Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Soft stamp nail art

When I purchased my magnetic polishes from Nail Art and More, I also purchase four soft stamp nail art pads.

The pads are about 1cm tick, and on one side they have coloured versions of the stamping designs.  These are good (in theory) because they give you an idea of what can stamped.

The under side of the stamp has the designs engraved and the finish and feel of this stamp is similar to a konad stamper - slippery and silicone like.

The idea is that you paint the polish directly onto the stamp like so..

Then blot off the excess polish onto paper so that only polish remains in the engraved area.

Then you simply roll the stamp onto your nail...  yeah right!

Like any new product, there is a steep learning curve at the beginning.  I recall my first efforts at konad and know they were dreadful, but were they as dreadful as this??

As you can see the polish didn't transfer out of the stamp correctly.  It was gluggy and thick and horrible.  But I did manage to get an OK kiss.

After these I tried to do multi coloured combinations, which was the main reason I bought these. I haven't been able to do that with Konad because of using the scraper.  Well, lets just say that I haven't posted those photos for a reason.  I found it took me too long to apply the different colours to the stamp and then when I was trying to blot off the excess, it removed the polish from the engraved areas too.   I will continue to practice to determine what works and what doesn't.  I really want to get the multicoloured designs working.

Has anyone else seen these or used these?  How did you go? Got any tips to share?

Magnetic Bottle Green

Here comes another one, just like the other ones.  As you can see, the team at Nail Art and More have come through with great customer service and shipped my missing bottle green magnetic polish in record time.

This polish is truly amazing.  The rich green colour that comes through with the magnet is just awesome.  And another thing, this is just one coat!!  Yep how is that for pigment. Also wear on these is great.  I had a massive cleaning day today, including steam cleaning the front of all the kitchen cupboards and the splash back.  I didn't wear any gloves and I'm so happy cause I only have a tiny bit of tip wear, no chips nothing! 

Not great swatches as the sun was a little shy today.

This polish dries really fast, and one thing I have learnt with these magnetic polishes is that you need to apply a thickish coat and quickly apply the magnet.  Otherwise it dries too fast and you don't get the full effect of the design anywhere that is already dry.

I've just noticed on their site that they are now selling these polishes in mini 5ml bottles (4.75€) as well as the 11ml ones (8.95€) and you can take 20% off those prices because they include tax. Given the excellent pigmentation in these, you could certainly be happy with a mini bottle.