DIY Nails Candy Nailcals

DIY Nails Candy Nailcals* - £6

DIY Nails have had a bit of a makeover since I last featured them on here and their range of water-activated nail decals just keeps on getting better & better. As well as their super cute nailcals, they now have some amazing foil designs for ultra-profesh nail art that you can do at home. You can even put them on your skin as temporary tattoos! If you've never tried nail decals before then you're really missing out. Although hand-painted nail art can look stunning, it's really difficult to do it on yourself. I consider just painting my nails with my non-dominant hand to be a struggle so there's no way that I could ever manage any kind of intricate design on them! With these decals you can have something unique & creative on your nails without any of the technical skills.

I was recently sent a set of the adorable Candy Nailcals which features a colourful array of tumblr-esque candy hearts, smiley faces, wifi symbols, icing & sprinkles. To complement all the pretty pastel colours, I decided to paint my nails using Model's Own Lemon Meringue. Decals tend to work best with lighter colours of nail polish & I think that this set looks fab against the yellow. Application is incredibly simple. All you need are some scissors, a bowl of water & a clear top coat. After cutting out your chosen designs, pop them in the bowl of water for about 10-20 seconds, then they'll slide off the backing paper & onto your nails. I always place the transfer at the base of my nail as I find it easiest to slide them upwards into position. Gently pat your nail dry with some kitchen roll & apply your clear top coat. The top coat stage is key because it makes the decals look seamless on your nails & seals them into place. Be very careful with the polish brush though because it can sometimes tear the decal if you press down too hard. My green 'internet princess' love heart got a little bit damaged this way!

My favourite design in this pack has to be the dripping pink icing with sprinkles that I have on my thumbs. I was worried that they would be fiddlier to apply than the smaller decals but I actually found them a lot easier to put on. Next time I think I'll do my whole manicure with them. That's one of the best things about these decals - even though I've put loads of them on my nails, I can still get many mores uses out of this one sheet. I've had so many compliments on my nails this week! Everywhere I go I keep getting people asking me for a closer look & marvelling at these amazing little illustrations. Pop over to the DIY Nails website & your nails need never look boring again!

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DIY Nails Fruity Decals

DIY Nails Fruity Decals* - £6

I first tried some of DIY Nails' water activated decals back at Christmas and have been hooked ever since. I love doing my nails but I never have time to do much more than paint them with a single colour. My nail art skills aren't the best either. Polka dots, stripes & daisies are within my ability but that's about it! That's why these decals are such a brilliant idea. They're a quick and easy solution for an awesome looking manicure. No scratchy nail art pens or technical tools required. I recently got sent an incredible package of decals from DIY Nails. The ones that instantly stood out to me were these fruity designs. They're just so bright & colourful, they needed to be on my nails ASAP. For my base colour I went for Model's Own Pastel Pink. It goes really well with most of the designs but the banana is a little hard to see against it. The strawberry looks super cute though. I feel like Carmen Miranda haha!

To use these decals all you need are some scissors, a little bowl of water and a clear top coat. Just cut out the designs you wish to use, pop each one in the water for about 10-20 seconds and then slide them onto your nails. It can be a bit fiddly to begin with but once you get the hang of it, application couldn't be any simpler. I find it easiest to put the transfer at the base of the nail so you can slide the image upwards. You then have a few seconds to adjust the positioning before the design sets into place. I use a bit of kitchen roll to gently pat my nails dry and finally I apply the clear top coat. The decals sit flat on your nails but the extra layer of polish seals everything into place and makes the artwork look completely seamless.





Along with the fruity decals I received a whole host of their new designs. The cats, letters & doughnuts are my other favourites. There's even a little speech bubble with 'sashay away' written in it! This is the perfect opportunity to do some Rupaul inspired nails. At just £6 per pack you can afford to go crazy with these. Each design sheet comes with tons of decals so not only will they last for ages but you can create a totally different manicure every time. DIY Nails decals are available to buy from their online store, ASOS & Urban Outfitters. Check out the DIY Nails Instagram page for some badass nailspiration!

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DIY Nails Festive Decals

DIY Nails Festive Decals* - £6

For this year's Christmas manicure I turned to an amazing nail art company called DIY Nails. The owner Tammy sent me a lovely little package with a full set of their festive decals - Kitch-mas, Fairisle & Lebkuchen. Aren't they all just adorable? Now these are no ordinary nail art stickers. Not only are water decals really easy to apply but they sit flat on your nail so the overall finish is a lot more professional. You simply cut out the patterns you wish to use, soak them in a bit of water for about 10 seconds and then slide the design onto your nail. It took me a couple of goes to get the hang of it but once you figure out how to slide them neatly, it's a complete doddle. Check out these videos for more of a visual guide to application.

For my nails I used Model's Own Snow White & Red Alert as a base and then mix & matched a few of the patterns. I think the Fairisle set is the nicest overall but I really love those little Christmas puddings. There's so many designs included on each sheet so just one pack will last for ages and you can have something completely different every time. When you're happy with your design you simply seal them with a clear top coat et voilà! Easy peasy festive fingertips. You can now pick up some of the DIY Nails range instore & online at Urban Outfitters too so you can sport some sweet nails all year round. If you love cool nail art but lack the artistic ability to draw your own with some wobbly nail art pens then this method is so much better. It's easy, convenient and looks totally awesome.

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