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Water Decals

    31 Day Challenge, Nail Art

    31DC2015: Flowers

    19th September 2015
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    7 Comments

    I have a little confession to make – I’m a hoarder of water decals. Whenever I’m shopping for nail art stuff online, I can’t resist adding a few sets to my basket in anticipation of those days when I don’t have time for, or can’t be bothered with, ‘proper’ nail art but still want some decoration there. Turns out on those days, I don’t have time/am actually just too lazy to be applying water decals anyway! So there they sit, unused and unloved. Today, that changes and water decals are going to get some love from me.

    I do feel the tiniest bit guilty for using water decals today instead of creating something fresh, but funnily enough, I’ve been looking back through the water decals archive and I see that I also copped out last year and used water decals for Day 14: Flowers. Me and freehand florals just don’t get on.

    For the nails…

    I started out with 2 coats of Barry M Coconut and let that dry thoroughly.
    The water decals are these Full Coverage Flower Water Decals from BuyInCoins. If you’ve never heard of this website, you need it in your life. It’s a bit like an online jumble sale – you never know what you’ll find but there’s always something good. Shipping is from China so it normally takes about two weeks to get to me here in the UK.

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    Nail Art

    A Catch Up: With Cats

    20th January 2015
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    26 Comments

    Cat Nail Art

    No more ‘Happy New Year’, it really is the new year now and I can’t believe how quickly it’s passing. Admittedly I’ve been pretty awful at posting on the blog so I thought today would be a good time for a quick catch up.

    I was completely overwhelmed by the number of you that took the time to complete my End of Year Survey. Every response has been perfect and will really help to shape the future of The Nailasaurus. I’ll be taking some time out this weekend to take a thorough look at the replies and pick out the important parts but if you haven’t had a chance to fill it out, there’s still time. Now let’s find out what I’ve been up to recently…

    Doing: A huge deep clean and clear out. Goodbye old clothes and anything else that’s outlived its usefulness. Clear house; clear head, I say!

    Avoiding: Emails and carbonated drinks

    Watching: The Walking Dead – Season 3

    Listening to: Purity Ring and Fall Out Boy: American Beauty/American Psycho (Faves: Irresistible, Fourth of July and Uma Thurman)

    Playing: Assassin’s Creed: Rogue

    Crazy For: The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Butter, piCture pOlish Holiday, buying cheap watches from China, and my new jewellery.

    The Nail Art

    I started with a base coat of Nicole by OPI At Least I Pink So, then applied some darn cute DIY Nails Here, Kitty water decals.

    Once they were all in place, I used a tiny dotting tool to add the random polka dots using Sally Hansen Pinch of Punch and Barry M Coconut.

    Cat Water Decals

    DIY Nails Here, Kitty

    Cat Nail Art Macro

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    31 Day Challenge, Nail Art, Uncategorised

    31 Day Challenge: Flowers

    15th September 2014
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    15 Comments

    Floral Water Decals Nail Art // The Nailasaurus

    How many cheat days do you suppose we’re allowed on the 31 Day Challenge? Since I used water decals for this mani, I’ll count today as one of mine! 
    These are from She Sells Seashells and it’s the first time I’ve ever used all-over water decals so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was really impressed by how easy it was to trim them to the right size and then how smooth they applied. There are a few creases here and there, but nothing too noticeable, and that’s mostly my fault for rushing. What I liked about these was they disintegrated with acetone so it was very easy to clean up around the edges where I didn’t cut them to quite the right size.
    For this nail art, I used Essie Go Ginza for my base colour. You definitely need a very light base with these decals.

    The water decals are from She Sells Seashells and I topped it off with Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

    31DC2014 Flowers // The Nailasaurus
    31 Day Challenge Flowers // The Nailasaurus
    She Sells Seashells Water Decals // The Nailasaurus
    She Sells Seashells Floral Water Decals // The Nailasaurus
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    Nail Art, Uncategorised

    DIY Nails Abandon Ship Nail Art

    28th August 2014
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    10 Comments
    DIY Nails Abandon Ship Water Decals // The Nailasaurus

    So you saw my review of DIY Nails decals a few days ago and here’s some nail art with them! As soon as I saw these decals, I knew I wanted to go for a rustic look. I’ve been hooked on anything mildly piratey since I played Assassin’s Creed Black Flag! I tried to mimic the paper that you always see treasure maps on in the movies. Anyone remember in school whenever you had to do a history project – you’d stain the paper with a tea bag and burn the edges (under the close supervision of an adult, of course) to make it look old? That’s the look I was going for!
    I used a few neutral Barry M polishes with the Textured Saran Wrap technique for a very subtle mottled effect. I would have mixed a bit of darker brown in there too but I wanted to keep the canvas nice and light so the decals would stand out. How cute is the purrrrppy?! He looks like a real sweetheart but you know he’s got your back if you find yourself in a tavern brawl after too much rum!

    What I Used for this nail art

    Barry M Coconut
    Barry M Almond
    Barry M Olive
    DIY Nails Water Decals in Abandon Ship
    She Sells Seashells Gold Anchor Embellishment
    Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat
    DIY Nails Abandon Ship Nail Art // The Nailasaurus
    She Sells Seashells Gold Anchor Embellishment // The Nailasaurus
    DIY Nails Abandon Ship Nails // The Nailasaurus
    Textured Saran Wrap Nail Art // The Nailasaurus

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    Favourites, Uncategorised

    Nail Art Favourites: DIY Nails Water Decals

    26th August 2014
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    8 Comments

    Time and time again, I find myself reaching for my DIY Nails decals whenever I’m feeling a bit too lazy for more time consuming nail art but still want something that’s going to make people take notice of my nails! These are my favourites for more than a few reasons.
    For starters, they’re printed on to a super thin material so you’ll never get any air bubbles or visible lines around your decal when it’s on your nail. This does mean you have to take a bit more care when placing them as they’re very delicate but just remember that time and tweezers are your friends!
    There’s another very important quality I look for in water decals. It’s tricky to explain but I’m going to try anyway! With some water decals, they’re printed on to one single sheet of ‘decal plastic’ and you have to cut very closely to the actual design to get a viable decal. DIY Nails decals are all individual printed so you only have to cut out the design you want to use very roughly and the compacted little decal itself just slides right off the paper.
    We also need to talk about the designs – they have everything from unicorns to breakfast foods to Ziggy Stardust! They’re all completely original, many are hand drawn, and they really stand out in a crowd. You can even get your own images turned in to custom decals which I think is a great gift idea for the nail art lover in your life.
    If you like water decals, there’s no way you won’t love DIY Nails. Easy to use with a great selection of designs and not an air bubble in sight! What more could you want from your water decals?

    Where to Buy DIY Nails

    DIY Nails Water Decals are available from diynails.co.uk and select retail stores. RRP £6.00.
    It’s also worth checking the sale section to snap up any end of line stock before it’s gone for good!
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    Gradient, Nail Art, Uncategorised

    Nail Doodles: The Sweetheart Collection v.2

    16th July 2014
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    1 Comment

    When I was introduced to new Etsy shop on the block, Nail Doodles, I had a look around and quickly discovered that the creator behind the hand drawn, hand made water decals lives but 10 minutes away from me. Small world, huh?
    One of my favourite things about being a blogger is having the opportunity to collaborate with small businesses and introduce them to a new bunch of people that share my hobbies and interests (that’s you guys!). Most Indie makers and Etsy sellers that I’ve worked with are US based so I always love it when I come across one that’s in the UK. Now to find an Etsian, by chance, who lives down the road… just amazeballs!
    I snapped up The Sweetheart Collection v.2. Most of the designs come in colour or outline options and I went for the outlines because I wanted to get adventurous with my backgrounds! The instructions say to snip closely around each decal, place it on your nail (with the backing paper still attached) and submerge it in water to separate the decal. 
    Of course I thought I knew best, didn’t bother reading the instructions first, and went ahead with dunking the whole thing in water until the decal and paper separated, then placing the decal on my nail with tweezers. My way worked too but I’ll try it the ‘proper way’ next time!
    I’m really impressed with the colour on these decals – it didn’t fade at all and has stayed jet black. I was left with a few bumps at the edge of each decal but it wasn’t anything a lick of top coat couldn’t sort out and may have been to do with my application. Overall, I love the decals and next on my wishlist is the Davy Jones Collection. Arrrr! 
    For the gradient underneath, I used W7 Baby Pink and piCture pOlish Totes with a thin coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust over the top. There’s a gradient tutorial here. The whole manicure is topped with a coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

    Where to Buy Nail Doodles

    You can get Nail Doodles decals from Nail Doodles on Etsy and the seller ships worldwide. RRP £6.00. 
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