She's Got the Whole World...

Base: Sinful Colors Snow Me White

This was my first foray into the world of water decals, and I must admit: it was much easier than I thought it would be! I saw this post on Moustache Manis and I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with the faded map look of these decals.

I ordered them from BornPrettyStore, and shipping took about 3.5 weeks. The wait was long, especially considering how excited I was to order them. But considering they were only $1, and shipping from Hong Kong, I let it slide.

I applied them the day I received them, and the process was not as painful as I thought it'd be. Here's the step-by-step:

1. Apply base coat.

2. Apply 1 or 2 thin coats of base color. I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

3. After base color is completely dry, peel plastic from decal sheet, measure out small piece of decal, and cut out.

4. With tweezers, immerse cutout in water and hold for 15-20 seconds. The decal will begin to slide away from the paper backing.

5. Moisten nail by dipping it quickly into water.

6. Separate decal from backing, and press it into position on nail.

7. Hold firmly to nail, while smoothing out wrinkles and bubbles.

8. When decal is dry, clean up cuticles with pure acetone.

9. Apply thick top coat to seal.

10. Repeat.

I used two sheets for my nails, one per hand. If I was smarter about measuring, I might have been able to squeeze 6 or 7 nails from one sheet, but that's being generous. My nail beds are fairly wide, so I do believe some of my more petite readers could get all 10 nails done with one sheet. And if not, accent nails anybody??
My only negative about these decals is that it takes SO MUCH acetone to clean up around the cuticle. I went through so many Q-tips, plus the acetone stripped all moisture from my cuticle and the surrounding skin, which explains my crusty skin in the photos.

All in all, I loved these decals! So much that I ordered three more sheets in different patterns. I'm still waiting on those, though...