More DIY Nail Vinyl Testing

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After the relative success of my previous attempt at DIY mermaid/scale nail vinyls, I decided to see what else I could come up with. I iterated on my previous mermaid/scale attempt in addition to trying out 4 new designs with the main difference being the zoom level. Here are my results:

  1. Mermaid/scale design:

    • Cricut design: #M3CFFC

    • Versions attempted: regular version (previously blogged here) vs zoomed version

    • Base Polish: Holo Taco Here for the Payday

    • Design Polish: Holo Taco Work Bestie

    • Notes: The regular version of the design was a bit smaller and more widely spaced than I preferred. The zoomed version looked better in regards to size, but I would need to test on my own rather small nails to see if this would actually work out nicely. I had trouble with achieving clean lines on both versions (and weeding them was also a bit of a nightmare). Overall, this design needs additional work.

  2. Sashiko tile design

    • Cricut design: #M23587CE

    • Versions attempted: regular version vs zoomed version

    • Base Polish: Holo Taco Bored Meeting

    • Design Polish: Holo Taco Shady Navy

    • Notes: As you can see in the pictures, only the zoomed version of the design made it into test swatching because the cuts in the regular size version were too small to weed. I was fairly pleased with the result of the zoomed design’s test since the lines were cleaner than some of my other tests, but I do not think this version would work well on my actual nails because they’re just too small to fit the whole design.

  3. Wood design

    • Cricut design: #M42DC5

    • Versions attempted: regular version only

    • Base Polish: Holo Taco See Y’all Later Chai

    • Design Polish: Holo Taco Magical Mustache

    • Notes: I only did one version of the wood design since I was afraid going any smaller would result in cuts that were too small to weed. This is another design where I like the results of the test and the lines came out pretty clean, but I do not think they will work well on my small nails. I would consider continuing to experiment with this one.

  4. Decorative Background design

    • Cricut design: #M83C5A3A

    • Versions attempted: regular version vs zoomed version

    • Base Polish: Holo Taco High Tea Hibiscus

    • Design Polish: Holo Taco I’m Over Brew

    • Notes: These were almost as bad as the mermaid scales to weed, but I was impressed that the majority of the lines came out cleanly in the test swatches. I also had some difficulty with the vinyls ripping as I removed them which was super annoying. Ultimately I think the smaller version would be better suited for my small nails.

  5. Squiggle design

    • Cricut design: #M3578C18B

    • Versions attempted: regular version vs zoomed version

    • Base Polish: Holo Taco The Floor is Guava

    • Design Polish: Holo Taco One Coat Black

    • Notes: I thought these would turn out really well since they were relatively easy to weed compared to some of the other designs I attempted. I was wrong. The regular version vinyl ripped as I was removing it and a piece stuck in a way that I absolutely could not remove it. The zoomed version turned out ok - the lines could have been much cleaner. This is another that I do not think would work well on my small nails.

It’s been fun to continue my journey with attempting DIY nail vinyls, but also frustrating since the vision in my head often doesn’t pan out in reality due to tiny cuts that are impossible to weed or lack of nail real estate (for reference, the swatch stick nails are practically double the size of my own nails). I will continue to experiment, but I think nail vinyls will go on the backburner for a bit as I explore other types of nail art.