Tropical Summer Mani

Hello Readers!

Today I ventured back into the world of water slide nail decals. Last time I attempted using these I didn't realize you are supposed to remove the clear protective film BEFORE you soak them in water. Yeah, don't do that... it make the decal stick to the film. I thought you were supposed to keep it on and then slide it from the clear film. Nope. So once I figured out what I was doing wrong, I was anxious to try it again, and this time I was much more successful. Yay!

So I started with a base color of Sinful Colors "Innocent". For my accent nail, I used Revlon Gel Envy in "High Stakes" (one coater!) followed by a single coat of Sinful Colors "Green Ocean", which is a jelly polish with little flakies. I really love the way these two polishes pair together! 

Here's a shot of the base color:

After my polish was dry, I added a top coat before attempting to do the water decals. They were actually pretty easy to use when you do it right *cough cough*. I liked that I had a few seconds to move them around on my nail before they were stuck, and I also like the opacity of them. I kind of feel like they are more work than just doing a single layer of stamping, but they are also more opague than a single layer of stamping and if the decal has detailed color on it I can see why I might want to use them again. The only thing I wasn't too crazy about was trying to get the protective layer off the decals before dipping them in the water while also trying not to smudge my nail polish. Maybe next time  I will remove the plastic BEFORE painting my nails. 

For my middle finger, I used a Bundle Monster plate from the "Hangloose" collection:

This is BM-S40, "Sand + Sea". I used the bottom left image. When I first took a look at this plate I noticed the little submarine- I still need to use that for a Beatles inspired mani! Anyway, I was just going to put the seahorse charm from the Hangloose collection on top, but I thought it was a little small so I added the starfish. 

I hope you enjoyed this mani, and happy polishing!

-The Midnight Stamper