How to Make Your Own Nail Transfers

Making the nail transfer

Apply a few thick coats of clear nail polish to a section of the parchment paper. Make it a thick layer––if it is not thick enough, the polish might crack when you apply your color.

Paint your design on top of the coated section of parchment paper. The design can be anything you want, so be creative but ensure that it looks good. A simple design can often be the best. To draw the design on, you can use almost any material you like, such as nail art pens, regular paint, markers, and so on.

Once the design is dry, apply another coat of clear varnish. This helps to keep the design in place and seal it.

Repeat for as many designs you wish to apply to your nails. You can choose to do just one or all ten of your nails, you just need to be prepared to make the amount you'd like to transfer.

Preparing your nails and the transfers

Move onto your actual nails. Apply a thin coat of nail polish. You can use any color that you want to show under your design.

While your nails are drying, test that the designs on the parchment paper are dry. If they are, then you can begin to peel them off. You can cut them down if you want to, so that they fit on your nails.

Applying the nail transfers

Apply a coat of clear polish to your nails and leave until they are tacky, but not wet. They need to be tacky in order to grab hold of your transfer image. If you let them dry, the transfer is not likely to hold.

Place your transfer onto your tacky nail. Rub it down firmly to ensure that it is stuck to your nail properly. You now need to wait until everything is completely dry. So don't be tempted to pick at your nails for a couple of minutes or so.

Using a small brush or cotton swab, gently and carefully apply nail polish remover to any parts of your skin that have gotten nail polish on. Take care not to get any remover on your actual nails. If you didn't cut the transfer down, and you have polish left over still, you can use the nail polish remover to dissolve these parts too. Just be careful not to go too mad with it and ruin your design. Only wipe up to the edges of your nail from the skin.

Apply a good layer of top coat over your nails and the front edge of your nails. This will ensure that the design stays in place and is well sealed.

Show your nails off to your friends. Offer to make homemade transfer designs for them too.