Facing My Nail Stamping Anxiety!
I haven’t done stamping in awhile. And you know why? It stresses me out. I go to all that trouble to polish perfectly, clean up, let my nails dry, take 42 tries to get a single image transferred to the stamper correctly…and then I hold my breath!! What if it doesn’t work? What if I choke? What if it’s crooked? What if it stamps perfectly and then the topcoat smears it? And don’t even get me started on stamping with more than one color. That’s crazy talk. People who can do that have special powers. Anyway, my order of Vivid Lacquer custom stamping plates arrived and I was so excited about them that I completely forgot about my stamping anxiety issues.
These plates are designed by the same talented Anni that produces the Vivid Lacquer handmade franken polishes. (I swatched her latest collection on Monday.) The images on all of her plates are very creative, well etched and big…gotta love those big images. Anyone that’s ever tried to stamp with the Salon Express As Seen on TV plates knows this! For this mani I chose the Lorem ipsum print from VL004. The base is two coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I stamped my thumb and ring finger using Konad Special Polish in Black. Yes, they’re both crooked…even though I was singing the Rocky theme song to myself in my brain while I did it. I didn’t risk topcoating it. Baby steps.
I intended to stamp all my nails, but they came out so perfectly crisp that I was afraid people would think I was wearing nail decals and wouldn’t appreciate what an achievement this was for me. :) This plate is currently available in the Vivid Lacquer Etsy Store for $8. Well worth it!
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- Eddie – Orange It’s Obvious | Eeeek! Nail Polish! | January 26, 2013
Congrats! your stamping is perfection! I wish I could once do a mani like this one.
I share your anxiety, my problem is cannot make the stamping polish to show enough! even stamping with konad special polish… I’m a total stamping disaster!
Such a great stamping design. I hate newspapers transfer because it is mirror image, but this one is real readable text.
I completely understand your stamping anxiety. This go was a success. Keep on good work.
Looks great!! I have the same stamping anxiety :) After ruining countless manicures by streaking my stamped design with different topcoats I finally figured out through experimentation that a coat of Sally Hansen clear regular nail polish will not streak the stamp image and then I can safely follow with a coat of whatever topcoat, even Seche.
i heart this look! I always do the magazine nails, but this looks better cause the words aren’t backwards! lol
This looks amazing!!
Great job! I too have stamping anxiety and haven’t tried it again (after my first attempt) in probably 6 months. Your post has given me a little bit more courage to try again. I think I’ll do a mani and wear it a few days first before trying to stamp anything on them. This way I won’t be terribly upset if I fail again…baby steps indeed! :)
I am such a sucker for cool plates, I just had to go buy 4 of hers!!!
Also, the secret to the top coat not smearing is to get a fast dry, swipe once over the design, then that’s dry in a few seconds and you’re free to smoothly put a good coat on without smearing! :)
you described my exact feelings when attempting any type of nail art! turned out great, way to go :)
Oh neat, newspaper print stamps! Cute cute cute. You did well with you stamping. I have a really hard time getting them on a full nail and end up with missing pieces at the sides and next to the cuticle. Yours looks good!
I love this! So much so, that I’ve just bought this plate from VividLacquer! 2cm square images? Yes please!
HELLO! Why would you ever have anxiety over any manicure technique? You are thebomb.com. Freakin’ genius!
You did very very well!
This puts my newspaper nails to shame! I want new stamping plates now!!! I’ve had the same konad plates for a while and I’m ready to try a new brand I think :)
I have the same feelings about stamping :D But this design came out perfectly :)
I have the same stamping anxiety! I got all these new plates for my birthday, but I am so hesitant to just DO IT! Your stamps look fantastic – maybe I need to sing the Rocky theme like you did and mine will turn out just as good. :)
I hear you on the stamping anxiety! It can make such a mess, especially when you do your own nails.
I do, however, have a quick cheat… Instead of stamping on my nail, I paint a coat of base colour or clear polish on a plastic baggie, stamp away to my heart’s content and use the best ones as if they were decals… It’s so much less stressful!
You can even top coat them on the baggie to avoid smears =o)
A secret I found on youtube back in the days was to rub the stamp not the plate) with a nail file, clean it and make perfect stamps everytime. For the topcoat I use soak of gel instead of polish and that never smear. ^.^
Nail files can actually ruin your stamper. You can get similar results using the eraser end of a pencil on the stamping surface, without any potential damage. :)
This is amazing!!!
I have nominated you for a Liebster Award! http://propersweetie.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/liebster-award/
Aw haha yeah I get the same nail stamping anxieties. Being ocd amplifies it times ten jillion. I find thicker polishes work best when stamping. I’ve bought Konad polishes that fail abysmally, so it really is sometimes just pure luck!
I only stamp if I know I have the time to correct it haha! But this looks lovely, I don’t even think it is crooked – that’s just artsy ;)!
This looks fabulous!! Well, now…the Rocky theme song will be sung here too :P
im terrified of stamping also. i won some plates in a giveaway so dh got me the salon express kit for the stamper at xmas. i’ve tried on paper but cant seem to get the hang of it. funny thing is, i remember having stamping plates in my nail stuff when i was little (talking maybe when i was 8-10 and im 24 now) and never using them because i couldnt get them to work right!
So sorry to hear about your stamping anxiousness but it turned out great and i LOVE the fact that its en francais. Unfortunately i was unable to translate the dialogue. Madame Ail would be tres triste!!