Newspaper Nails withOUT Alcohol (Vodka)

I noticed that so many people are wondering if you can do Newspaper nails without alcohol (vodka). I wrote this Newspaper Nails Tutorial, and I used vodka. Here's my second part to that which showcases other things you may have around your house to use instead of vodka. And if you're under 21 (or 18 depending on your country), you can still do Newspaper Nails!!

All nails were done with the tutorial I linked to above.



Nail Prep:
2 coats OPI Skull & Glossbones
1 coat Poshe


Note:
If you're having problems with the newspaper print not being dark enough, try a lighter base coat. It can make a HUGE difference. I tried this with Essie Nice is Nice and the print came out too pale. Just know that pale newsprint may not be due to your technique at all, it may be your base coat.

What I Used:
70% Rubbing Alcohol
Vodka
Hand Sanitizer
Almond Extract



My Results:



Index Finger - 70% Rubbing Alcohol
Middle Finger - Vodka
Ring Finger - Hand Sanitizer
Pinkie - Almond Extract

70% Rubbing Alcohol


Not bad, absolutely a great alternative. Unfortunately, though, I had to redo this nail several times to get it to look this way. I don't know if it's my nail shape or the rubbing alcohol, but it kept missing parts of the text. The intensity of the text is great, though.

Vodka


This transfers the text SO quickly. If you're looking to do this quickly, vodka is the best out of all of them. Intensity is very similar to the rubbing alcohol, but I don't feel I can do a complete comparison because some text didn't transfer right with the rubbing alcohol, which makes it look more faint.

Hand Sanitizer


Nope. Didn't work. Well, sorta worked, but no where NEAR as well as the others. I'd definitely say don't even bother.

Almond Extract


Umm, yes please!! I cannot believe how well this came out. I think it's my favorite. The text is very sharp, the color is very dark, and the extract smelled delicious!! The texture of the extract makes it very easy to keep it on one spot on the nail. I think that helps attribute to how well it works.

Which do I think is the best?
Honestly, I vote the Almond Extract. And the fact that it smelled DELICIOUS makes it that much more awesome.

Overall Opinion:
If you're looking for something besides vodka, go with an extract. The Almond Extract I used is clear (I say this because some extracts are not clear), and it lists alcohol as the second ingredient next to water. It uses 36% alcohol. Even if you have vodka, I still suggest trying an extract. The results are amazing. I'm sure other extracts, such as vanilla, orange, mint, etc would work fine, but the vanilla extract I have isn't clear, so I thought that might cause problems. The almond extract was clear.
I would also recommend rubbing alcohol, though it wasn't my favorite. It did a fine job transferring, so it will certainly work.
As for the hand sanitizer, don't waste your time.

Note:
I know that the close up photos still look fuzzy. This is because I'm shooting in macro. In real life, you canNOT tell there is fuzziness on the index, middle, or pinkie. And when I say the pinkie is the sharpest, even if it doesn't look it in the photos, it is. It's amazing.

Newspaper Nails (with Tutorial; alternative method)

If you cannot or do not want to use vodka, please CLICK HERE to see what else you can use.

Today, I have for you my first AND second attempts at Newspaper Nails.

What are Newspaper Nails?
It's when you use alcohol to transfer newspaper print onto your nails.

Wanna see my first attempt? Well, you can't. I tried the ways I've read on the internet about soaking your nail in vodka for so many seconds and then placing a strip of newspaper on it. I ended up with ink on my fingers, none on my nails, and super frustrated. I gave up after trying 3 nails max.

Wanna see my second attempt?







I think this came out MUCH better!!
My middle finger on my left hand was the first finger I tried, so I apologize for the smudge. I'm really, super proud of this, especially considering this was my first second attempt at it. If I were to do it again, I'd be more cautious about not moving the paper once it's on the nail. But also know that it does NOT look that smudged in real life. These are macro pictures and pick up EVERYTHING. It's the reason why you think you've done perfect cleanup, but then your photos capture every little spot you missed and it makes it look like you didn't clean up at all.
And, I also want to point out that the grainy-ness of the photos courtesy of blogger, makes them look even MORE smudged. They're not THAT bad. Click the photos to enlarge them so they look less grainy.

But I did NOT do the soaking method for several reasons:
1. I'm not that patient.
2. My nails are very convex, and trying to hold a piece of straight paper on them doesn't work.
3. I don't like newspaper ink all over my fingers.
4. You waste so much alcohol it's definitely considered alcohol abuse.
Ok, so not so much number 4, but the other 3 reasons are enough for me to not use the soaking method.

Here's what I mean about my nails being convex and not flat:



So you can understand why holding a flat, straight piece of paper on my nail is not easy. So...

Here's How I Did It (redo of my smudged middle nail)

Nail prep:
Paint your nails a light color.

I used China Glaze Sea Spray. Make sure they're dry.

What I Used:

1 nip of Vodka (I used Moon Mountain which is 80 proof and has 40% alcohol. It was just the cheapest one by the register.)
1 cotton round
10 nail-sized strips newspaper
Top Coat

How I did it:

1. I put some vodka onto the cotton round just as you would put nail polish remover on a cotton round.


**I made the "circle" of vodka bigger after I took this photo. Make it large enough so it will completely cover your nail with vodka**

2. I wiped over the nail I was about to newspaper. I initially held it there for 10 seconds, but found there was no difference in outcome between 1 second and 10 seconds. This also leads me to believe you could probably skip this step all together, but it can't hurt.


3. Lay a piece of newspaper on the cotton round with the side you want on the nail facing up. The newspaper will stick to the cotton round.

Note:
You could also put the piece of newspaper onto your dry nail and then cover it with the cotton round if this is not working for you or if you find that it moves around too much.

4. Press the cotton round with the newspaper piece onto your nail.


5. Make sure the cotton round is wrapped around the nail. Not fully wrapped around your finger, just make sure the whole nail is covered by the newspaper. Don't move it!!



6. After about 10-15 seconds, remove the cotton round and newspaper piece in one motion.




Voila! Newspaper nails.


Sorry it came out a little smudged. I promise it's possible to do this without smudging!! I was just concentrating more of the photo taking aspect than holding the paper still. And I was doing this with one hand since my other hand was holding the camera. Please don't do this one handed like I did!! Hold the cotton round with your other hand.

You can use a top coat immediately on the nail because the vodka will evaporate so quickly your nail won't remain wet. Clean up any print that got on your skin with a Q-tip immediately after doing the one nail or at the end. I used the vodka on the cotton round to clean it up after all the nails were done and topcoated.


And the final product!!


This whole process was the first time I did it, and it took me... Ready for this?... 8 minutes. Yup. That includes everything(does not include nail painting. I already had my base coat on) like cutting the newspaper strips, getting all of my supplies together, top coat on all nails, and cleanup. AND one redo nail. Speaking of which...

What if one nail is smudged, crooked, or looks awful?
Just simply wipe over it with the vodka soaked cotton round and the print will come right off!! No need to use remover or repaint your nail.

Also on a side note,
I doesn't really matter so much what the text says because it's going to be backwards on your nail, anyway. However, there are areas in your paper that will have smaller print. I did not choose smaller print, I just chose the first article I came across. I was going to use the print on the backside of the article (which was smaller), but then I realized it was the obituaries. I just couldn't bring myself to put the text from someones obituary on my nails. Maybe just a personal preference, but at least something to think about... lol

I hope this helped!!