Stamping review with supplies from Born Pretty Store!

Hey guys! Glad to be getting back to blogging finally! Today I have my very first foray into stamping! I have exactly zero experience with stamping so this blog will be from a complete beginner point of view! Luckily for me I have a few friends in the nail word that are extremely proficient in stamping so I have been hitting them up for advice!  Born Pretty Store asked me again if I would be interested in reviewing items  for them so I took the opportunity to try something new! Here are the links for what they sent me :)

Click Link for Stamping set

Born Pretty Plate 13

Born Pretty Plate 21


First thoughts: they are really small! I've seen countless posts about stamping and I know they come in all shapes and sizes, but this is my first time seeing any in person! These plates pretty  much fit in the palm of my hand. The first thing I did was peel the blue film off.


Born Pretty Store plates and stamper set
(the plates are silver with a blue protective film on them)

I was advised to practice on paper first, so I did! Basically you just brush some polish on the engraved design and use the scraper to scrape off the excess and the press the stamper on it to pick up the image.(by the way.....this will NOT be a tutorial blog on stamping....I have a long way to go before I do that!)

practice on paper first!

This is the polish I chose to practice with for the most part. The polishes that seem to work the best are really opaque crèmes and metallics.

OPI 50 Years of Style

This is the problem I have mostly....picking up a full image. I am an over scraper---and if you scrape too much this is what happens.

first few attempts

Getting better, but still trying to find a happy place between scraping too much and not enough.

I have found that scraping once one way then another scrape at a 90 degree angle the other way (like side to side then up to down) works the best for me. This is one of the better images I picked up.

I used my NYE mani that was about to come off to practice! These are my first few go's. I think I wasn't pressing hard enough so the design was peeling back up.

I think I'm finally getting it! Scrape lightly on the plate, press lightly with the stamper, press hard on the nail. So much to remember, lol! I just used a q-tip with acetone to clean up.

I practiced on my other hand too.

Now I'm ready for a full mani! yay!

I started with a white base, OPI Angel With a Lead Foot, topped with a fast dry topcoat and let it dry for a few hours ( I just got busy and had to come back later)
I used BP-13 plate and the same gold polish. The results aren't' half bad!

 

I used a pointed q-tip like this to clean up my skin and a makeup sponge with acetone to clean the plate (thanks to another tip!) in between.

Here's the final result! I had a heck of a time photographing between the white and gold with the glare. Lesson learned! Too bad I couldn't take pics out side!

Here's a little preview of what's to come. I started with simple and basic stamping, but a method gaining popularity is "reverse stamping" which is picking up an image, then filling in the spaces with other colors, creating a decal of sorts. I kind of always knew if I ever stamped it would be this type of stamping, because I like to do things the hard way haha! When I first got the stamping set I did this first! I filled in the colors and brushed on topcoat, let it dry and peeled it off. Then I placed it on my nail like a decal. I am super happy with it and can't wait to do a full mani like it!