Hello! 

I know I did promise the tutorial for this mani a little over a month ago now *insert generic excuse about being busy* so here it finally is! 

Hopefully it is worth the wait....

So to with this mani I was actually reviewing some water decals for Born Pretty Store, to be honest water decals isn't something I have ever used before so this was attempt 1 but I have to say it was pretty easy and quick which is everything I love with the added benefit of being super cheap ($0.99) so I would definitely recommend. 

INGREDIENTS. 

Born Pretty Store Nail Water Decals Leaf Flower 

Barry M Nail Paint Matte White

EQUIPMENT. 

MoYou London Crystal Clear Stamper 

MoYou London Holy Shapes 02 

RECIPE. 15-25 mins (including drying time) 

So as I said this was actually my first time using water decals. You get two designs in each sheet and the whole thing is a pretty quick process as you can tell by the time on this mani. I actually wasn't planning on adding the stamping details but then the whole thing was done so quickly I had the time to spare! 

1 - To start I just cut up the decal sheet ready to go. I wanted to have a negative space effect so I painted a clear base coat on the nail and waited for it to dry. 

Looking back I wouldn't recommend this if you wanted the colours to come out vibrantly on the nail. On the sheet the vinyls are stuck on a white background and so when peeled off (the background colour of the decal itself is clear not white) the colours are not as bold as they look against the white background. Especially bare this in mind if you wanted to stick the decals over darker colours as I doubt they would show up very well. 

2 - Once the base coat was dry I went about putting the decals on the nail. 

To do this peel of the plastic film over the decal and pop it in water or under the tap for a few seconds. Once wet place it design facing down on to the nail and hold there. You can slide it around a little to get it in the correct position. When it was in position I soaked up the excess water using a bit of loo roll and then removed the white paper backing which just slides off. 

3 - Repeat this on all nails and then file away the excess of the top of the nail and use an orange stick or nail varnish remover to clean away the edges. Give a quick blast with a hair drier if you feel you need it / want to speed up the process. 

A quick word of warning here is that the decal is all one piece even where there is no design. I accidentally pulled away bits of design by being a bit too heavy handed at this point. 

4 - You can add a layer of top coat here if you like, I didn't but when I do it again I probably will because it would have made the whole thing last a lot longer and sealed those edges away nicely. 

5 - At this point you can either leave the mani as it is or add the stamping details. To add the stamping details simply choose which designs you would like to cover your nail. Apply the polish to that design, scrape of the excess, pick it up with your stamper and stamp it onto the nail. 

I used the Crystal Clear here just to position the lines to make sure they where centred and not covering any bits of the design that I wanted visible. 

For more detailed tips on stamping and using the Crystal Clear click here. 

6 - As always finish with top coat and clean the edges, and you're done! 

PROS. 

As I mentioned this is super easy and looks crazy detailed. I really like the contrast between the sharp white lines and the botanical background. 

Before now I have always created my own decals, there is no doubt that this is A LOT easier and quicker. It is just a matter of finding a design you like which is much faster and less painful than creating your own. So you can consider me a convert. 

Also I think in future I would like to experiment more with cutting different shapes out from the decal rather than just placing it over the whole nail. Again, because you are not spending 30 mins creating a decal you are a lot less precious about it so you can comfortably experiment more. 

CONS.

I would say the main con with this mani was how dulled down the colours where once off the white backing. Like I said I would recommend painting a white background if you wanted vibrant colours. that being said I love the end result and it may have looked a little too busy with the white lines on top if the colours where brighter. 

The other thing I would say is to use a topcoat to seal the decal as well as after the stamping. This is both to protect the mani and your nails in general. Obviously the decal itself doesn't offer much strength, nor does the stamping, so really this whole mani was held together by one layer of top coat. It's tempting fate a little too much to break a nail for my liking! 

Finally I would recommend using a stamping polish for the white lines if you wanted them to be more opaque. The polish I used isn't a stamping polish and while it worked here I would have liked the lines to be a little crisper also. 

Anyway that's all from me for now....I will be back soon I promise. I have been painting and taking pictures but just been a little lazy with actually posting them. So I have lots of manis just waiting to be posted ;)