Mardi Gras Nail Fail

For some reason, Fat Tuesday kinda snuck up on me and I hadn't done any Mardi Gras nails. This is a huge faux pas for a theme mani kinda gal like me! lol! I think this is mainly because I thought Mardi Gras was in March for some reason.... anyway, after I posted last night, I did the Mardi Gras theme mani I was looking forward to doing the most. This is the pix of the best of the worst:



I took this pix after placing the decal on the pinky, thumb and middle nails, but just before I top coated the last nail, which was the index finger, which is why the index finger decal isn't all funny yet. I had seen each of the other designs go all funny once they were top coated so I thought I'd snap one quick pix before the last image on the index finger went funny too.

I used Nicole by OPI Positive Energy for the base; this was one coat topped with SV.



I waited about half an hour after applying the base coat before starting to apply the decals to make sure the base was dry. I've used these water, slide on kind of decals in the past (Thanksgiving mani) and while they are a little tricky to apply, I was able to remove and place them decently. In fact, I'd say these slid off the paper backing better and had more play to them that the other brand I used. But after I top coated the design, the design kinda evaporated to one degree or another! Even when I did topcoat the index finger, it ended up looking like this.



It further faded even after I took this picture to the point that only the face is visible on my index nail right now. I haven't figured out it if had to do with using SV as a topcoat which maybe is too harsh of a topcoat for these old decals, or if the design was too wet or dry when I top coated it, or if it was too thick of a coat...not really sure what was the caused this! I'm going to experiment a little bit more or google/youtube some hints to see if I can figure out what I did wrong! I had plans on adding some minor stamping to compliment the decals but with a fail this bad, I just thought I'd save the stamping polish for next time!



I've never used these Sally Hansen decals before; the ones I used at Thanksgiving were a different brand. So if any of you have used them recently and got good results without disintegrating the decal, I'd love to know your tips! If I find out anything, I'll post about it as I bought a few packages of various holiday designs as they are just so darn cute! I'm wondering if this is inherent with the design of the decal and if this is why Sally Hansen doesn't make them anymore? Maybe just too finicky?.....



Anyway, in case you were wondering about my accent nail, it was two coats of China Glaze Jumpin' Jupiter and one coat of Aurora Borealis as I thought these two would go well seeing how they are moreso traditional Mardi Gras colours! But this failed me to...not only am I not too much of a fan of this furry bar glitter, it came off in one big swoop when I was moisturizing my nails before I went to sleep...almost two hours after I finished this mani! So right now, in addition to having barely there, fudged up decals on my nails, I have no polish at all on my accent nail...I'm naked in public for the first time in years!

The best nails in the house right now are these:

DD did her nails last night; she had seen something like this somewhere in the blogesphere (if I knew where or anyone knows, I'll gladly credit) and did them herself while I made dinner last night. While she has stamped her nails plenty of times, she had never done a tape mani before and I think she did a fantastic job! Pretty cool nails and great job for a teen..heck, I think her cleanup of the black Konad is better than mine most days! I think I may have to try this some day!

The only good thing about nail fails is that its easily remedied by remover...which I plan on doing promptly as soon as I have time tonight!

Thanks for looking!

Edit: After a bit of googling, I did read that a thin coat of topcoat should be applied over decal; when dry, to apply another coat over the entire nail and NOT to use quick dry topcoats as they contain solvents that will damage the decal...so I'm guessing this was the cause of my decal failure. I will be trying out these decals again using these new found tips as I bought a few and the designs are really cool...IMHO!