Surely by now you must know that I love my nail art, and I think it’s actually been coming along pretty nicely of late. But there are some limitations around what I can actually do, and that’s because I can’t draw to save my life! I’ve seen some pretty epic graphic nail art on the likes of Instagram and Pinterest that even in my dreams I could never hope to match.
As for the stamping plates, I bought all mine from an American brand called Bundle Monster. They have a huge selection to choose from, it can actually feel a bit overwhelming how much choice you have! It took a little while for them to arrive as my parcel was stuck at customs and I needed to pay a hefty customs charge of £18. EIGHTEEN POUNDS?! Even the Royal Mail dude said “You’ve been burned!” and promptly slagged off customs for about 5 minutes.
That aside, the plates actually look pretty stunning. They’re just thin pieces of flat, reflective metal with the designs etched into them, and they arrive with a blue protective sticker to keep them scratch free in transit. If you check out my Instagram you can see a Mermaid and Unicorn designs I stamped onto the nail. All you need to do now is pick the winning design, paint over it with a nail polish of your choice, scrape off the excess and dab your Stamp onto it. Next, you line up the nail you wish to be stamped, and press the stamp down onto the nail using a left-to-right motion. It’s that simple!
So with a little ingenuity, I got out some sellotape and covered up the bits of the design on the plate that looked a bit naff. When I apply the nail polish to the design, only the bits that I wanted to appear on the nails were covered – only Grumpy Cat herself would be stamped onto the nail! Also, I locked in the stamped designs afterwards by applying some topcoat. A tip for you though, wait for the stamped design to dry fully, otherwise it will ‘pull’ the design and give it a bit of a streaky look.
You don’t actually need to paint your nails beforehand either, you can just stamp onto clean nails if you wish, but I wanted some colour (as ever!). The polishes I used for my look are:
Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Greenberry
Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in Need For Speed & On Your Marks
Barry M Nail Paint in Blueberry Ice Cream & Strawberry Ice Cream
H&M Nail Polish in Neo Noir
If you’re interested in Nail Stamping and want a more detailed tutorial, check out this link HERE
I hope you enjoyed my first foray into nail stamping as much as I did, no doubt I’ll be trying out a few more designs in the near future, and if you know of any places to buy some epic stamping plates in the UK, let me know!
Nikki
May 14, 2016I have never seen nail stamps like that before. They are such a good idea and so effective!
Unknown
May 14, 2016I have recently just started to grow my nails because I wanted to do the nail art including stamping. I have a long list of items in my Amazon basket ready to purchase when my nails are long enough!
I love the grumpy cat you have used, it looks awesome!
Laura x x x
Unknown
May 15, 2016I love these!
They are unique and creative just like you 🙂 xxx
Anonymous
May 15, 2016These look amazing, I've never seen stamps like this before. Your nails look fab, I'd never have the patience to do all of mine but for an accent nail I'd love to try this. How long would you say it took you to do all your nails including drying time? x
nishKpatel | A Manchester Style & Beauty Blog
Unknown
May 16, 2016I'm going to get this!!! I'm rubbish with my nails, and I have little to no patience to make them look pretty. This just seems genius! Thanks for the heads up sweetie x
themakeupartistschoice.com
Lima
May 16, 2016Thanks darling. X
Lima
May 16, 2016Nail stamping is piss easy! Looking forward to seeing your nail art!
X
Lima
May 16, 2016Hi Nisha, oh gosh, I wouldn't have a clue as I get on with other things whilst waiting for it to dry. Next time I'll time it and will let you know! X
Lima
May 16, 2016Snap girl, SNAP. Eeek, I really hope you do! Look forward to seeing grumpy cat on your nails!
X
Lima
May 16, 2016Thanks Nikki. X
Anonymous
May 17, 2016These are brilliant! I've been so skeptical of nail stamping in the past, but yours look wonderful. Definitely need to give it a go.
Emma | EMMAMATTHEWS.CO.UK
Honestly Aine
March 22, 2017I need these plates, iv a moyou nail set and the stamper drives me nutty, clearly need a transparent one. I think there's some UK ones now. It'd be nice to add some fun!
Honestly Aine