Stamping Nail Art

So, I have jumped on the nail art stamping band wagon. I know I am little late on this one. I received my very first nail art stamping set for my birthday last month from my Mum and I finally gave it a go in my latest nail art venture. The brand that was bought for me were by Bundle Monster (others are available.) I got the new 25 piece on their website and there are loads of images to choose from. I can see I shall be having a lot of fun with these in the future. I have actually bought one plate before, which I saw whilst looking for nail bits in the pound shop a few months back. I did give it a go, but the outcome was absolutely rubbish, so I would really suggest investing in good quality stamping plates, just so you do not get disheartened when you give it a try yourself.

For my base coat I used one coat of Barry M's Gelly Hi- Shine polish in 'Pomegranate.' Like I have said in my previous post I really do rate these polishes. They are super glossy, inexpensive and do the perfect job in one very quick coat.

Once I painted on my base colour and applied a coat of SV to speed up the drying process, I could then start my maiden attempt of stamping. I chose to do a diagonal French tip look using Barry M's 'Matte White.' and chose an intricate swirly design which I think looks quite nice. If you have this set already, you can Find the design I chose on plate BM-314.

I did one hand at a time, once all five digits were complete I topped it off with a second coat of SV to add that extra glossy finish before I worked on my other hand. I like the fact the design I chose shows the base colour through the French tip design, and I really like how the two colours compliment each other too. Not bad for a first attempt, eh?

I shall definitely be trying this look again, with different colours and different stamping designs. I will be the first to admit this is not the neatest manicure I have done, but after all it was my first attempt. I am hoping with time and practise I shall be able to perfect my nail stamping technique to leave my talons looking flawless.

Has anyone else tried stamping? What plates would you recommend? What designs do you want to see next? Let me know in the comment box below.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

St Patrick's Day Nail Art

Tomorrow marks the day of all things green, little leprechauns, and tacky shamrock laden memorabilia. Yes, it's St Patrick's Day, the patron Saint of Ireland. A day which is notorious for Paddies across the globe to break Lent and allow themselves a little tipple of the black stuff - Guinness. I'm joining in by marking the day with my special St Patrick's Day nail art. A white wine spritzer is more my poison of choice.

My nail polish collection doesn't consist of many green polishes. I am not an avid fan of the colour, and just tend to use them for minimal detail for leaves in some flower designs. I did however buy into the hype of mint green nails a few seasons ago and made a purchase at the Revlon counter called 'Minted', which is a very Tiffany & Co-esque in colour, which I actually don't mind. I used this said polish for my base coat.

I tipped the nails with MUA's 'All Nude' polish, which is an off white colour, just so the green wasn't too overbearing. I allowed this to dry completely before beginning to start my shamrock detail.

To create the shamrocks, I used a large dotting tool to create the main body of the detail, placing three large dots together in a triangular shape; I then used a smaller dotting tool to flick the green out to create the stem.

 

To finish off the manicure, I separated the green and white main colours with a silver glittery stripe to add a touch of sparkle and to complete the look I had in mind. For this I used a silver nail art paint by a company called 'Kiss' which I bought from Superdrug. I really recommend their nail art paints, as they come with a very thin application brush, which makes nail art a doddle. I would have liked to have used a gold glitter to resemble the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but a gold glitter is absent from my collection :(.

Allow all to dry and apply a top coat. I used MUA's top coat, as that's all I have at the moment; I am still waiting to purchase the fast drying top coat from Seche Vite. I am not overly impressed with this top coat, so wouldn't really recommend, but for £1 it does the job. I have to say I have used better top coats by OPI and Nails Inc, which are more expensive, obviously. I guess like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Are you doing anything special for St Patrick's Day?

To those who are celebrating (I'm sure my family on the west coast of Ireland in County Mayo shall be) and those who will be plastic paddy's for the day, I hope you have a great day and have a pint of Guinness for me.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane