Nail Art with Feather Water Decals from the Born Pretty Store

I’m always looking for nail art decorations that will work well with gel polish and I have another one to share with you today.  The Born Pretty Store sent me these feather water decals to try.  The set comes with 11 different feather designs, and I chose to use the pink and purple ones to spice up the color that I’m currently wearing (Ink Mauvelous).  Most water decals that I’ve tried don’t work with with SOG… they slip and slide around and don’t get a good bond.  I’m happy to report that these ones work really well!  I’ve been wearing them for a few days now with no lifting or peeling.

I applied these decals right on top of my current mani which already had a top coat.  For SOG application, I would recommend wiping off the tacky layer before applying these.  For regular nail polish, just let your polish dry before applying.  These are the steps:

• Remove the clear plastic film from the sheet.
• Cut out each individual design with scissors.
• Dip the decal into warm water for 10-20 seconds.
• Rub the decal between two fingers to remove the white paper backing.
• Apply and position the decal on your nail, smoothing out any bubbles or wrinkles.  The decals will be slippery when they are wet and should move around pretty easily.  I recommend leaving a slight space between the decal and the edge of your nail to allow the top coat to bond to the nail.
• Allow the decals to dry completely.  Use a fan or blow dryer.
• Optional: Apply any decorative accents.  I used a dotting tool to add some white dots around the feathers.
• Apply your top coat and cure/dry.

A nice thing about these decals is that they’re very opaque and will work well even on darker colors.  Most of the other decals I’ve tried were very transparent and could only be applied on white or very light colors.  Decals are a great way to add art to your manicure quickly and with very little skill required.

Use code XTL91 to save 10% on your next order from the Born Pretty Store!

Here are some photos of the product, and close-up shots of some of the designs.