Create Your Own Textured Stamping

Another stamping manicure using the Bundle Monster Create Your Own set today.

 

I used Barry M Silver Foil Effects to stamp over Kiko Starry Black textured polish.

 

I'm not sure this was the best choice of image for over a textured polish as the trees lose a bit of their clarity, something more abstract might work better.  Nonetheless I quite like the effect, from a distance it looks a bit like crackle polish.

 

I used plate 407.

Stamping Polish from the UK High Street - Barry M

 When I first started getting into nail stamping my major issue was what polish to use.  I know Konad have a huge range of colours but to be honest I think they're quite expensive and not too easy to get hold of in the UK so I started looking for alternatives.

 

Essentially any polish which covers well in one coat can be used for stamping, some brands work better than others but with a bit of trial and error you can find lots of inexpensive and easily accessible polishes which should cover all your stamping needs.

 

One brand which is particularly great for stamping with is Barry M.  I've been a huge Barry M fan for years now; great products, easily accessible at reasonable prices (Superdrug and Boots stock Barry M and there is a website) and as a company they generally tend to be pretty on top of trends, as demonstrated by their recently crackle ranges, foil effects, duochromes and chameleon polishes.

 

On top of all those good points, several of their polishes stamp really, really well, so, for anyone who hasn't tried them yet here's a list of the Barry M polishes which I own and love to stamp with.

 

 

From left to right;

Denim (325)

Foil Effects Gold (320)

Foil Effects Silver (319)

Foil Effects Lilac (apparently limited edition)

Chameleon Pink (330)

Chameleon Blue (331)

 

 

When I bought the Chameleon polishes I wasn't sure I'd get much use out of them because although I love the colours in the bottle I wasn't so keen on the colours they turned when a topcoat was added.  For some reason stamping gets totally rid of this dilemma as both colours remain true to the bottle colour even after you apply a topcoat over the stamped pattern.  I can only assume it has something to do with the polish drying as you stamp with it, or some sort of witchcraft. ;)

 

All of these polishes stamp amazingly well, they go on really opaque and pick up easily for transferring to the nail.  Of the 6 shown here the Lilac Foil is the palest and often a little harder to see on a similarly coloured base coat but over darker colours it also looks fab.

 



 

So, if you're looking for some easy to find, budget friendly stamping polishes to add to your collection look no further than Barry M!

 

There are definitely other brands out there which have polishes that stamp well but so far I've only tested out the Barry M range to a level where I am happy to blog and recommend them, hopefully I'll be able to do more, similar, posts in future with other budget friendly, high street polishes.

 

What do you use to stamp with?  Any top tips for picking up a bargain stamping polish?

Mesh Stamping

This was not the look I was going for when I started stamping last night but thankfully I'm still quite pleased with the end results.  Initially I was trying to do a sort of whimsical, girly stamping manicure using a butterfly image from BM 307.  

 

I used Barry M Lilac Foil Effect polish to stamp with but for some reason it just wouldn't show up nicely on the base colour, so, rather than remove the whole lot and start again, I stuck the very faint lilac butterflies underneath a nice opaque silver mesh done using BM 209 and Silver Foil Effects, another Barry M favourite. 

 

 

 You can just about see the faint butterfly image if you squint a bit.

 

Here are the plates I used, apologies for the rotten photos, I took them more as a reminder for myself than to post here but then decided I should include them for reference.

 

It's definitely about time for a trim, I'm struggling to get images to cover the full length of my nail and I am definitely not neat enough to be able to double stamp and match up the images so the only answer is a good severe trim, I think!

New Barry M Polishes

Not particularly new anymore, but new to me.  Today I picked up 4 Barry m polishes, two of their Chameleon colour change polishes, pink and blue, along with Denim and Black Glitter.

I am hoping to stamp with the Chameleons but I'm not sure what to do about a top coat as I'd really like to keep them the colour they are in the bottle rather than the colour they change too.  In all honesty I would rather they'd brought these two colours out as part of their Foil Effects range and not have them change colour.  I'll report back on how they stamp and if they last without a top coat.  Let me know in the comments if you've tried them for stamping and how you got on.

Denim is also supposed to be good for stamping so that's why I picked that one up too.  Black Glitter was just because it looked pretty and Superdrug currently have an offer that if you buy 2 polishes you get £1 off.  I am a marketing man's dream, I can't resist a 'bargain'.

Hopefully I'll have some NOTDs soon featuring these polishes and fingers crossed for good stamping results with the Chameleons.