Hey guys, here I am again with a new url (I am a perfectionist, so I had to fix the spelling mistake I made when creating my first url *cough*).
thanks for sticking around!
Have a blurry vacation manicure pic as a welcome ( and a bonus ladybug) :)
If you want to know more about this mani and about my experience with stamping, read on!
Today, I’d like to talk about my experiences with stamping.
I love the concept of stamping and the endless possibilities it offers! But getting it right can be really tricky.
A few weeks ago, I spent a week in Denmark on vacation and made myself some gel nails (used the essence peel-off gel nails set that was discontinued, sadly) with advanced stamping techniques beforehand.
Because the peeling off part does quite the damage to the nails (it tends to peel off part of the nail surface with it), I only use it when I go on vacation and really need a lasting mani. I prefer it to soaking-off though. I can’t stand the thought of my nails soaking in acetone for 10 minutes, yikes...
Sadly, the stamping was a disaster and many designs didn’t turn out the way I hoped, they were blurry, had holes in them and just didn’t stamp well. It didn’t help that I started the mani late in the evening and spent hours to get it to somehow look okay, I really didn’t get much sleep that night *lol*
You can see my designs in the image above, though you can’t tell the problems from that out-of-focus image and I didn’t make any closeups because I found them to be sub-par) they only really look good because the image is out of focus ;)
On my ring finger, you can see my first attempt at an advanced coloring-in stamping technique (you basically create a nail sticker on your stamper: you pick up an image and fill in the design with nail polish while leaving it on the stamper and let it dry, then peel it off, cut it to the shape of your nail, apply top coat to your nails, let dry to the touch and then put the nail sticker on your nails). That one turned out pretty nicley :) The other fingers though, where I used regular stamping, didn’t go so well. I tried again several times and no matter what plate or design I use, the polish looks smeared on the stamper, sometimes the polish seemed to fray at the edges and when it looked okay on the stamper, it still came out bad on the nail... the only stamping polish that didn’t produce these effects as badly was the regular black konad polish. So it may after all be (partly) polish-related, maybe the konad princess stamping polishes are not the best choice for me...
I only have stamping polish from konad, so at first I thought the problem was using cheap plates (q-girl, bp, hehe and the likes), but maybe I just haven’t found the right combination of polish and stamper combined with the right technique for me yet.
I currently use the grey double-sided stamper from Moyou London. I also have several stampers from the bornpretty store (the rectangular one with the mint green head and the double-sided black one with the white soft head and small firm pink head), but they have not impressed me so far, even after priming them with a nail file.
My nails have a very pronounced c-curve and I always found the rolling part very tedious, the designs often end up crooked or parts of the design didn’t transfer to the nail because I didn’t apply even pressure/roll it around enough. When I started stamping, full-plate designs weren’t even on the market and the firm konad stamper worked quite well for me in conjunction with konad plates, but only for the small single designs, and they always ended up crooked/not properly lined up.
I love full-coverage nail designs and really wanted to try them out, but it was clear to me that I needed a bigger stamper for them. The softer white stampers that you had to prime with a nail file were all the rage when I bought them. I think I haven’t figured out how much pressure is just right for them. I am used to applying a lot of pressure from the konad stamper, maybe I just do it wrong/apply too much pressure and smudge the designs due to that...
I have spent a lot of time watching reviews on the new, squishy marshmallow stampers on youtube and the prospect of being able to just press down on my nail instead of rolling on the design had me sold on them. I finally decided I wanted to try the fab ur nails ones. I just splurged on the xl gold and the new jumbo stamper. Don’t know how much time they will take from the Phillipines to Germany, but I am really looking forward to them!
Once I manage to create a stamping manicure that I am satisfied with, you’ll get to see the results, promise :)
Btw, I am so in love with the new origami stamping plate collection by Moyou London. They’re on my wishlist now!
