Hold strong, anti-magnetic holdouts. Don’t be like me.
Thanks to this sub, I started playing with magnetics, and now I am hooked on homemade fridge magnet decals. When I try other magnetic looks and the magnetic effect is subtler, it’s just not as stimulating.
My non-magnetic polish just sits, untouched, in the storage bin. Even the single-color magnetics just don’t do it for me anymore… the only polishes in active rotation are the shifty, multicolored magnetics.
Every few manicures I try something else, and either I cave after a coat or two and top with a magnetic (but then I’m under stimulated because they’re not fridge magnet decals and I change it up after a couple days).
The issue? (Other than that this is ridiculously time consuming and expensive when I have a whole box of beautiful polish I’m not using?)
I can’t figure out how to do the decal application in a way that winds up smooth against my cuticles.
After applying base coat and letting it get tacky, I use the poker side of a cuticle tool and punch out the decal gently, but no matter how careful I am, I still wind up with a rough edge along the cuticle. I’ve tried thicker decals, thinner decals — I’ve tried “sealing” with acetone around the cuticle (but may have been too conservative with it?)
Home made decal folks: what are your application secrets?
Mani details:
- 3 coats of Cracked Heir Apparent over fridge magnet intersections on parchment paper. (That yielded very delicate decals — next time I’ll try a coat of QDTC on top while still on the magnets. My last attempt, I used the Essie Gel Couture topcoat on the decals on the magnets and it made them too thick for application, so there is a sweet spot for decal thickness / strength / pliability.)
Application:
- 1 x Olive & June Nail Strengthener
- 1 x Cracked Sticky Base Coat
- Apply decal when base coat gets tacky, by laying on nail and punching out the fit using the sharp end of a cuticle tool
- 2 x Cracked QDTC
- 1 x Essie Gel Couture step 2 top coat (because there are some imperfections in my decal application, and the QDTC didn’t seem to seal them enough — I was worried about longevity without a more bouncy topcoat layer.
by saralobkovich