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BBAC 2014, Day 8: Snowflake Stamp NoTW

Posted on Sunday, at • bought • 338 views

I'm not superb at nail art, but I have enthusiasm for experimentation. (I just haven't had many chances to try it out!!) It's been a while since I did any nail stamping - and I made the mistake of trying to use a thinner, somewhat watery polish. (Nail stamping works best if the polish is thicker - the “stamping polishes” sold by Konad are viscous enough that you can't use them as normal nail polishes because they'll take close to an hour to cure. But when you use regular polishes, they have to be the right consistency or…well, take a look at my photos.)

*sigh* Another learning experience.

Check out Danielle's post for today by looking at the Beauty Blog Advent Calendar.

BBAC 2014, Day 8: Snowflake Stamp NoTW

<p>I wanted to try and create a "winter-snow" manicure, by adding freehand dots of white polish. It was a good idea, but I figured out where I went wrong:</p> <ol> <li>I should have made much smaller dots - maybe a few larger dots to give more of an illusion of depth to the overall picture, but the size of the dots visually dominated all of the stamps. <li>I should have used a thicker polish <li>I didn't move fast enough to properly, cleanly transfer the snowflake stamps <li>On one nail, I forgot to clean off the stamper between uses, so there was leave-behind from the previous stamp. (As soon as I started to apply the stamp to the nail, I remembered...but the stamp was already halfway done.) </ol>

Photos that show how the product actually performs...! See how I create my swatches

BBAC 2014, Day 8: Snowflake Stamp NoTW Nail Files: NoTW: Snowflake Stamp Nail Files: NoTW: Snowflake Stamp Nail Files: NoTW: Snowflake Stamp

I do intend to try this again - later in the winter, or next holiday season. I intend to use a smaller dotting too (I have a set of five - I used the second- and fifth-smallest heads in the set. Big mistake; I should have stuck with #1 and #2.) I also plan to focus just on the stamping next time, rather than do what I did which was stamping my nails while watching TV. Nope…I need to move faster, I need to focus more on the stamping. I got a long, rectangular stamp, which works better both for my nails, which are longer than they are wide, even when they're “nubbins”) and for the designs I like to use. The only downside is that, when you're picking up and placing smaller designs like snowflakes or trees, I feel like I don't have quite as much control. I'm guesstimating a bit about design placement. (Note to self: grab the right stamping tool for the design.)

I again used glue on the cuticles, for quick and easy cleanup. It worked excellently, again. I think that using glue as a “manicure dropcloth” is one of those amazing little tricks that no one thinks of, but that is actually a miracle. It's less harsh on my cuticles and skin than cleaning up afterward using a brush dipped in polish remover, and requires less precision on my part to not screw up the manicure. I have found myself waiting extra time after a manicure is done, so that I don't accidentally pull up the edges of my still-damp manicure along with the glue.

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