Stamping nail art tutorial II - with Konad image plate and O.P.I. Don't Pretzel My Buttons

Stamping nail art tutorial II - with Konad image plate and O.P.I. Don't Pretzel My Buttons

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Sunday, November 10, 2013

Did you get all the stamping nail art gear I had suggested (see here)? Good, now find your flat surface and let's get started with the stamping process.

Stamping nail art tutorial basics I: Simple mistakes to avoid; tips, tricks and pointers

Stamping nail art tutorial basics I: Simple mistakes to avoid; tips, tricks and pointers

Tutorials Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, November 07, 2013

Stamping nail art is easy to do and always in vogue; you can't go wrong with it if you get some simple basics right. After receiving - and answering - some questions on how to do stamping nail art, I was asked to do a detailed post for beginners. I am not an expert on stamping (or any other nail art) and have my messy-stamping days, but I found that there are quite a few tricks that many of the videos tend to miss out on.

As there are several facets to stamping nail art, I'll be doing this in three parts - this one is on the equipment used. Part II will be the step-by-step tutorial on stamping nail art and part III will be a list of non-Konad/special polishes that you can stamp with. All will be detailed posts, and picture-heavy. If all goes well, I will eventually be sharing step-by-step tutorials for FIMO, ombre, watermarbling, splatter, tape and other kinds of nail art. Suggestions/hate-mail welcome.

Manicure: Zoya Jo nail polish with black stamping nail art

Manicure: Zoya Jo nail polish with black stamping nail art

Zoya Cosmetopia Digest   Thursday, September 05, 2013

Blue is my all-time favourite polish colour, though I'm new to Zoya polishes (six out of 201 polishes are Zoya). This is Zoya Jo, a cool-medium, delicate, periwinkle blue. Great formula and opacity (two coats). I don't know if you can spot the shimmer there.

Manicure: Shocking pink Layla Cosmetics nail polish with black stamping nail art

Manicure: Shocking pink Layla Cosmetics nail polish with black stamping nail art

Vellvette Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, August 06, 2013

I had received a Layla Cosmetics nail polish in my July Vellvette box and, believe me, it is a seriously virulent, shocking pink. There is no way I'll wear that alone and, having never used Layla before, I wanted to try out the formula.

Manicure: Double dotticure nail art with NYX Sheer Shell polish

Manicure: Double dotticure nail art with NYX Sheer Shell polish

Swatches Cosmetopia Digest   Friday, May 17, 2013

I celebrated the arrival of my first set of dotting tools with this mani. Some of you have mentioned that I only seem to use O.P.I. and China Glaze, so I decided to stay away from both this time and go in for NYX Sheer Shell.

Nail trail: Supply haul from eBay

Nail trail: Supply haul from eBay

Nail polish Cosmetopia Digest   Tuesday, May 14, 2013

I love picking up nail accessories and art supplies on eBay, it's the cheapest!

These 12 different two-way pens (pen brush and dotting) came for $9 including postage. I also got a free nail polish remover that smells of pineapple and a clear polish with these. They're made in China. Some of the polishes didn't really come through the dotting pen and I had already pricked myself painfully a dozen times with pins in different sizes and shapes. Was about to email the seller when I realised that very thin pins were right under the polishes!