Monday, August 9, 2010

konad nail stamps

So I've been nail-obsessed since I was about 6-- my second cousin was a teen in the early 90's & whenever we would go over, she would do my nails. She had an awesome kit with those thin tipped nail polish pens and would draw tiny flowers and hearts on my nails. I swear to this day, I never ever have naked nails (chipped, yes. naked, no)! and every two weeks, when I paint them, I do it up to the best of my ability, trying new things with french tips, reverse manicures, drawing with toothpicks etc...

For a while, I'd been seeing tumblr posts with these ridiculously intricately painted nails and I was wondering if it was airbrush work or what. So thanks to Miss Mai's blog, I discovered Konad Nail Stamps! Finding out that this was something I could do myself at home was amaaaaaazing, so I bought some start-up stuff ASAP! This is how it looks:

& I'll show you really quick how it's done!


So I ordered from www.wowsocool.com and I got:
- Stamp and Scraper set
- Nail Image Plate m71
- Konad Special Polish (white shown, though I also bought black)


Start off with your nails painted & dried. I used Apocalypse by Urban Decay.


So grab your image plate (a thin piece of metal with designs etched into it) and use your Konad Special Polish to paint the design you want on your nail. Apparently, you need to use the special polish for the stamps because it has a specific consistency that works for this application... though there are some lists online of certain polishes that are non-Konad that will also work.


Then take the Scraper and scrape the Special Polish off in one quick swipe (holding the scraper at a 45 degree angle to the plate)


You'll have just the Special Polish sitting in the etched design! Now grab your Stamper REALLY FAST.


You seriously have to immediately stamp the design as soon as you finish scraping. I've found that this step is the trickiest part... because the Polish there is in such a thin layer, it dries FAST. If you take too long, the image won't transfer completely onto the stamper.


Now take the stamper and transfer the image onto your nail, using a rolling motion. Here's a pic of me doing it on my cousin shellie's hand another time... because I only have two hands & no tripod :( haha


Then you'll have the pattern transferred onto your nail! Some will inevitably be on your finger, but just wait until the end & remove the excess with a q-tip dipped in remover.

Then take a paper towel (I prefer it over cotton balls because they leave linties) and nail polish remover to clean off the plate.


REPEAT x 10!
& there you go! It looks like a bit of work and can be tricky at first, but this is actually way faster than whenI use 3d nail art or even when I do multiple colours on my nails. I've just started to do some 'additional; art to my stamps lately-- dipping a toothpick in other colours to make the floral pattern more fun :) Anyways, if you're thinking of trying out Konad, just do it! www.wowsocool.com is so cheap & they have free shipping over $20! Totally worth it!

xoxo


PS, Every year, about a month or so before my birthday, I post a wishlist! How sneaky of me, to slip it into this post ;) I'm feeling pretty old because I really don't have a huuuuge list of things I'm lusting for, like I usually do. In my mind, this is actually all really practical stuff... all black everything too. haah looks like a really shoddy polyvore collage.



clockwise from top left:
Dramatic Cat Eye Sunglasses
Nikon AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D Lens
Highwaisted Swim Shorts S
AA Gloria-V Bodysuit S
Carpenter Bee Bag
Fossil Boyfriend Watch
Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

just in case you wanted to know ;)
i'll most likely grab the bodysuit for myself soon though.

8 comments:

  1. You can also use pieces of white felt (white because colored felt tends to bleed) instead of paper towels :)

    Yay for Konad! Working at a Konad booth at the fair is super fun because showing people and seeing their reactions is amazing

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this design and the pop of pink color looks great.
    -CCC

    crazycajuncousins.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's awesome Mai...I'm going to try felt next time!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's awesome Mai...I'm going to try felt next time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this design and the pop of pink color looks great.
    -CCC

    crazycajuncousins.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. i really like your nail art. thanks!!
    i definitely will try this out :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The nails look really good, how did you get the pink polish on the printed nails?

    the-renaissance-of-inner-fashion.blogspot.co.uk/

    ReplyDelete

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