Hello again!

This mani was a super simple overlapping stamping using all MoYou London products (they had a sale bank holiday weekend) including the new Crystal Clear stamper which I hadn't used before.

I can't tell you how many comments I got on this mani but it is actually so quick and easy it's CRAZY.

INGREDIENTS. 

MoYou London Stamping Polish in Cafe au Lait

MoYou London Stamping Polish in White Knight

MoYou London Stamping Polish in Black Knight

EQUIPMENT. 

MoYou London Crystal Clear Stamper 

MoYou London Flower Power Stamping Plate 04

RECIPE.  15-30 mins (excluding drying time)

This was actually my first time using MoYou London polishes and I was amazed at how quickly they dry. Depending on how experienced a stamper you are you could do the whole mani start to finish in 30 minutes using these polishes as they dry soooooo quickly!

1- To start paint two coats of Cafe au Lait on all nails to give a solid base colour.

2 - Once fully dry, pick the floral design on the plate you like and cover it in a layer of White Knight

3 - Scrape of the excess with your scraper or any credit card like object and pick up with the Crystal Clear stamper.

Unlike other stampers I have used from MoYou London and other brands, the Crystal Clear seems to work best by lightly tapping the design rather than rolling over it.

4 - Then using the same technique, position the design on the nail where you want it and press down holding it straight.

A trick to clean stampers really quickly and easily, especially the clear ones which can go cloudy if you use nail varnish remover on them, is to use a lint roller. Just roll the sticky lint roller paper over the stamper and all the excess polish will stick to the paper and come right off. It's so much quicker and less fiddly than using nail varnish remover and takes any dust and bits of the stamper too.

You can clean the stamping plate with nail varnish remover between nails if you are using the same design. Cleaning excess polish off the plate helps the design pick up well, obviously just make sure the plate is dry and nail varnish remover is not sitting on the plate when you go to apply polish to a design.

5 - Once all the nails are done, repeat steps 2-4 with Black Knight. This is where Crystal Clear helps as you can really line up the designs. I stamped the second colour (Black Knight) slightly below the first colour (White Knight) which gives the design an almost 3D effect.

6 - When you are happy with the design, apply the top coat and seal the edges.

Another tip with stamping is when you put on topcoat to dap rather than drag the brush so that you don't smudge your design. Just like applying a glitter polish!

I used the Crystal Clear because it allows you to be really precise about where you position your design, but to be honest you don't really need it for this mani and it is a little trickier to use. So if you can't get on with clear stampers you can still do this mani no problem by placing the nail onto the stamper rather than stamping blind onto the nail.

PROS.

The main pro to this mani was how quick and easy it was but what a big impact it had. Everywhere I went people were asking me about my nails. Like I said the stamping polishes were great because they dried so fast, but also because they are so pigmented to stamp well it didn't take as many coats to get the colour base I wanted as it would of done with other types of polish. I have to say I wasn't convinced about stamping polishes before but after using them I take it all back they are worth it for speed reasons alone!

Like my last mani, another thing I like is that you can do it in stages and get more wear out of it without getting bored or if you don't have the time to do the whole thing in one go. I LOVE manis like this as I am always rushing out of the door but also get bored of my nails very quickly.

Another good thing about this stamping plate is that the design is very forgiving because it is organic shapes not geometric lines. So if you are new to stamping it's much less noticeable if you make a mistake or things aren't quite centred and things like that, which is always nice.

CONS. 

I love the Crystal Clear but it did take a little practice to get used to it and it is much less forgiving than other stampers because of the firmer head.

Once you get the hang of it though it is great to work with and definitely opens up a lot of possibilities with stamping that I can't wait to try. If you love stamping and haven't indulged in a clear stamper I recommend it for sure!