Guest Blogger - Natalia from Cats-n-nails

Where am I today? - still off the east coast of Australia on a cruise ship, probably eating.

Tonight's post is from Natalia from Cats-n-nails and she is sharing a detailed post about applying full nail water decals. I've never tried full nail water decals, but these look stunning and I really want to after seeing these. Go for it Natalia.

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Many thanks to Cathy for inviting guest posts – makes me feel very privileged to write for such a well-known blog! I hope you enjoy my contribution ;)

Pictorial for applying full nail water decals

Ok so here goes, a couple of steps involved, but it’s a great quick and easy way to spruce up nails without spending too much time/money/effort. I have only done this about 3 times, so that just shows how easy it is.

First of all I recommend you have all the supplies ready.

I used a tiny little container for water, because the only thing you’ll be dipping is the decal. Plus essentials like paper towel, tweezers, scissors and a nail file.

I like to start with choosing a base colour to match the decals best, this way even if the application isn’t perfect or you get a little tear – no one will ever find out (shhh!).

I picked out a few that could be a good match, swatched them on a wheel and compared to the decal.

If you are wondering why I didn’t just use the bottles to see the colour – it’s because bottle colour can differ a shade or two.

Now that you’ve got everything ready, time to play! Paint your nails with a regular base coat (in my case I chose Duri).

Then add the base colour – here I used OPI Mermaid’s Tears

While your nails are drying, carefully cut the decals and roughly choose the sizes you’re going to use (there will most likely be more than 10 decal sizes). See how even the smallest one was a bit too large?

I used the scissors to trim a little bit to fit better.

Using the tweezers, drop the first decal into the water and leave for 15-20 seconds. After the allocated time, carefully take the decal out and blot on the paper towel.

Now you are ready to lift it onto the nail, being careful not to fold it.

It is quite delicate, but once it’s on the nail - you will have a little bit of time before it dries - to slide the decal into position and press down gently.

Once the decal is dry to the touch and does not move around, cut most of the excess off and gently file the remainder in a downward motion.

After you have done all of your nails – add a top coat (nothing fast drying, just a regular one – I used a Color Club clear polish in fact)

That’s it! The whole operation takes around a minute per nail. And to show you how easy it is I even did my right hand (I am right handed).