Review | Born Pretty Store Arabesque Stamping Plate QA88

Nail stamping is still a very popular way of enhancing your nails when more complicated designs get into play. I have recently added an arabesque stamping plate to my collection from Born Pretty Store.

 

 

Arabesque motifs are among my favourite nail art designs and with this plate I have endless manicure possibilities. The plate is like most other image plates - hexagonal metal plate with an engraved design all over. It comes with a protective plastic film, so be sure to remove that before use. Also, since the edges may be quite sharp, I like to file them a little to avoid cutting myself onto them.

 

The other day, I came across a nail art tutorial on nailsartvidss on Instagram where they used an image plate in a completely different manner than what we are used to. They applied polish and scraped the excess of as usual, then instead of rolling the stamper over the nail, the design is left to dry on the stamper and details are coloured in with nail polish including the base coat at the end.

When the polish dries, it is simply removed from the stamper and stuck to a wet nail like a nail sticker! As it happens, this plate was the perfect fit to try this new technique! Obviously you won't be using the whole design on your nail so I think this is a novel way to use such plates. 

 

The plate engravings are deep enough and the design is retained as a whole, which is not always the case with stamping plates where parts of the design may not transfer. However, I didn't have any such problems with this plate. Here's a manicure I did using this plate:

You can get this plate here for just $2.99 and free shipping + 10% off if you quote the code EBABK31 at checkout. 

 

On a side note, Born Pretty Store now also stock durable display cases for your stamping plates. I have this pink leather one and although it comes a little pricey at $31.89 I still recommend getting it to store your plates safely in one place (it an hold up to 128 plates). I even store nail sticker sheets in it to keep everything organized! You can always save some money if you use BPS points or discount codes when checking out too!

 

 

 

 

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NOTW: Arabesque design for Easter

Hey dolls sorry for not posting much this last week but life got the better hold of me and also, the Holy Week is my favourite time of year so, needless to say, it was full of going out and whatnot.  Sadly, yesterday we didn't celebrate Easter like past years due to bad weather... we usually have a procession in the morning with the statue of the Risen Christ but yesterday it was so windy (and so is today) and rainy that no celebrations took place.  Anyways,  I had done my nails last Thursday for Easter and opted for a green and blue combo to match my outfit and I completed the look with a white acrylic paint design on each of my ring fingers.

It looks complicated but once you get the hang of it, it is relatively easy to complete.  However, you do need a steady hand with this one.

For the ring fingers, I painted on two coats of e.l.f. cosmetics Teal nail polish all over the nail over a base coat and then for the French tip, I first put on a layer of Essence Colour & Go nail polish in Choose Me in a side swipe fashion and topped it off with a coat of Essence Colour & Go nail polish in Blue Addicted.  I repeated the French manicure part over the other nails too.

For the arabesque, all you need is a small detailing brush, white acrylic paint and some water.  Start by dipping the brush in water and dry it between your fingers.  Next, dip the brush in the white paint and let your imagination guide you! I went for something simple because of my bold base colours but you can always create designs that suit your personality! Don't forget to top coat your nails otherwise, all the acrylic paint will wash away on the first occasion you wash your hands!

Have fun recreating this design, and if you want, share your pics on the blog's facebook page!