Advanced Stamping in Fall Tones

Advanced stamping is one of those techniques that I have been in awe of for years, but for multiple reasons I had not managed to conquer it. My main problem was that I was trying to place dried decals on my nails and could never get them to lay down nicely because my nails curve quite a bit from side-to-side as well as front-to-back. I finally found the way to do it that works best for me and I am super pleased with the results!

I recently got a new plate in from Born Pretty Store, Bp-L 005, and it has a multi-lined chevron section image I had been dying to try. I decided to spruce it up by using advanced stamping.

For those not initiated, advanced stamping is  a method where you leave the stamped image on your stamper, paint over it with a top coat, paint over it to add color to detailed areas, then let it dry and place it on your nail. Whenever I had tried the method before, I would peel the image off the stamper and try to place it on my nail like a decal, which always resulted in various levels of fail. Here’s a sample decal to give you an idea of what the painted image would look like:

I finally learned to leave the image on the stamper and then stamp it onto my nail – if both the surface of the nail and the back of the stamp have the same top coat over them, they can adhere fairly well when both are just barely dry and you don’t get any image slide!

Before I actually did the mani, I created my stamping decals. Having multiple stampers comes in handy! If you only have 1 stamper, you’ll have to create your decals one at a time. I knew I would need two stamps, so I used my Vivid Lacquer stamper and my Creative Shop stamper so I could make both decals at the same time. To start with, I stamped the image I wanted using Funky Fingers – Dark Knight. Then, I covered the images with a careful coat of Seche Vite. I allowed this to dry completely and then painted in some areas of the stamp with Wet n Wild – Burgandy Frost and Gold Album, Tropez Super Pearl – Sunset Pearl and KBShimmer – In Bare Form. Here is how it looked:

I let my painted decals dry overnight. For this method I did NOT peel them off the stamper (more on that below).

To start off my mani, I applied two coats of Zoya – Cinnamon to all of my nails and applied a coat of Seche Vite to each. I immediately applied a coat of Seche Vite to my dried decals and allowed them to set up for about 30 seconds. When the decals were just barely touch dry, I used the stamper to apply the stamp directly to my nails, using a back and forth rocking motion until the stamp had completely released from the stamper.

I found that the edges were still a bit loose, and of course there was some overhang because the stamping image was larger than my nail. I used cuticle scissors to clip away as much of the excess as possible and then applied a coat of Seche Vite to the tops of the nails. This smoothed down and adhered the sides. I used my cleanup brush to refuse any leftover excess and to smooth the decals down over my nail tips. Here is my result:

I decided I wanted to see how the looked matte, so I applied a coat of NYC – Matte Me Crazy to all nails to finish off the mani.

POLISHES:

• Essie – Grow Stronger Base Coat
• Funky Fingers – Dark Knight
• Wet n Wild – Burgundy Frost
• Wet n Wild – Gold Album
• Tropez Super Pearl – Sunset Pearl
• KBShimmer – In Bare Form
• Seche Vite – Dry Fast Top Coat
• NYC – Matte Me Crazy

• BP-L 005

I am so in love with how this mani came out and I may re-do these to be my Thanksgiving mani – though I may spruce it up with a bit of dark teal (maybe ILNP – Fall Semester?) I’m not sure why, but applying the decal using the stamper works so, so much better for me. I’ve been in awe of this technique for so long and I am so glad I have now found a way to make it work for me! Have you used advanced stamping before? If so, what application method do you use?