Let's watch paint dry!

Hey guys! 

Yesterday I got a brand new set of nail stamping plates, so I got inspired to make a little video of me stamping my nails.  I've been meaning to do this for quite a while, because every time I post a stamped mani I get questions about how it works.  I do have a page up top called "Nail Stamping Info" that I add and remove and then add back occasionally.  But it's always better to see it in action.

I mentioned before that I prefer to do stamping on a well-cured mani, so I painted my nails last night in preparation for stamping this morning.  But honestly, a lot of the time I do stamping to get an extra day or two of wear out of a mani that's starting to look a bit rugged.  Win!

Before I started I took a picture of all my supplies.  It looks like a lot, but I keep it all in a little kit so it's easy for me to get out when I want to do my nails.

Starting from the top left and working down and to the right, I've got:  pure acetone polish remover; a food carton lid with two cotton balls (the triple size ones); some scrap paper with my stamping plate on top; a small bottle of regular polish remover; nail polish for stamping - this one is Wet n' Wild Black Crème; my stamper; an old "credit" card; two pointy Q-tips; and a brush I use for clean up, but didn't use this time.

All of this is on a mat to protect my table, however,  I usually just do this by the bathroom sink.  My sinks are granite, so if any polish spills happen it's easy to quickly wipe them off.

Here's a picture of my stamping plate:

The plates are so shiny, you can see my camera and hand reflected on the surface!

For this mani, I stamped with black, but you don't have to use black.  Any strongly pigmented polish will work, and chrome-finish polishes work well also.  I used black in hopes it would show up better on camera.

And here's the finished mani:

For this one I used Essie Chinchilly (two coats) topped with CND Copper Shimmer (one coat).  Stamping was done with Wet n' Wild Black Crème, then topped with INM Out the Door.

You can see how quickly you can stamp your nails.  If I take out the explaining bits, I did five fingers in about 2 minutes.  Start to finish - and that includes cleaning up around the cuticles and adding top coat - I spend barely 10 minutes each time I stamp my nails.  The hardest part, for realz, is deciding which stamp I want to use!!  I've got over a hundred plates now . . .