Nail art is no longer a rarity. Now every girl can print any pattern on her nails using the stamping technique. Even the thinnest and most elegant lines. The principle of creating a drawing is very simple: a special paint is applied to a plate with a fragment of a drawing, the excess is removed with a scraper and an imprint is typed on a stamp, after which an imprint is put on a nail, previously varnished.
There are inexpensive stamping kits on sale. They are more likely to be called probes than a serious tool. Trying to decorate the nails with a beautiful pattern, many experience difficulties: some part of the pattern is not printed, the print is rough, and its lines are thick. Maybe it's all about the paint? It dries badly and unevenly. What if you try to replace it with varnish? And what varnishes are suitable for stamping?
Classic stamping: a review of firms
El Corazon stamping polishes are very opaque: they contain five times more pigment than regular polishes! No wonder they are sofans love it.
Rio Profi's gold and silver nail polishes set slowly, so you have to get used to them.
Cads Stemp Polish, Born Petty Top and Bluesky also make good prints.
Konad is a recognized leader in quality stamping materials. They are more expensive than the rest, but they amaze with the number of drawings. The print made from the "Konad" plate is even, even the thinnest lines are clearly printed. The pattern is elegant and delicate.
The manufacturer advises using a special varnish for printing. It has a quick-drying formula and is perfectly transferred to the nail. Konad warns against using non-professional varnishes, explaining that it will not be able to create a print. Is it so? Many practicing nail design masters are sure of the opposite. Consider their advice on what polishes are suitable for stamping.
How to replace professional stamping varnishes: acrylic paints
Masters of nail design can be safely called the pioneers of techniques. They love experiments, learning in practice the compatibility of materials and technologies, and sometimes make useful discoveries.
The design manicurist has acrylic paints in his arsenal. These are quick-drying paints with finely ground pigment. They are successfully used for painting. The advantage of using these inks in stamping is that there is no need to actquickly before the varnish dries. You can easily draw a drawing on the transfer pillow, clean up uneven lines with a brush moistened with water, dry the paint and slowly transfer it to the nail. Cover such prints with a varnish top coat.
If something is not printed as you would like, you can correct the drawing with a wet brush. Experience shows that acrylic paints are no worse than varnishes, suitable for stamping. Whatever the high-quality varnishes, when they apply a picture in case of an unsuccessful print, you have to start all over again: remove the coating with acetone liquid, repaint the substrate and print the picture.
Stamping gel polish (for professionals)
Many are interested in what gel polish is suitable for stamping. Proper transfer pads expand your stamping options and allow you to gently transfer the gel onto the nail. There are subtleties here. Without knowing the features of this technique, many consider printing gel polish impossible. First, the stamping pad must be buffed for better adhesion. Secondly, it should not be hollow inside.
Gel polish before application should be laid out on a palette and held in the light. It will slightly evaporate the transparent component and become more opaque. Only then can it be used to print the pattern. Apply gel polish to the plate with a brush, remove excess with a scraper. Roll the stamp without any effort. The pattern should transition clearly and without squashed lines. If some details do not look very nice on the stamp -you can touch them up with a brush dipped in an alcohol-based liquid (clinser).
Now it is important to dry the gel polish a little in the lamp so that its top layer polymerizes. This is approximately ten seconds in UV dry. For each lamp, the time will be slightly different, for each gel polish, too. You can pre-make several test prints, establishing which varnishes are suitable for stamping in this technique, and determining the optimal exposure time in the lamp. Of course, the master will not experiment with the client, he will prepare the design in advance and will already know all the details for sure.
To apply a pattern to the nail, it is pre-coated with colored gel polish and, without removing the dispersion, the pattern is carefully transferred from the stamp. At this point, you can again correct the drawing with a brush moistened with clinser. If everything suits, they send the nail to the lamp. Dry the full cycle.
Before applying the top (it must be with a sticky layer), you can put rhinestones.
Stamping with gel and gel paint (for professionals)
Experiments of masters (in particular, Yulia Biley - the luminary of nail design) proved the possibility of creating a gel polish print on gel polish. What other gels are suitable for stamping on gel polish? Anything that is sufficiently pigmented.
For applying gels, do not remove the dispersion layer of the background substrate. If it creates excess volume, it is dried again so that very little stickiness remains.
Similarly to gel polish, you can also use gel paint for design. It is usually used to draw a French smile. If a sufficiently soft transfer pad is used, such material may not be pre-dried in a lamp. It is well tolerated on the nail. Cure standard time, cover with top with a sticky layer.
Gel for laying out the white tip when modeling a jacket can also be used in stamping. It is not dried beforehand, like gel polish. With a light movement, roll the pillow over the nail and polymerize the allotted time.
Gel-paint for casting can also be applied using stamping. Some black gel polishes are suitable for the same purpose. After complete polymerization of the pattern, the foil is printed on its dispersion. If necessary, correct with a brush dipped in clinser and polymerize.
Reverse stamping
The technology of imprinting is developing and now there is a new application of the transfer pad - the creation of a slider of one's own production on it. They called the technology "reverse stamping". Especially for her, an additional flat platform was released, on which the drawing is transferred.
Many people wonder what polishes are suitable for reverse stamping. It is easiest to print with highly pigmented materials that have a homogeneous structure. Sequins, glitter, crumbs - all these inclusions are contraindications for creating an imprint. But they can be used in the next layer, putting even large decorations - stones or kamifubuki.
Impression techniquetranslucent varnishes
What about those lacquer colors that are a translucent structure? Among them are very spectacular neon, delicate pastel and berry colors of red-pink colors. Designs such as the Venetian lattice are not complete without stained glass paints. Surprisingly, the masters claim that these varnishes are suitable for stamping. What is the secret to applying them?
Two conditions must be met: you need a transparent transfer pad made of silicone. It allows you to control the ingress of colored varnish into an already printed pattern. The second condition is to apply a translucent varnish on a white substrate.
It is possible to paint with such varnishes only with a silicone stamp. How the master does it is shown in the video.
Now the masters to the question: “What varnishes are suitable for stamping nails?” confidently answer: “Any!”
Brands of suitable varnishes
To make a print, it is not necessary to use expensive varnishes. All the ingredients that the manufacturer adds to them increase the cost of the bottle. The master uses, in fact, only a pigment and a volatile solvent. Plasticizers, preservatives are not needed - the composition list sometimes makes an impressive list. The nail is protected by a backing, the cheapest polish will not damage it.
Everyone takes this into account when deciding which polishes (not gel!) are suitable for stamping. The names of companies producing good highly pigmented varnish are very different. It's safe to say that Golden Rose budget varnishes for design or"Selenium", having a small volume of the bottle, do a good job.
Comparison of opinions about varnishes Konad and Golden Rose
If we compare reviews of stamping polishes from Konad and reviews of cheap polishes, we can see the following pattern:
- Konad lacquers are less vibrant in the print than similar Golden Rose lacquers.
- Konad polishes are not designed for the translucent polish transfer technique.
To create masterpieces, you can purchase several basic professional varnishes and complement the palette with the whole range of cheap varnishes.
Conclusion
Having considered in detail all the options for applying an impression using stamping, let's summarize. Professionals don't make a problem out of a missing professional brand color. Having good, high-quality plates with drawings, a scraper without notches, several stamps with transfer pads made of different materials, the debate about which stamping varnishes is better is no longer relevant. Any varnish and any gel will do.
