Today I have another review for you from Born Pretty Store! They sent me a lovely set of Feather Patterned Nail Decals (Pattern 1724). This was my first time using water decals so I was really excited to get started…. Unfortunately, from what you can see I also learned not to use Seche Vite with these decals the hard way. :/ Check below the cut to see what I loved (and what I didn’t love) about these decals!
This is how the package came – as you can see there’s a variety of feather colours and shapes that are available. The package also had simple instructions on the back (which was helpful for someone like me who has never used water decals). Here’s what they said:
Usage:
- Trim, clean and polish the fingernails; paint the background color on the fingernails and dry it out.
- Remove the film of product, cut out the pattern and plunge in into water 10-20 seconds (use warm water in winter).
- Moisten the fingernails, stick the pattern in position.
- Sop up the water with a paper towel and blow dry.
- Cap with clear nail polish and blow dry.
For the most part I followed these instructions. I didn’t wet my fingers before putting the decals on and I didn’t have to sop up the water at all. I also let them air dry.
My first issue with these decals came when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with them. The fact that each design only has 4 prints was a bit annoying, since it meant if you wanted to keep with only one set you’d have to spread those four feathers out across all 10 of your nails (!) or you’d have to mix and match what you chose.
Since I only wanted to use the blue ones this time I only did my four main nails, and I decided to line them up along the side of my nail since this design had a straight line incorporated… (What do you think you would use the curves on the pink ones for??)
One of the things I really liked about these decals was that if you’re okay mixing and matching there’s a lot of pretty shades, and they all generally go with each other. Each feather \has a line of gold glitter going up the stem, which was a nice touch. These decals also transfered from the paper to my finger to my nail really easily as wel.
Once upon a time all four of my nails looked like these lovelies. Aren’t they stunning? They almost look like real feathers, and they worked well snuggled up to the side of my nail. 🙂
The base I used was Essie Find Me An Oasis from the Resort Collection, which I got for my birthday (Thank You Jill!!). I wasn’t sure how transparent the decals were going to be so I wanted to use a light base.
And then…… I made the mistake of adding a top coat. Nooo…….
The instructions said to use a clear coat on top, and all the tutorials I watched also said to use a clear top coat to lock the decal in. So I don’t know what went wrong here. 🙁 I was worried my pointer finger was ruined because I pushed the top coat brush down too hard, so I tried it on my pinky too to see if it was a fluke or not and made extra effort to barely touch the decal. Didn’t matter. As you can see it ate away the design there, too. What a sad day… This was such a lovely look, otherwise. And realistically these decals wouldn’t last long without top coat to lock them in. I used Seche Vite, so maybe I should try a different brand?
If you like these decals and want to see if you can make them work better than I can you can find them here. You can also check out all the other awesome and affordable nail art items that are available in the store. They have new items arriving all the time. Since they ship from China it might take a few weeks to get to you, but shipping is free and I promise you it’s worth it for the price and selection. You can also use my discount code for 10% off your order!
Thanks for visiting! Let me know what you think, and if you have any idea about what could’ve gone wrong with my top coat! 🙁
