Adventures In Stamping: Zebra Stripes

I mentioned "cheat manis" in a previous post and thought I'd show a perfect example! Cheat manis are when I take an existing mani that might just be a bit dull, and change it up with stamping, glitter topcoats, crackle topcoats........whatever catches my eye! This trick is great for when you're bored with your mani and it's still in good shape, you don't have time to change polish but want a different look, or when you're like me and you're too lazy to start from scratch!!

My Zoya "Freja" and Glitter Gal "10 to Midnight" mani was super pretty, but kind of plain for my taste. My boyfriend got me the Bundlemonster 21 plate pack from Amazon to encourage me to work on my stamping skills (I had voiced frustration with stamping a few weeks back) so I thought it would be a perfect time to test out the plates, try a more subtle stamp effect than my last go-round, and give my mani a new lease on life! Plus, I was running short on time before dinner with friends (as usual) and a quick round of stamping was the only thing I could fit in before we had to split.

My subtle zebra creation (BOO BAD CLEANUP):

I used the BM-223 plate for the zebra stripes, and stamped in Konad Special Polish in black. I put a coat of Seche Vite over top to seal the design, and done! I was really happy with how this turned out -- this is the first time I've been successful in full nail designs (with the exception of my thumb, it overlapped a bit when I went to line up a 2nd stamp because my nails are bigger than the design) and I was really liking how the holo shone through the stripes.

Holo peeking though:

I had a hard time not staring at my hands all through dinner! My one complaint is that Konad Special Polish in black is SO HARD to clean off my cuticles! I should have done one more pass with acetone before posting these, but I'll blame the distracting rainbows on my fingers!

It even looks cool in black and white (thanks Instagram!):

In the future I'll have to try more holo polishes as base for full nail stamps! I'm thinking some leopard print stamped over a pink jelly holo franken I created would be sweet! I need more stamping polishes, but am kind of reluctant to try more Konad SP so I'm slowly testing out existing polishes I have that might be opaque enough (only winner so far: Rescue Beauty Lounge "Piu Mosso"!). This mani will probably hang out on my tips for a few more days -- I like it too much to take it off just yet!