I love nautical nail designs, that is why I chose this pattern to review for you guys first. As you can see the packaging is clean and simple. On the back of the package, the directions are printed clearly, largely, and are very easy to understand. I feel this is very important because many newbies or inexperienced nail fiends may need these instructions. I have come across many nail art product instructions that are either in a foreign language (foreign to me), or are translated so poorly that they make no sense at all. Based on this alone I am already impressed by Nicole Diary.
However, the real proof is in the pudding (yum pudding!), so I tried them on myself. For the nails I intended to use the decals on I painted them white with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear "White On."
These decals, as you can see are full nail decal. On the sheet there are ten decals that vary slightly in size, enough for one full manicure, or if you have short nails like mine, you can probably get two full manicures from this one sheet. The decals are not individual, meaning that you do need to cut them from the sheet. If you look closely you can see where one pattern starts and the other ends, making them easy to cut out.
After you select the appropriate size, cut the decals out. If you have short nails, cut the length of the decals shorter to make the application easier (or to use them on multiple nails). Some people like to cut one end of the length curved to match the arch of their cuticle line, I always screw this up so I don't bother.
Remove the protective plastic from the surface and submerge the decal in water for about 20-30 seconds.
Remove the decal from the water. I recommend using tweezers, this allows you to get a good grip without accidentally sliding the decal from the backing before you are ready. Carefully, slide the decal from the backing.
Though the instructions don't tell you to do this, I recommend you wet the nail that you are placing the decal on. This allows you to slide the decal on the surface of the nail so that you can achieve the placement you like without wrinkling or ruining the decal. Place the decal on the nail, and allow to dry for a few minutes.
Because, I didn't trim the decal to the exact size of my nail, I ended up with some of it on my skin. This is easily removed using gentle acetone and a brush. I recommend using a dabbing or stippling motion when cleaning the decal from your skin. Swiping the brush may pull the decal out of place if it isn't dry enough.
Lastly, apply your favorite topcoat, and ta-da! You have an amazing nail art design without putting in hours upon hours to hand paint it. I paired these decals with a striped pattern I painted using straight vinyls, Sinful Colors "Endless Blue," and I AM Custom Color Cosmetics "Woop, Woop, Woop!" You can't have nautical nails without some stripes.
You can find Nicole Diary products through Amazon and Aliexpress. In addition to their own brand water decals, they also have their own brand of stamping plates for all you stamping lovers out there. They do offer other supplies as well. I found the shipping to be surprisingly quick too, I received the decals about a week after I made my selections. This is impressive because they shipped from China to New York in that time.
All in all I am very impressed with Nicole Diary and their water decals. I personally love how this design turned out. The decals were incredibly easy to work with, making my life very easy (well at least made this nail art design very easy). The pattern choices are beautiful, the packaging is clean and simple, the instructions are legible and make sense, the price is good, and the shipping was quick. I seriously want every pattern they offer, there really isn't one I don't like.
I hope you liked this nail art design and found the review useful. Thanks for stopping by, see you next time.
Your Fellow Plebe,
Oh it's super cool and fun mani! Lovely review! <3
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