As time goes on, I don't find myself reaching for the older stamping plates in my collection as much as I used to - if at all - but there are a few plates that have specific images that I just absolutely love and will always reach for. The BeautyBigBang XL-030 Stamping Plate has, in my opinion, and absolutely perfect stamping image on it and it's one that I know I could probably use every single year and never repeat the same mani twice, if that makes any sense. Today's mani utilizes that stamping image along with one of my personal favorite techniques for creating a beautiful base to pair with simple stamping. 

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I knew that I wanted to do a blue smoosh for this mani and I knew that I wanted it to be a bright, bold blue look. This mani was actually directly inspired by another mani that I did over the summer, but I wanted to take it into a fun wintery vibe while keeping the brightness. For the smoosh, I decided to use a soft sort of pastel sky blue, a richly saturated cornflower blue, and a really bright, bold ultramarine so that I got some intense coloration and contrast for a really marbled texture.

To do my smoosh, I started by applying a layer of the lightest shade to all of my nails as a base and then applying a cuticle barrier since this process is pretty mess. I have a NailStuff.ca Clear Stamper** that I keep specifically as my smoosh stamper for a couple of reasons. It's nice and big, so I can get really good visualization while I'm smooshing, and it's metal so I don't have to worry about getting polish on it because it's really easy to clean with acetone. Anyway, I went in and applied random dots of each polish to the stamper head and then just sort of pounced it onto the nail until I got the desired marble effect. 

Before going in for the stamping, I used my clean up brush dipped in acetone to remove any globs of polish along my cuticles, being careful not to disturb my cuticle barrier since I wanted it still in place for my stamping. It isn't entirely necessary, but I can guarantee you that it makes clean up easier if you deal with the smoosh mess before it dries. For the stamping, I kept it really simple. I used a white stamping polish and alternated the direction that I placed the image to break up the design a bit and give it a little more interest. 

Once I was happy with my stamping and had my cuticles fully cleaned up and cuticle barrier removed, I sealed it in with a nail art top coat and then finished with a layer of quick dry glossy top coat. And voila!

See what I mean about this stamping image? It's full coverage, so it really shouldn't be as versatile as it is, but there's something about the vibe of it that makes me feel like I could pair it with endless different base polishes and techniques to get a plethora of different looks. Love it!

Be sure to keep checking back here on the blog every day in December up until Christmas Eve for new holiday themed nail designs. Also, head over to @pblnails on Instagram for video tutorials of all of the nail art I post here on the blog!

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