It's just practise hun, like u can do really cool efffects with little effort. Like for instance u can use something like a toothpick to do nice little coloured dots on ur nails etc u don't even need the special dotter tool
And yeah i know what u mean about the smudging it can get frustrating, but ur best to buy quick drying nail varnish makes things much easier
the essence nail varnish is cheap & cheerful and ain't bad at all to do ur nails with babes