How to Apply Nail Sliders at Home

Every modern woman dreams about beautiful and long lasting manicure. The entire world of nail art industry works hard to turn every woman's wish into reality. Not so long time ago, everyone wanted to get nails with a clear picture on them. We’ve come to the professional salon to get a manicure with high-quality print. But nowadays, you can do it at home by yourself. Yes, you are correct. We’ll talk about nail sliders and learn how to stick them on the nails.

Everything you need to know about Nail Sliders

Before you start doing the manicure, you should understand the types of nail sliders. Each type has its own technique and purpose. Some of them create an only single accent on your nails, while other types are applied to the entire nail plate.

Nail sliders for the entire nail

This type of the nail sliders is applied to the entire surface of the nail. The decorative image is applied tightly to the basic foundations of the nail polish coating, so the application technique doesn’t restrict the use of various shades of nail polish like a base.

Transparent nail sliders

Transparent sliders always look impressive, but you need to follow one rule. This type isn’t suitable with bright nail polishes. Your nails must be covered with light or white lacquer before you’ll apply the transparent sliders. The stickers on the transparent paper help to create original compositions with minimal effort.

Nail sliders with a dense pattern

This is the most popular type of nail sliders. It’s famous for its additional decorative elements like sequins and rhinestones. Moreover, the sliders with dense pattern can be applied on the bright and vivid shades of nail polish, as well as on white or lights shades. Sometimes, even using a nail art brush won't look as good as a professionally designed pattern.

nail-sliders-at-home

These are some of the nail sliders I printed for personal use. Some graphics were purchased.

Instruction: How to Apply Nail Sliders Correctly

For applying the nail sliders, you need to make the base. It can be nail polish base or shellac. You’ll easily create trendy manicure with nail sliders if you follow the next instructions:

1) At first, you need to choose the nail slider. And only after that you’ll pick up the right base and shade of nail polish.

2) Prepare your hands with the basic manicure. Use a Czech crystal nail file!

3) To apply nail sliders easily you need to have: tweezers or orange wand, pusher, Q-tips, nail polish’s top coat.

4) Depending on the type of the nail sliders, cut the pattern on pieces to create a spectacular manicure.

5) Before the applying put the slider into the water for 40 seconds and then gently separate picture from the base paper.

6) Place the nail sticker on the nail, leave it to dry, and cover the nail with a top coat. My most recently used top coat is Entity 1 from my IBD and Entity Manicure post.

Tips on using Nail Sliders

As you see nail sliders techniques aren’t hard in use and don’t require special skills and equipment. Everything you need is to follow the instructions below and always keep in mind these tips:

  • To get a rich and expressive manicure, always apply two layers of nail polish before applying the nail stickers.
  • Always take a nail slider with tweezers to apply it on the nail.
  • Q-Tip will help you fix the slider position or remove irregularities and air bubbles.
  • Always apply top coat after applying the nail slider on the nail.

Home-Made Nail Sliders (Apply Nail Sliders at Home)

If you want to have a unique and personalized manicure, you can prepare nail slider at home. It isn’t as difficult as it seems at first, just follow the steps below.

For creating personalized nail sliders at home, you will need the following goods:

Waterslide Inkjet Paper

This is the paper I bought on amazon. I highly recommend it. Make sure it fits your printer!

waterslide-inkjet-nail-sliders

HP Envy (I think any ink printer will be fine)

Personally, I have an old HP J series. However, this is the best selling one on amazon so I'm going to have to suggest it.

hp-nail-slider-printer

Ultra-cover spray paint. It must be transparent and glossy​.

The image that you want to turn into the nail slider, in png or jpg formats​

Nail Slider Image Example 1

Nail Slider Image Example 2 (PNG)

If you have all the products you need, you can start creating the nail slider.

1) Prepare to print your image. If it necessary, and if you own a graphics editor, you can remove the background. It improves the appearance and quality of the future slider. Also, note the following information:

  • Sliders must be wider than it seems at first glance because the nail plate is usually far from the flat shape.
  • Optimal resolution of images for printing - 300 dpi.

If you would like to get really creative, I suggest to make a template for your nails in photoshop, this way you can easily print out nail sliders that will have the perfect fit once you cut them out.

2) Print your image on the regular paper to make sure that the size and quality of the image perfectly suit your nail shape.

3) When you’ll be satisfied with the test version, you can print it on the water decal paper. After, apply the spray paint and let it dry.

4) Cut out the image you want and use it as a normal nail slider.

As you see, even child can create personal and unique nail sliders. But there is one thing you need to have additionally - patience.

cat-nail-slider

Summing up the blog post, I can draw the following conclusions:

  • Nail sliders are simple and affordable home version of nail decoration.
  • Sliders are safe. They don’t make any damage to the nail plate. Moreover, they can be easily removed with a gel varnish.
  • ​Sliders are an excellent option for those who don’t like flashy decor.
  • The affordable price is another plus for nail stickers. You can buy them in every beauty store, as well as online.
  • The variety of patterns. You can also order or create nail sliders with individual design.

Now that you know how to apply nail sliders at home, try it out and come back to share your results! Alternatively, press on nails are a great way to begin getting creative with your nails.

Like every woman, I like to have a beautiful and neat manicure. And I always achieve this result with nail sliders. Choosing between Gelish vs Shellac sometimes get too tedious, and these are quick solutions to make my nails look pretty. I’m wondering whether you like sliders and how often do you use them in your manicure? Tell me in the comment box below.

1 Comment
  1. It’s awesome that this article talked about applying nail sliders at home. My daughter is fond of painting her nails. She’s the one designing on my nails, her designs are really creative and unique!

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