Bridal Nails - A twist on the traditional French manicure

Bridal nails...should they make a statement or take a backseat on your big day? I'm more of a "It's all about the dress" kinda girl, so I think a nice subtle but dreamy combo is the way to go. So how to make a statement with your nails that's barely there? The answer and I think my new obsession, the stamping jelly sandwich. Its a stunning nail trend that's happy to be the bridesmaid. 

This look is easy to achieve if you are a half decent stamper. The key to success with the stamping jelly sandwich is all in your polish choices. You need opaque on the bottom and super sheer on the top so that you don't cover the stamped design too much. The sheer layer on top takes the edge off the white stamping and blends it to the opaque colour underneath, creating that translucent jelly look.

Step 1: Choose a creme polish in nude or blush pink that is pretty much opaque in one coat. If you have to do another thin second coat to reach opacity thats fine, you will just have to wait a bit longer before you stamp. The polish I used for this step is Orly - Decades of Dysfunction.

Step 2: Stamp your chosen design. I used Konad m65 and Konad special polish in white.

Step 3: After your stamping is dry use a very sheer polish in the same hue as your first colour. If you chose blush pink for the bottom then find a sheer pink, if you choose a nude base, then use a peachy nude sheer. I chose China Glaze - Diva Bride. Do one very thin coat stroking your brush lightly over the top of your stamping. Try to apply it in 3 strokes and don't overlap.



This is one of my most favourite designs ever. I think its so stunning and girly. The roses bring romanticism and femininity to your nails without being tacky and in your face. The stamping jelly sandwich is a great nail art technique that I look forward to experimenting with lots more. 

Jelly Sandwiches are so delicious

So you've been lusting after a stream of hard to find indie glitter polishes? The reality of being a nail polish collector is that you cant always have every polish (I know!). As much as you try some brands are just really difficult or very expensive to get to Australia. Nail mail buddies are great, but for those of us who need instant gratification why not try creating your own unique polish or duplicating a hard to find polish by making a jelly sandwich.

So what is a jelly sandwich? Its much like a normal sandwich, layers of stuff put together to make one delicious treat. Traditionally a jelly sandwich consists of 1 or 2 layers of a sheer polish, then a layer of glitter, plus another layer of the sheer polish. However I find the best way to create the sandwich is to start off with one coat of an opaque creme polish. This takes away the nasty VNL and speeds up the drying time.

Layer your favourite glitter over your base colour and give it a good chance to dry so that it doesn't move in the next step.  Choose a sheer version of the colour you used on the bottom. You can tell if a polish is sheer 2 ways. If you have to do more than 3 coats to get opacity you've got yourself a sheer. Also if you can see the polish brush easily through the polish, then its a good chance its a sheer. Apply one coat of the sheer polish over the top of the glitter. Let it dry then apply your top coat. Voila, jelly sandwich.

The polishes that I used: Bottom layer is OPI Skull and Glossbones, Glitter is Chi Chi Gliterazi and the sheer layer is OPI My Pointe Exactly.

I love how this turned out. If I would have used white on the bottom I reckon I could have gotten very close to recreating China Glaze Its a trapeze. So if you are lusting for some hard to find indie polishes, or perhaps you are on a no buy and looking to create something new to trick yourself into thinking you have new polish, then jelly sandwich it up! Mmmm tasty.