NAIL ART: Soft & Cozy Fall Bookworm Nails

by - November 19, 2021


Sometimes I pick up a stamping plate because it has a lot of variety and I know it'll get a lot of use and other times I have a specific mani FIRMLY stuck in my head. Although the stamping plate I used for this mani definitely does still fit into the former category, I will fully admit that I picked up with some version of today's nail art design in mind for it. I didn't have specific shades picked out or all of the little details decided, but as soon as I added this to my cart I was always going to end up with some version of this mani - and because I messed up the first time, I actually ended up with two versions at the end of the day. 

Keep reading for more!


I knew I wanted to keep this really soft and cozy and as a result, I definitely ended up going with a color story that definitely reads a little bit more spring than fall, but I stand by the overall coziness of it. I've had my eye on ILNP's Cake Pop since it was released, but I finally went for it and ordered it fairly recently. Described as a creamy vintage ivory polish speckled with lustrous red, green, purple and copper metallic flakes, this really does scream accurate to the idea of funfetti type of a cake. It's very, much much a true crelly that leans more towards a créme, but has enough jelly to it that you get some depth and dimension with those flakes.

For this mani, I applied two coats of Cake Pop to all of my nails and let them dry down compelely. 


Really the whole idea for this mani was rooted in the images of the teapot and the stack of books and I knew I had to reverse stamp them to get the look that I wanted. I also wanted to do a subtle graphic image to the background and some smaller accent stamping on my outer nails. I decided to fill the images with a pairing of pastel sage and lavender shades because I really felt like they worked beautifully with the base polish. To do the reverse stamping, all you have to do is pick up the image on the stamper and then use a dotting tool or a fine nail art brush to carefully fill in the image and then let it dry down so that it's dry to the touch but not brittle before transferring. To adhere the filled in images to the nail, I first apply a thin layer of sticky base coat and let that dry down for about minute until it's tacky before I transfer the image to the nail. One thing to remember for this specific design is that if you're going to do the sort of graphic background image, be sure to also do that on top of the sticky base coat so that you don't smudge it.

Once I was happy with the overall design, I sealed it all in with a water based top coat and then finished with a matte top coat to take down the shine. And voila!


All Products Used
ILNP - Cake Pop
Whats Up Nails - Blanc My Mind
Whats Up Nails - Neither Noir
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Thyme Is Money
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Heather Hustle
Maniology Smudge Free Top Coat
Anchor & Heart Sea Glass Top Coat
Orly Bonder Base Coat
Pueen Latex Tape Liquid Peel Off Cuticle Guard
Mo-You London Fall In Love 08 Stamping Plate
Whats Up Nails Magnified Clear Stamper
NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool**

** = PR Gifted from NailStuff.ca - new customers can use affiliate code TRYSH for 10% off.


I've had a lot of success with the MoYou London Fall In Love 08 Stamping Plate and I'm really excited to try out more of their plates in the future. I love how this design turned out, basically exactly the way I pictured it in my head, and I think it definitely embodies the cozy look I was shooting for.

If you're looking for a video showing how I did this design - or any of the other nail art designs that I share here on the blog - be sure to head over to @pblnails and follow me there for all of my nail art and tutorials!

Thanks for reading!


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