Essence Paper Print manicure

Hi lovelies,

I hope you are having a good week so far.  I think I am getting back in the swing of things so that makes it a good week for me too.  Now if only I can get caught up on reading my favourite blogs and commenting then I will really be winning.

I mentioned the Essence Paper Print Manicure back in this post and I had a really easy time of applying and using it.  I have since seen quite a few people mentioning that they just can’t get it to work.  Last week Tyler from Polished Tickles and Beauty asked me if I would do a post on how I did it the last time.  When it came time to do it I couldn’t remember if I did it a specific way or followed the instructions on the bottle.  I did a little test run so stick with me while I try to explain it in a way that makes complete sense 😉

This is the paper print patterns that I have.  I have used the the 4 prints that are not maps.  I started with 2 coats of Essence – That’s what I mint on all my nails and while that was drying I proceeded to cut out my pieces of paper.

 

I cut them into pieces bigger than my nail.  On the edges I actually kept the extra white border because it gave me a piece of the paper to hold on to.  Once the polish is completely dry you can start to do the transfer.  After trying it exactly as instructed I got a good result but I knew I got slightly better results before so this is how I did it and how I got my results.

I used the transfer solution and covered the piece of paper with it.  I made it quite wet.  I also noticed that it evaporates pretty quickly so if you can make it nice and wet you will have a little more time to get it on your nail.  I also put the transfer solution on the front (on the print) as well as on the back.

Like I mentioned, the quicker you can get the wet paper onto your nail the better.  Because I cut it bigger than my nail it is pretty easy to just plonk it on my nail and not worry about alignment.  If you want a specific piece of the paper print to be on a specific part of your nail it could take a little more time.  Don’t worry though, there is a solution for that.

I put it on my nail with the print side facing the nail and make sure I gently rub and pat it down all over my nail.  Remember, the print can only transfer to your nail where it touches your nail.  So make sure you gently rub it down on the sides and edges.  If you feel you took a little longer to put the paper down or just want to be sure you can paint on a layer of the transfer solution on the back while it is on your nail.  The quicker you can do all this the better.  Hold the paper down for just under the 15 seconds recommended on the bottle.  I found if I held it down too long the paper started sticking to my nails.

If you find the pieces small and difficult to work with you can use a cotton round.  I put the piece of paper on the cotton round and do the transfer solution on the paper while it is on the cotton round.  I then align it on my finger and hold it down with the cotton round as well.  Or you can just use the cotton round to press it on your nail after the solution and after you’ve put it on your nail.  This just makes the working space a little bigger and easier to handle.  If you don’t find the small pieces of paper a problem then it isn’t an issue. Topcoat when you’re done and voila!

You can see here my middle and index fingers is where I used it this way. (except on my index where I accidentally moved the paper half way through.  I wouldn’t recommend that :P)

I hope this all made sense.  If you have any questions or need me to clarify please don’t hesitate to ask.  Have you tried the Essence paper print?  Did you have any problems or did you find it pretty easy to do?

Thanks for reading!