Born Pretty Store stamping plates

This review is loooong overdue!

First of all, I would like to thank the lovely people at Born Pretty Store for so kindly collaborating with bloggers around the world, including moi. Their vast selection of nail art supplies is a great resource to many of us and they always have promotions and offers to make us happy.

I would like to mention that some of the products in this post were sent as PR samples, where as others were bought by me.

Now, to the photos!

These are the plates I chose:

Born Pretty Store stamping plates have never disappointed me. You can see in the macros below that the images are sharp and easily picked up by the stamper. I love the fact that more and more plates have large patterns, I was often let down when Konad plates did not cater for my large nails. I also enjoy having the freedom to select different areas of the design without being restricted to a rectangle. So well done there!

The plates I used are Qgirl-030, Qgirl-035, BP21, BP42 and MLS301; they are VERY reasonably priced and you can get a 10% discount using the code NLPW10. Don't forget they have free worldwide delivery!

These plates did not appeal to me just for the designs, but also because there was enough space for reverse stamping, as I will show in the photos below:

Reverse stamping is time consuming but I find it strangely relaxing.

Of course they are still great for normal, straight forward stamping:

I mostly stamp using special polish, but have also used A England and Illamasqua for the photos above. Results were still neat and clear, these plates are so good I ordered some more for my sister.

Do you have a favourite?

Ubermat: First Impression

Yesterday I received my much awaited Ubermat by Über Chic Beauty. 

If you haven't heard of it yet, check out the video from UCB on YouTube. One look at it and I knew I NEEDED it, as did many other people, by the looks of things. According to UCB's website, the Ubermat is already out of stock until later this month. Good thing I got mine early!

I used it for a simple stamping job with my eldest daughter in the afternoon and waited until the evening for a proper test run. 

"Reverse stamp like a boss" is one of the USPs, and the one that appealed to me the most. The ten decent-sized fingers and nails on it give you a frame, and after putting some topcoat on them you're ready to go. Or so I thought. 

The topcoat I used was Seche Vite. I'm not sure whether that had anything to do with my initial lack of success, or whether I was taking too long to do it, but by the time I was ready to stamp, my top coat was already peeling off and sticking to my stamper instead of staying put. 

Stamping on the mat itself wasn't an option as the stamping polish did not stick to the silicone the Ubermat is made of. 

I decided I wasn't going to let that ruin my excitement and gave it another try. After all, stamping hasn't always been easy for me. So I re did about four nails until I got the hang of it, in terms of speed and pressure. 

Happier with the base of my decals, I took my time to colour the designs in. My only comment in this regard is that the black outline of the printed nails sometimes looked like the lines I was colouring within. But then again, it was late and a coincidence my frame was in the same colour. 

Peeling off the decals was easy-peasy, I didn't even need tweezers. 

Check out the results by yourselves. What do you think? 

Additional products I used: Infinity Nails 14 stamping plate; black Konad special polish; Baker Street, Shoreditch, Carnaby Street and Queen Victoria Street by Nails Inc and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. 

Stamping with Essie and Infinity Nails 22

¡Hola! It's been a long time since I've last posted anything here, but if you follow me on Instagram you know I am still around. 

Today I would like to share my latest mani. Starting with Essie Maximillian Strasse-her, a favourite of mine, I decided to give Essie Nothing Else Metals a go, since my experience stamping with foils has been very positive in the past. 

My friend Carolina and I placed our first order from Dashica Beauty Shop and I chose a few of the lovely nail stamping plates they have on offer. 

Despite being a big Hello Kitty fan, I did not buy Infinity Nails 22 for that reason. What attracted me to this plate were the cute dotty designs. Such images can be a bit tricky to pick up but I had no problems at all with this plate. 

I think this is a lovely combination and am happy with the classy results. What do you think?

Check out this and other Infinity Nails plates on www.dashicabeautyshop.nl