“Owl Love” Nail Art with Water Decals

Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m in the mood to start doing some love themed nail art (even though I’m currently single)!  Last year I did an “owl love” theme and I had to do it again this year using some different water decals.  These cute owl decals are from LuckyStarStyle and the decal sheet comes with three designs on it – an owl on a branch, an owl by itself and two hearts.  The decals from this company work pretty well with gel polish compared to others that I’ve tried.  I used scissors to cut the design from the sheet, dropped it in water for just a few seconds and then rubbed the pattern between my index finger and thumb and the paper backing came right off.   I used some tweezers to pick up the decal and place it onto my nail, and then used my finger to press it down and rub out any air bubbles.  After letting it dry for a minute or two, I applied my top coat over the whole nail and cured.  Decals last the longest when you can get a layer of top coat over and around the entire decal, so I suggest leaving a little space on the edges of your nails otherwise the decal may lift from the edges.

My index finger and pinky have one coat of Gelish All Dahlia-ed Up and two coats of the Gelish Trends topper Too Tough to be Sweet.  My middle finger and thumb have two coats of Gelish Artic Freeze, the brightest white in the Gelish line.  And my ring finger has three coats of Shellac Strawberry Smoothie (which only cures in a UV lamp).  The word “love” was stamped onto my thumb using Bundle Monster holiday plate BM-H16 and Kleancolor Metallic Pink polish.  These Kleancolor metallic polishes work great for stamping!