Encased designs dull

[cari4003]

I have been practicing encasing my nail art designs with clear l&p but it dulls the design. With Christmas coming I am getting requests for holiday art but want it to last so I have been trying to encase it.

Any tips or tricks geeks out there? Please help.

 

[scattyfox]

What is it that you are trying to encase is it rhinestones, stripers, tape stickers or hand painting?

 

[cari4003]

Colored acrylic, hand painting, rhinestones

 

[Sparklepink]

are you graduating the grits and buffing to a high shine?

if you dont graduate your file grits then your surface finish will nt be as shine and ould appear dull

 

[cari4003]

are you graduating the grits and buffing to a high shine?

if you dont graduate your file grits then your surface finish will nt be as shine and ould appear dull

Yes I am graduating grits. Do you apply the same as overlay or a little thicker or what?

 

[smiler13334]

Yes I am graduating grits. Do you apply the same as overlay or a little thicker or what?

If you are applying an overlay on top of your L&P design I found working a tiny bit wetter so it gets into all the nooks and crannies. Are you encasing with clear and not pink?

Take care xx

 

[IllumeGirl]

use clear l&p with intense seal or another gel gloss over top. rhinestones always look better not incased, i think.

 

[cari4003]

I'll try it a little wetter. I had a colored acrylic design with a glitter paint stripe. I encased using clear acrylic but after buffing really dulled design and paint. Thanks for advice ladies!

 

[twinkletoes910]

I'll try it a little wetter. I had a colored acrylic design with a glitter paint stripe. I encased using clear acrylic but after buffing really dulled design and paint. Thanks for advice ladies!

i buff (graduating the grits), apply the handpainted parts, then apply a layer or two of a good topcoat (i use EZ Flow's UV30). EZ Flow says that UV30 is only for use on acrylic nails (so no polish underneath) but if it's just a stripe or two it won't crack (i've tested it myself and no problems so far). or you could apply a gel top coat. they're really glossy and your art won't go ANYWHERE! lol.

oh, and are you using a premixed glitter? when i mix my own glitters, they aren't as glittery and have a little dusty look to them. but hey, that could just be me....