Stickers on nails: application technique and manicure design ideas
A stylish and neat manicure is, perhaps, what all women strive for, for whom appearance is important. Those who do not have the opportunity to contact an expensive nail designer and themselves do not possess artistic abilities can use decals.
They are created specifically to create the most interesting designs, and you can even apply such a coating at home without any special effort.
What it is?
The idea of nail stickers is very simple - why spend several hours creating original designs when you can use a ready-made solution. In this case, we mean stickers - small decals can be used to decorate unpainted nails and colored coating.
Of course, painted decor is valued much higher, like anything made by hand. At the same time, the creation of even the most skilled craftsman does not last forever - after a couple of weeks you will have to erase it, so iron-on stickers are more practical and much more economical.
Like many beauty products, adhesive nail transfers are designed to make it easier for women to take care of themselves. Depending on the features, they can be immediately fixed on the surface of the nail, or they can be soaked in advance, as is often the case when using flash tattoos.
Stickers can significantly save time, which is very important these days, when women live in a truly frantic pace - work, home, children.
In this race, there is practically no time left for yourself, so any manicure technique that will make it possible to make a high-quality coating in a matter of minutes will undoubtedly be very popular.
Views
Today, a wide range of various films with pictures is presented on the market of cosmetic products, so everyone can choose the option that will be most convenient from the point of view of application.
Classify stickers depending on the type of attachment. Let's take a closer look at each variety.
For gel polish
These decals are applied over the decorative gel, thanks to this technology, the image is "worn" for a long time. As a rule, they are the most common decals, made in the form of a transparent sheet in ornate patterns. In order to fix such an image, the sheet is separated from the substrate, pressed against the prepared marigold and after a while removed - during this time the print of the picture is printed on the nail plate.
As a rule, sliders are also attached under the gel polish: for this, they are cut out from the base to the size of a marigold and placed in warm water; then press firmly to the surface and remove the remaining moisture with a soft disk. The image is secured with a special protective coating.
Under the varnish, a film with a photographic print looks quite interesting, it allows you to create a very unusual manicure, as a rule, water is not needed for such an application - the stickers either acquire the correct shape, or cut the pattern along the nail plate with scissors.
Water Based Pictures
Such stickers are called "transfer", they are characterized by a wide variety of designs, patterns, shades and textures. It is quite easy to apply such an image; it takes just a few minutes. In addition, such decors are completely safe, since they do not affect the condition of the nail plates in any way.
In order to apply the decal, you only need to cut out the required shape, soak in water, and then separate from the base substrate and attach to the nails.
Metallized translations
Metallized translations - this option is very fashionable today and invariably attracting attention, and the picture can be either matte or glossy. A similar effect can be done over the entire plate, or it can be designed in the form of ornate patterns that are quite stylishly combined with a multi-colored coating.
These stickers are usually cut off before strengthening, after which they are warmed up with a hair dryer or near an incandescent lamp, but you should not soak them, since the coating in this case can become divorced and the manicure will look completely inaccurate.
Slider design
Slider Design - These stickers are called sliders. They look like rather thin films on a transparent base where the picture is printed.
Such devices usually have a fairly high image quality and the picture looks truly realistic, creating amazing nail art.
By the way, sliders are often used to simulate nail extension and create a French manicure effect.
3D
3D stickers - this option is one of the trends of recent seasons. Such pictures allow you to create various volumetric images on nails that look extremely stylish and non-trivial. At the same time, the volume is actually just a visual effect, so they will not interfere with the household work. Keep in mind that extreme care should be taken when fixing such decals. This work should be done scrupulously, otherwise unnecessary folds will be created on the sides.
With photo print
Pictures with photo prints allow you to apply the most creative and unusual images to your nails, they have a complete design, so they are perfect for all those who have absolutely no artistic ability. Usually, either the same images are applied on different nails, or different, but similar in their subject matter.
Holographic stickers are very popular, they look especially interesting at a party in a nightclub.
Advantages and disadvantages
Nail design using decorative stickers is quite common among the fairer sex of all ages, because it has quite a few advantages.
- The use of stickers allows you to make your nails well-groomed, bright, stylish and creative.
- Stickers can be bought at specialty stores that sell beauty products. At the same time, a wide range of products offered allows every woman to choose the option that will match her spirit, style and artistic preferences. Correctly selected stickers allow ladies to look 100% in any situation - both in the office and at a holiday party.
- Thanks to stickers, you can revive the most boring and monotonous coatings, especially if you add rhinestones, sequins, metallic shine and other decorative elements to them.
- Such decor is attached quite quickly and does not require any special efforts - even a beginner can cope with such work, you just need to look at the instructions, for example, find a master class on the Internet.
- Stickers are cheap, so by resorting to such a decor you can significantly save money, because it is no secret that using the services of a nail salon always costs a pretty penny.
As for the shortcomings, here the customer reviews are mixed.
Some girls point out that at home it is unrealistic to completely smooth out the folds, which makes the coating untidy. Plus, the stickers come off pretty quickly.
To some extent, this is true, but only if you purchase low-quality products, for example, from Chinese sites or in stores with fixed prices - in specialized retail outlets, the quality of decals is much higher, which makes their use quite practical.
Design ideas
There are quite a few options for nail design using stencils and stickers, while in each specific case, the choice of a picture directly depends on the characteristic features of the event for which this decor is conceived. Let's dwell on the most popular options.
- As a daily cover, going to school or work, stickers in the form of a French manicure or a moon jacket are most often used, in addition, the design can be diversified with images of any hieroglyphs, feathers and flowers.
- In the fall, a background of golden or warm shades of brown, beige or burgundy with stickers in the form of autumn leaves will look good. A maple leaf looks very interesting on one of the nails, as a rule, it is glued to the nameless one. But for lovers of French charm, a sticker depicting the Eiffel Tower is appropriate.
- In summer, decors can be brighter, pictures are applied to nails covered with pink, blue and green varnishes, and when choosing images, preference is given to the marine theme - at the peak of popularity, starfish, shells, mermaids, fish, anchor and many other decors.
- In winter, nails are covered with white, silver or light blue varnish, and stickers use those that contain the image of snowflakes. But for the New Year, drawn Christmas trees, snowmen and even deer are suitable.
- For a friendly party, it is better to opt for a stylish black design using mirror films. Nails with drawings in the form of a panther will surely not leave anyone indifferent, and translations with the theme of Harry Potter or Harley Quinn also look good.
- For a wedding celebration, a white jacket decorated with openwork lace will be appropriate, in combination with liquid stones or rhinestones, such a manicure will sparkle with bright shining colors.
- Nail stickers are considered ideal for young beauties who strive to be like their mothers in everything. For the little ones, you can pick up pictures depicting your favorite fairy-tale characters, and for girls a little older, you can buy translations in the form of butterflies, owls, flowers, hearts or cute kittens.
How to get a manicure with stickers?
The technique of applying stickers directly depends on the type of product.
If you are dealing with water stickers, then you should prepare:
- container with cool water;
- towel or napkins;
- tweezers;
- special fixer.
First you need to prepare the nail plates themselves: they need to be filed, trimmed, cuticle removed - all this will make the manicure more accurate.
Then the nail plate should be degreased - in this case, the adhesion will be more durable, if desired, you can apply a base coat.
When the nails are ready, you can take care of the pictures themselves. First, they are immersed in water - this is necessary so that they peel off from the base. Information about how long the picture should be soaked is usually indicated in the instructions, and if it is absent, then look at the state of the stickers themselves, it is very important not to overexpose them, otherwise they will be too soggy and it will be impossible to translate them smoothly and smoothly.
The picture is carefully picked up with tweezers and applied to the nail, while you do not need to rush to fix it, first make sure that the translation is located exactly in the part of the nail where you want to see it. Carefully smooth out all the folds with a cotton swab, while being extremely careful - it is very easy to tear a soggy picture.
The surface of the nail is blotted with a sponge or cotton pad, and this must be done in such a way as not to shift the image to the side.
In order for the transfer stickers to stay on the nails for as long as possible, a topcoat should be applied, usually a special fixative varnish or the most common colorless varnish is used for this.
Thus, the technology itself is quite simple - the main difficulty comes down to fixing the picture as evenly as possible.
Glue-based images are applied in the same way. For work, you need tweezers, with its help you can attach the drawing as evenly as possible and at the same time not crush it.
If the drawing will cover the entire nail plate, then before applying it should be pressed to the nail and see how their sizes correspond to each other.
All excess should be trimmed or bent carefully with a nail file and then cut down.
Separately, you need to dwell on the features of applying pictures for shellac: in this case, it is worth using translations, as well as images with photo prints.
- As in the previous case, you first need to prepare your nails. Remove the remnants of the old coating, degrease the surface and then shape the nails into the desired shape.
- Then the base is applied, then shellac and this layer is thoroughly dried. When the moisture has completely disappeared from the surface, you need to cut off the entire sticky layer with a buff.
- The sheet with decals is separated from the base, applied to the nail plate and removed after the allotted time.
- The resulting image is fixed with a special varnish.
Keep in mind that in order for the decal to stick well, the surface of the nail should be leveled, cut off the irregularities and sanded.
As you can see, the application of pictures does not require any special preparation, in addition, such decors themselves look stylish and solid, which is why the professionals of the nail industry do not advise supplementing them with sculpting or sand - this can only worsen the general perception.
As we have already mentioned, purchased products can be of very different quality and, unfortunately, not always high. Sometimes the images offered in retail outlets look unnaturally massive and rough.
If you could not find what you need, you can try to make a decal with your own hands. In this case, you still have to use your artistic ability to draw the picture yourself.
- First you need to take a small piece of tape and attach it to the table or to any other flat surface. A small section of it is varnished, usually the coating is larger than the size of the future element.
- Open all those varnishes that you will use in your work. With a thin brush, drop a few dots onto the surface, and then smear them with a needle so that you get the desired pattern. It is important to do this as soon as possible so that the varnish does not dry out. The image is covered with a fixative and dried, after which the homemade picture is usually very easily separated from the adhesive tape, it can be pry off with thin tweezers and quickly removed.
- A little tip: before applying such a sticker, it is better to slightly moisten it - this will make it easier to translate, and the grip will be more durable.
Reviews
We conclude with a ranking of the best sticker manufacturers based on consumer feedback.
Sally hansen - these thermal stickers allow you to get the effect of expensive salon nail care, there are options in the assortment line that are attached to the entire surface of the nail, but there are also separate volumetric images. More recently, a new collection of this brand has been released - lacquer pictures, which are quite easy to stick.
Amy - these are pictures for decoupage, which create a very delicate and romantic decor on the nails. Under this brand, openwork images on a silicone basis are realized, the features of the material prevent them from bending and tearing, which quite often occur when attaching thermal stickers of other brands.
Faberlik - this famous cosmetics manufacturer has released a series of nail stickers, which are represented by translucent films on a white or colored substrate. Most often these are openwork patterns, but in some cases other designs can also be found on sale.
Accessory Are water-based decals that can be affixed to the surface of the nail without any effort. Such stickers are particularly durable; as testimonials testify, they stay on the nails for quite a long time and are not afraid of cleaning around the house or washing dishes.
However, keep in mind that they can only be removed with a special compound, which must be purchased separately.
Nail foils - This is a collection of foil stickers, which is also often called Hollywood manicure. Beautiful pictures are complemented by sparkles, they look very stylish and creative.
Three ways to apply a slider design are presented in the following video.