Inkjet Printer
Just a note about the paper – the one I purchased said that it was for Candle, Soap and Wood. The paper may not directly say that it’s for nail art but its likely that it will still work.
Part 1 – Create the decals
The decals require a little time and care to create. I don’t recommend rushing this step. If possible try to a least complete the printing a full day before you require the decal.
- Create your design. When you have found the image that you want to use create a test print on normal plain paper. The biggest reason for this is that the size of the image on your computer can look very different to when it’s printed. Ensure that the image is sharp and the correct size to fit your nail.
- Following the instructions on the paper print the decals (only when ready).
- Wait a few hours at least (I recommend 24 hours) to ensure the ink has dried. Apply a coat of clear polish. I used a top coat for this. The reason I suggest waiting 24 hours is to ensure that when you apply the top coat the image isn’t smudged (think back to school days when you would have freshly printed paper and try to use your highlighter).
- All the top coat to fully dry. I gave mine an hour to ensure it was 100% dry.
- Cut out your decals. Try to cut as close as possible to the design.
Just a note about step 3. The instructions for the paper I purchased said to use acrylic spray. I looked at other tutorials online who also used polish. However, if its the first time using the paper it may be worth doing a test design first. But I believe the polish should be able to work fairly well in most cases.
Part 2 – Apply the decals to your nails
So now that you have your decals ready you can apply them to your nails. Ensure you have cut out the decals before painting your nails. I have made this mistake so many times and it’s very frustrating to destroy a design because you have knocked your finger on the scissors handle. Also if you want more detailed instructions about water decals read my previous post: https://thenailchronicle.com/2017/08/19/how-to-use-water-nail-decals/
- Apply the usual base coat
- Apply your colour. For Evanescence I used a plain white for the base colour and for Paramore I create a purple-pink ombre to match the album cover.
- Following the instructions on the paper remove the backing paper from the design. For the paper I used, this involved soaking the paper in water for 30 seconds.
- Place the design on your nail and wait for it to set in place.
- Apply a top coat. With my decals, I found that they didn’t set as well as other water decals and so I had to take extra care when applying the first top coat.
- Apply additional top coats as needed!
