The possibilities of decorating nails today are endless. Therefore, often modern women who perform manicures at home on their own, resort to the use of various stickers for design. However, not everyone uses the stickers correctly, given the material of their manufacture. Let's take a closer look at this question and answer what the secrets of the technology of professional masters are and what you need to know so that the stickers stick on the nails for a long time.
Varieties of material
To date, nail stickers are divided into several varieties. Offers of trading companies are so diverse that they can satisfy even the most demanding requests. The richest assortment allows you not to limit yourself in the flight of creative thought and to experiment one by one, changing the design depending on your mood. All known types of material differ from each other by fastening.
In fact, in this regard, stickers can be divided into 2 groups. The first of them is based on glue, due to which the picture is held. The second variety requires ordinary water to work. Masters do not soak such stickers in water, but prefer to moisturize them, putting them on wet wipes.
Slider design
Water stickers are called slider design. Today, such translations are overgrown with variations, which significantly increased the possibilities of decorating nails. For example, they are made not only for hands: studying the offers of trademarks can be found among the main mass and options for a pedicure. And if the counterparts for hands often consist of 10 or more pictures, the sets for the legs are designed for decorating the nails of the thumbs.
Such pictures differ in thickness, which determines the complexity of the work and the type of substrate under the sticker. The slider itself is nothing more than a film with a pattern printed on it. Its texture can be elastic, which is good for correcting the slider when it is glued to the working nail.
The film can have a colored or transparent background. Here one of the important points is its thickness: for a thin film with a colored background, you have to make a light (usually white) substrate. A thick film is enough as a base for a regular base.
By volume, the sliders are covering the entire surface of the nail or options, applications. The second products of this type always have a transparent background. Such pictures can be white, black, color, metallized, three-dimensional (with visual illusion of volume or 3D). Also in the line of water stickers includes small volume stickers. However, all varieties are united by a paper slider plate, which must be removed by moistening the material.
Tape
An interesting material is tape type transfer foil. In fact, this is a pattern applied on a meter tape, which involves transferring the pattern from the film to the working surface of the painted nail by using a special glue. Without it, trying to translate the pattern is useless.
The glue is interesting in that it signals to the master about the drying by changing the color from white to transparent. The range of such goods includes prints of the most diverse subjects.One of the most delicate decisions are lace patterns and vegetable weaves. The colors of this material are endless.
Thermo stickers
One of the most unusual decor options are the so-called thermo-stickers. In fact, these are metallized decorative elements that need to be preheated by means of a hair dryer or near an incandescent lamp. Only after that their fixation becomes possible. The heating process is necessary for strengthening, because poorly prepared decor can become divorced, making the overall appearance of the manicure lose its neatness.
The texture of metallic stickers may be different: Today, it is not only glossy, manufacturers began to produce and matte options. Due to this, manicure masters manage to refine even the most concise design. By the way, often in the design they use the technique of contrast, decorating the accent nails with both matte and glossy thermo-stickers at the same time.
On a sticky backing
There are also stickers with a sticky bottom layer. In fact, these are familiar stickers to us, because they perform them on the same principle as the usual children's adhesive pictures. These products can be flat or embossed, they also have a 3D effect.
Today, this decor can have a different type of substrate. If earlier it was mostly paper, now manufacturers produce film versions. This is convenient for easier separation of the sticker from the base.
The sizes of such stickers, as well as their subject, can be very diverse. However, often a small decorative element seems excessively problematic in work. That is why women often pass by such stickers, although professional masters consider this decor to be simple and very effective.
Nail preparation
Regardless of what type of stickers is chosen for the design, it is impossible to do without proper and high-quality preparation of the nail plates. For this you need to do a hygienic manicure. There may be two options: trimmed or unedged. In the case of trimming techniques, the nails are soaked, the cuticle and pterygium are removed, trying to handle the skin around the plates themselves as carefully as possible.
If uncut technique is preferred, the cuticle is removed and sealed. Today, this technique is gaining popularity among professionals in the field of nail art. It is believed that it not only minimizes skin irritation, but also with regular care is a measure for the prevention of burrs. Masters of salons and studios are confident that this technique provides the best well-groomed hands.
After the nails give the desired shape, align the length, it is necessary to remove the gloss from the surface of the plates. This stage is important because it will depend on him how firmly the manicure with the design will be. It is impossible to rub the nails strongly and for a long time, this leads to their thinning. After the buff goes over all the nails, the remnants of sawdust are removed with a brush and then a dehydrator. Now the nails are ready to perform staining.
How to stick stickers?
All the pictures that offer brands are glued differently. That is why we’ll dwell on this moment in a bit more detail to understand the essence of the process and the sequence of actions. But first, we note the difference between the techniques on the gel varnish and the usual type of coating that does not require a special drying lamp.
On gel polish
Hybrid coatings, combining the properties of both gel and varnish at the same time, have a number of features, which is reflected in the technique of fixing the sticker. For example, without a lamp, they do not dry at all, and if it is incorrectly chosen, then such coverage may be short-lived. When the technique is respected, and the lamp has the necessary power, the decor keeps without the need to correct the order of two to four weeks.Sticky stickers have to be put on top of several layers of special products provided by the technology of working with hybrid varnishes. In addition, this procedure from hygienic manicure to the very end of the work is very long.
On ordinary varnish
Conventional coatings, which women have long used, have less wear. They are inferior in colors and hybrid counterparts. However, stickers on them can be glued much faster, which is very convenient in the rapid pace of modern life. Yes, and the material layers are much smaller, although, as in the variant with gel polish, the process will require sealing the picture to increase its wear. However, often the usual varnish begins to peel off the surface of the nail on the second day, and therefore many women prefer not to waste time on a permanent correction, but to use stickers and gel varnish.
Water
When working with gel polish, decals are cut to the shape of the nail. It is not necessary to customize the sticker above: it is important that it lies flat at the base, in the cuticle area. The top edge can then be removed, and if it is cut off, there may not be enough length.
- On the prepared nail put a base layer, which is then dried in the lamp. After that, a white pigmented gel polish is applied on top of the base and the coating is dried again.
- Now a little more base is collected on the brush and the nail is covered with it again, not forgetting its end. This time the coating is not dried.
- Take a picture, put it face up on a wet napkin, wait about 30 seconds.
- After that, they remove the film from the paper backing with tweezers and place it on the nail, straighten it.
- Next, the decor is dried, and then sealed with layers of the base and top, drying each of them for 2 minutes in the lamp. Instead of a base, you can use a top as a substrate for a sticker.
Foil
Work with the tape is based on gel varnish.
- After the nail is prepared for a decorative manicure, put the base, dry it, then cover the nail with the selected pigmented varnish. The coating is dried again. If a lacquer has poor pigmentation, it is applied not once but twice, and each layer is dried until the material is completely dry.
- After that, take a special glue with a white viscous mass, designed specifically for such transfers. Glue cover the entire surface of the nail.
- To prevent the mass from flowing over the side rollers and the cuticle, just before the beginning of the staining, a special protective silicone agent is applied to the skin around the nail. It dries out and forms a thin film that can be removed at the very end of the work.
- It is not necessary to dry the glue in the lamp, it dries quickly.
- As soon as it becomes transparent, take a cut piece of film and transfer the picture, tightly pressing it to the surface of the nail.
- After that, the design is sealed with a layer of top with its mandatory drying in the lamp.
Self adhesive
Self-adhesive images provide for work with gel varnish and with a normal coating. To stick them properly, dry work surface is important. It is not necessary to experiment with the undried top, it is useless. Sticky layer of such a sticker need something to grab. The whole point of the work is to separate the picture from the substrate and stick it on the nail painted with colored lacquer, pressing it down well.
However, this technology has one nuance. Many women complain that the translation quickly breaks away from the base. Masters point out that after the substrate under the sticker is completely finished and dried, it is necessary not only to stick the sticker with high quality, but also to give it two or three minutes in order for it to take the round shape of the nail. Only after that the sticker can be sealed with a layer of top with a drying or clear lacquer (when working with a conventional pigment).
How to make stickers with your own hands?
If you do not want to use ready-made pictures for your manicure design, you can create your own at home.This process does not take much time and effort. It will take a stamping or disposable stencils.
Take a silicone nail mat and make it a few strips of varnish thin layer. It is left to dry a little. After that, using, for example, stepping, various patterns are applied to varnishes.
Such stickers can be cut to shape or even cut into regular strips, which is also fashionable today. The technology of registration will consist in gluing the pictures onto the undried layer of pigment after applying and drying the base. After the sticker is placed on the nail and spread, removing the folds and cutting off the excess, it is sealed on top with a layer of top.
You can take as a basis and water equipment, which allows you to create unique stickers with abstract divorces. Different pigments alternately drip into a glass of water, trying to make each drop fall strictly in the center of the previous one. The number of drops can be from 7 and more. After the required amount is reached, take a wooden stick or toothpick and draw a pattern or movements from the center to the edges, or vice versa.
A protective silicone agent is applied to the selected nail. After it is taken with a thin film, the finger is dipped in water and a toothpick is removed all the excess, so as not to damage the pattern. The finger is removed from the water and immediately a toothpick passes around the nail plate, getting rid of excess.
If you want to still pokoldovat with a water sticker, then after the desired pattern is created, it is left in the glass for about 20 minutes. After that, the film is removed and continue to decorate. In addition, such a sticker can be cut into several parts so that it is enough for all the accent nails of the manicure.
Professional Tips
There are cases when the stickers peel off, which not only spoils the appearance of the manicure, but also affects the mood of the woman. You should not sin on the low quality of the stickers, because often the cause of detachment is an error in the implementation of the technique or simply non-compliance with the standard instructions. In general, it does not matter if they are Chinese or other cheap options, and often they also hold on quite firmly for a long time. Masters have a few tips on this.
- If the sticker peels off, it means that the drying time is not maintained. The fact is that the coating on which it is glued when working with gel polish should be dried along with the picture longer. Therefore, the standard two minutes should be turned into four. In addition, when performing any technique, it is imperative to run a brush along the end of the nail.
- It is impossible not to take into account the fact that chipped and detached pictures can occur due to the presence of air pockets. It is necessary to immediately stick the sticker tightly, smoothing it and avoiding the formation of folds. To be sure of the result, it is important to properly seal the design. In other words, a layer of overlapping material should be at least half a millimeter larger.
- If the picture was cut out large and turned under the base of the nail, but the top or clear varnish did not get there, the detachment would not take long to wait.
- To get rid of folds, if they turned out during the work with water sliders, you can use an acid-free primer. However, this tool can dissolve the picture completely, which is why it must be used extremely carefully. The primer is used before the sealing layer.
For how to stick water-marks on your nails, see the video below.