Nail stamping is a nail art technique in which an image or design is transferred from a stamping plate to the surface of the nail using a nail stamping polish. It allows you to create intricate, detailed designs on your nails quickly and easily.
We have kits available if you would like to try!
Step 1. Gather your supplies! There are a few things needed to follow along with the nail stamping tutorial, you can find them below.
* Nail stamping polish
* Nail stamping plate
* Nail stamper and scraper
* Nail polish remover/acetone
* Cotton balls/pads
* Paper towel or something to cover your work area
* Top coat to seal in your design.
Step 2. Remove the blue film from your stamping plate.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL, STAMPING PLATE EDGES CAN BE VERY SHARP AND IT IS POSSIBLE TO CUT YOURSELF IF YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION.
Step 3. Choose your design and the colour you will be stamping with.
Take your stamping polish and put a small amount on the design you will be using. You can either cover just an area of the image or the whole thing. Experiment and see what works best for you. This can also change depending on the design you are using.
Step 4. Take you scraper and gently but quickly, scrape away the excess polish so that you are only left with the polish in the engraved design ( a little bit left on the plate elsewhere is generally okay ). Having issues with your scrapers? I personally use an old gift/credit card, I find these really good!
TIP – Try scraping in a different direction or a different angle if you have issues with pick up.
Step 5. Take your stamper and gently press or roll it down over the design to pick it up.
Sometimes a rolling motion is better but this depends on your stamper and your technique.
You need to be VERY quick, if you take too long your polish will dry on the plate and will not transfer to the stamper.
TIP – If you were unsuccessful in picking up your image at this stage, you are probably not working quickly enough or your stamper is not primed well enough.
Step 6. Once you have the design on your stamper, gently roll or press the stamper onto your nail to transfer the image. You need to be VERY quick, if you take too long your polish will dry on the stamper and will not transfer to your nails.
TIP – If you were unsuccessful in transferring your image at this stage, you are not working quickly enough.
Step 7. Clean your plate with acetone and your stamper with a lint roller or sticky tape.
Step 8. Seal your work in with a top coat. Stamping can be easily smudged ( some colours are more prone to smearing than others ), you will need to apply your topcoat with a light touch and try not to go over the same area twice. A water based topcoat is even better for stamping.
Step 9. Repeat steps 3-8 as necessary.
All of this may sound easy but nail stamping can be incredibly difficult to master.
Many variables can come into play as to whether or not it will work and it can be quite frustrating.
Can’t get your stamper to pick up an image?
*Did you remove the blue film from your plate?
*Are you working quickly? If you are not working quickly enough, your polish can dry on the plate before you get a chance to pick it up. This is the most common cause of issues.
*Did you prime your stamper? Not all stampers need priming but some do. A spray of alcohol should do the trick but some people also like to buff the stamper with a fine grit nail file ( not recommended for clear stampers! ). If you have tried everything else and you are sure it is the stamper that is the problem, follow these instructions to prime it.
http://lokislacquer.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-to-prime-nail-stamper-tutorial.html
*Make sure there are no fans / air conditioning on. No open windows etc. This will make your polish dry too quick.
*Scrape gently, sometimes this will be the cause. If you scrape too hard, too much polish will be removed and this can make pick up difficult.
*Scrape at a different angle or try a different pressure.
Can’t get your image to transfer from your stamper to your nails?
*Are you working quickly? If you are not working quickly enough, your polish can dry on the stamper before you get a chance to add it to your nails.
*Make sure there are no fans / air conditioning on. No open windows etc. This will make your polish dry too quick and you wont be able to transfer it.
Links for additional tutorials
Stamping basics
Nail stamping tutorial with images