One stamping pattern, three different looks

I was really excited about this post because it's the first one on Polishly that shows off one of my favorite things about nail stamping: versatility!

I started off with this pattern from my XL stamping plate A. It's the pattern on the top left corner of the plate.

I wanted the first look I created to be have some sparkle. 

I'd say it was successful ;-)

I used CND Stickey Base Coat and Seche Vite top coat for all three looks in this post.

For the first photoset, I applied two coats of Catrice Cosmetics Jade Is Not My Name, a light green creme. I got this polish on sale (it was just  €1.75, and Catrice polishes are already nearly always under the €3 price point anyway) and I'd had it for almost two months before I used it for the first time with this look. It photographs bluer than it is. To be perfectly honest, I don't like it on its own at all. It might be good for Halloween, but by itself it made my skin look sickly. But I gave it a shot because I figured like the other green shades I had, it would look really good with gold. I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

I stamped the pattern with a generic gold stamping polish. 

The next look was the first one I tried when I got XL stamping plate A last spring, and it's still one of my favorites. 

I applied two coats of Catrice Cosmetics Birdy Reloaded, a sunny yellow with a subtle hint of shimmer. Although I usually really like Catrice polishes because they have a wide range of colors, are really affordable and usually apply well, this shade had a little bit of streakiness to it. It didn't matter in this case though, since you can't tell with the stamping on top.

The pattern was stamped with red creme Konad Special Polish.

For the third and last look, I applied two coats of Essie Smokin' Hot, a dark purple/mauve creme. I stamped it with black shimmer Konad Special polish. 

I wanted to try something different with this look, so I applied Essence Matt topcoat over all nails except my ring finger, which I left glossy both as an accent nail and to show contrast.

The pattern is definitely more subtle here because there's less contrast, but there's still enough to make it wearable. I think it's also a great look for autumn!

A few things to keep in mind if you try this out...

With dark stamping polishes, you might still end up with a little bit of polish around your cuticles right after, even if you tidy up with a brush like I do. You can put tape around the outside of the nail to keep if from getting on the rest of your fingertip, but that won't keep it off the cuticle (at least not without affecting how your nails look). I find that cleaning the polish off your fingers with a cotton swab soaked in acetone is faster than putting tape all around your fingers and then removing it, but that's my preference.

Also, I highly recommend if you try these looks matt to put a coat of Seche Vite on first. Why? Because the thicker formula of Seche Vite helps keep the delicate stamped pattern from smearing. Even after fully dried, other topcoats I've used will smudge the pattern at some point, even if I'm being really careful. Matt topcoats on their own also tend to smudge nail art.

So which one's your favorite? 

Thanks for visiting!