How to glue sliders on gel polish?

The trend of decorating nails with sliders is one of the most popular in nail art today. They are bright and beautiful, and sometimes even look like hand-painted ones. However, despite the fact that they appeared a long time ago, not everyone can use them correctly. Let's dwell in more detail on how to properly glue sliders on gel polish.

Often, sliders are called all types of nail stickers that are on sale. However, these are precisely water pictures with a protective top layer and a paper backing. They are thin, in addition to the protection layer, have a working film with a printed pattern. Depending on the type, the film can have a transparent or color, as well as a monochrome background.

The sliders themselves can provide for the complete overlap of the entire accent nail or decoration of some part. Therefore, they are divided into two types: photo design and applications on a transparent background. The process of transferring the image will consist in removing the film from the paper base and fixing it on the surface of the nail prepared for the design. In this case, neither the color of the picture, nor its effect, nor the size matters.

Sliders are sold in sets, each with a different color scheme and theme. At the same time, pictures are often paired with a symmetrical pattern, which is convenient for choosing an option to accentuate a particular nail plate. Brands produce separate sets for arms and legs, which differ in the number of sliders and their size.

To work with a slider design, you will need a flat brush and tweezers.In addition, the master can prepare a special rubber hoof with which he can wipe the leaked compound under the aqua sticker. It should be understood that the workflow will include the stage of hygienic manicure. Therefore, the mandatory materials and devices in the work will be:

• drying lamp;
• orange stick or pusher;
• manicure napkins;
• degreaser;
• base material;
• topcoat;

• a pigment layer for the substrate;
• decor (optional);
• scalp;
• cuticle remover;
• nail scissors;
• soft grinder and file;
• a bath with warm water.

It is useless to glue sliders on unprepared nails. A hygienic manicure should be a mandatory step towards completing a design. First, the nails are given the desired shape and length, and a softening agent is applied to them to remove the cuticle. After that, the fingers are lowered into the bath for a few minutes, then wiped dry and the cuticle is raised, the pterygium is cleaned.

They pass around the nail with a stick, checking the quality of the work; if necessary, cut off again what was bypassed for the first time. After that, the fingers are lubricated with oil. If the oil is not used, proceed immediately to removing the gloss with a buff. Further, the sawdust is removed with a brush, after the brush, a napkin and a dehydrator are used for the same purposes. In addition, nails are degreased to enhance grip.

Pictures are not glued to unpainted nails. The condition of the plates is immediately assessed and, if necessary, strengthened with a special compound. It is dried in a lamp. After that, proceed to the application of the base layer. Most often it is a transparent composition with a characteristic stickiness. It is applied in a thin layer to prevent flowing over the lateral ridges and cuticles.

The base layer is dried in a lamp, and then the future substrate is applied to it. As a rule, this is white gel polish, since other tones will distort the clarity and saturation of the original slider tones. However, if the background of the aqua sticker is transparent, it is also applied to a colored background, for which a pigment of the desired color is selected. The thickness of the slider also matters: if the film is thin, a white backing is required for it. When the sticker is thick, one base is enough for it.

You can glue the slider on 4 types of material: transparent base, white base, top and ultrabond. At the same time, they all will give a strong and reliable connection, which will allow the sticker to hold out on the nail all the time while the hostess is wearing a manicure. However, if you want to use a white base, you do not need to apply two preliminary coats, it will replace both of them.

Returning to the step-by-step instructions, we note that the standard process of fixing the slider will include, in addition to the base layer and pigment, another layer of base material. However, this time it is not necessary to dry it, because it is due to it that the aqua sticker will stick. It is necessary to apply the material carefully and subtly, since with further spreading of the picture, its surplus can flow outside the nail plate.

There are two options for preparing a slider for a design. In the first case, it is cut from one side according to the approximate shape of the base of the nail and the width, and then the protective film is removed and lowered into a container of water so that the working film is easily separated from the paper backing. However, nail art professionals note that this technique is inconvenient in that it can wet the front side of the sticker. This is undesirable, as it can affect the durability of the mount.

The best option, in their opinion, is to soak the cutout on a wet cloth for 30 seconds. This time is enough for the printed film to come away from the substrate. In addition, its front side will remain dry, which is important for the durability of the design. It is pulled up with tweezers and immediately transferred to the accent nail.You don't have to worry that the length of the slider is longer than that of the nail, because after drying it will be possible to remove it by sawing the edge of the plate with a file. When straightening the slider, it is important to remove as many folds as possible that form during long-term work with the film. Thereafter, the coating is dried in a lamp.

If you do not finish drying the decorative layer, the coating will begin to chip off within a couple of days from the moment of application.

In order for the slider to lie flat on the surface, you need to use a flat brush in the work, expelling with its help air pockets that may form during transfer. In this case, the layer of undried substrate will play a great role. It is necessary not to sink the picture, but to straighten it, achieving a uniform and even coverage without folds.

All excess is removed with a scabbard (at the base) and a file (at the edge). In order not to cut off the edge with the picture, you need to hold the file at an angle. If in the process of work small folds have formed, you can get rid of them with a primer. However, this composition is not so simple and is capable of dissolving the sticker completely. To remove only wrinkles, you need to barely touch the brush with the composition of the working surface.

Craftsmen often prefer to give sliders a hand-painted look. To do this, they use special acrylic paints in the form of a gel, as well as pigmented gel polish, which is diluted with a top to obtain a more convenient consistency of the composition. Drawing is the underlining of some of the contours of the drawing, its spraying, for example, with mother-of-pearl varnish, as well as painting on individual fragments with paints.

After the adjustments are made, the craftsmen dry the design in a lamp and start sealing. More often it consists of two layers: base and top. In this case, the base will glue all the previous layers with the top, and the top composition will be the final material in working with the sliders. Both the base and the top must be applied thinly, because the total number of layers is already sufficient. The thicker it is, the more likely it is to reduce the wearability of the manicure.

The base is applied to the slider and dried, after which the same is done with the top. However, both of those and other materials should not forget to walk along the end of the nail. If you plan to place rhinestones in some places of the applied slider, they are placed on the nail before the top is dried. After drying, you need to fix the rhinestones by applying another layer of top.

Working with nail sliders is not difficult, but requires some care. It is important to choose the size so that the backing does not show through on the sides. In addition, you need to correlate the picture with the available colors of gel polishes, achieving harmonious combinations. Even a beginner in nail art can apply it, but if you fix the design without observing all the steps of the sequential technology, you can not expect a good result. In order not to bother with adjusting the size, you can prepare a template in advance specifically for the size of your nail and cut the sticker exactly according to it, adding the length.

Three ways to apply sliders are shown in the following video.