My First Time Nail Stamping

I am fairly new to doing my own nail art and decided to start nail stamping after seeing such amazing results. Here is a little step-by-step and a few notes about my first experience. In addition to any materials you normally use to manicure your nails Nail Stamping requires 6 specific items.

Nail Stamping Needs

• Stamping Plates
• Nail Stamper
• Plate Scraper
• Stamping Polishes (or any thick non-gel polish)
• A Top Coat that won't smear your stamps
• Liquid Latex or Nail Polish Remover

A Word on Top Coats

There is a TON of blogger reviews and side by side tests out there on the internet if you want to take a look for yourself but a few hours of perusing the available literature led me to the following conclusions for nail stamping top coats:

• The BEST: Clearly on Top Quick Dry Top Coat by KBShimmer
• The cheaper, more readily available option: INM Out the Door

Nail Stamping Steps

1. Gather all your materials, choose your colors, and lay them out in a convenient order in a well lit area.
2. Paint nails with base coat and 2 coats of color, allowing time to dry between each coat. 
3. Apply liquid latex to skin surrounding the nails (not necessary but saves a lot of time later on)
4. Quickly apply stamping polish to plate.
5. Quickly scrape polish from plate with scraper at a 30-45 degree angle until design looks clean.
6. Immediately roll stamper across plate.
7. Immediately roll stamper across nail from one side to the other, if your stamper is squishy just push your nail in to it for best results.
8. Clean stamper, plate, and scraper between each stamp for cleanest stamping results.
9. Peel off latex or clean up edges with q-tip dipped in nail polish remover.

Materials I Used

• Nail Plate BP-L001 from Born Pretty 8pcs L001-008 ($11.99) 
• Stamper from Konad Nail Art Double Ended Stamper And Scraper ($6.70)
• Plastic Card (to scrape plate)
• Born Pretty Liquid Latex ($2.99)  
• Bowl of Ice Water
• Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat ($3.29)
• Essence The Gel Nail Polish in Serendipity (37) for main color coats ($1.99)
• Pin Pai Special Nail Polish #19 for stamping ($.91 each)

My First Attempts

My first attempts at using the the plates and stamper were very frustrating, I couldn't seem to get enough polish to transfer either to the stamper or to my nail. If you are just starting your first nail stampings I suggest painting one hand only with a base and color, then just play around with different techniques, pressure, and color knowing nothing that comes out this first round out will be saved. Once you have found what works for you and are satisfied with the quality of a few of your stamps remove that polish and start on your first full set!

I hadn't done as much research as I could have when I originally ordered my polishes and plates and figured any ol' top coat would do as long as your stamped polish is dry: WRONG. My first attempt at a top coat was after 45 minutes of letting the stamps dry using Sally Hansen Hard as Nails XTreme Wear and it smeared horrifically. I redid that one nail and waited until the next day to top coat and it still smeared just not nearly as bad. AGAIN I redid the one nail and left for work sans top coat, ordering a KBShimmer as soon as I got there.

Tips

• Use a credit card or other plastic card to scrape plates, metal can permanently damage your metal plates.
• Packing tape can be used to quickly clean stamper between each stamp.
• Work as FAST AS POSSIBLE once you start painting the plate.
• Liquid latex will leave you with cleaner edges and take much less time to remove excess polish than with a q-tip. Apply after color coat and before stamping or it may come off prematurely.
• Dip nails in ice water after a few minutes of air drying to speed up dry times.
• Make sure to roll with enough pressure over the tips of your nails (you can see in the photo above where I missed, most prominently on the thumb).