9 Tips to Help You Master Stamping with Clear Stampers

Just starting out with clear stampers and stamping plates? Master the art of stamping with these insightful tips.

Cute nautical designs, gorgeous floral arrangements, and quirky animal prints look so simple when the pros do it using clear stampers and plates. But once you get all the things you’ll need to DIY at home, you may find yourself stumbling somewhere between scraping the excess polish off the plate and stamping your nail. It’s okay. We’ve all been there. With a little practice and a couple tips, you can be stamping your way to flawless looking nails in no time.

1. Only the best polish will do. Stamping nail polish is a must! Use the proper polish, and you’ll find some of these designs will become almost effortless. Almost.

2. Scrape left to right and up and down. If your chosen design has a big open space, use your scraper to evenly distribute polish. If you scrape in all directions (left to right then up and down), it’ll be fairly easy to achieve the desired outcome.

3. Start with an accent nail. Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to make each and every nail perfect. If you’re just starting out, spend all your time making one nail faultless. Sometimes less really is more.

4. Use a Clear Jelly Stamper. Even the pros will tell you that you need to get yourself a Clear Jelly Stamper. These little beauties take all the guesswork out of stamping nail art. With a see-through head, you can apply layers and art directly to your nail with precision and control.

For more reasons on why Clear Jelly Stampers are the hottest tools in the nail art industry, check out our previous post: Clear Stampers: The Must-Have Nail Art Accessory. 

5. Take your design to the next level with this easy trick. Stamp your nails with a few different colours using the same stamp. This layered abstract effect will look totally abstract, yet intricate. Plus, it’ll give you lots of stamping practice.

6. Get familiar with reverse stamping. This trick will have you stamping like a professional in no time. Paint your design, adding layers directly onto the stamper, let it dry, stamp it on your nail (firmly!) for a few seconds, peel back the stamper, apply topcoat, and show off your masterpiece.

7. Time your topcoat. This step is super important. While some smudges may look trendy and edgy, smeared nail art isn’t pretty to look at. Make sure your nail art is completely dry before adding a topcoat for a flawless finished look.

8. Be generous with your polish. It’s always wise to have too much polish rather than too little. If you don’t use enough polish, your image will probably come out looking patchy –IF you can even get the clear stampers to pick it up.

9. Use topcoat before stamping.Yes, this seems backwards, but just try it. Apply your basecoat and polish as you normally would. Once it’s dry, apply a topcoat. Then if you make a mess out of your stamped nail art, you can gently wipe it off with a cotton ball and nail polish remover without ruining anything underneath.

Build up your nail design kit with Clear Jelly Stampers. Besides offering up some of the best tips of the trade, we can also hook you up with clear stampers, plates, scrapers, and stamping polish.