Nail Stamping Decal Tutorial Featuring Uberchic Beauty Uber Mat

Monday 14 September 2015


It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Uberchic Beauty.  I have a number of there plates and reach for them constantly.  So you can only imagine my excitement levels when my lovely delivery lady dropped of the most amazing Uberchic package last week.  Not only did I receive some of the new plates (which I will be doing some reviews of over the next week or two) but I also received the Uber Mat!!!!

Image from Uberchic Beauty website
For those of you who may not know what the Uber Mat is let me give you a brief run down.  It's an awesome flexible mat that you can test colours on, stamp on, make decals (which I have a tutorial for in this post), really there is so many different things.  Best part of all, you can clean it all up with pure acetone.  How cool is that?  It's definitely going to save me a lot of mess.

My first use of the Uber Mat without question, had to be a stamping decal (or reverse stamping).  Now I have been trying to make these for what seems like forever and I always struggle.  I end up with cracked decals, images that don't transfer on the nails properly...really it has been a technique that I had nearly given up on.  Until now....

Things you'll need:
*  An Uber Mat
* Stamper and scraper (I used my rectangle squishy stamper from Messy Mansion and an old gift card)
*  A stamping plate (I used Uberchic plate 5-02)
*  Stamping polish (I used Konad Black)
*  A clear top coat (I used OPI Top Coat)
*  Polishes of your choice to fill in your design (I used China Glaze Bottoms Up, Son Of A Peach and That's Shore Bright)
*  A small brush or dotting tool (I used a Winstonia #00 brush)
* Tweezers

Step by step instructions:
1.  Paint a layer of clear top coat on the Uber Mat.  It can be anywhere on the mat.  I chose to do it on the nail shapes as a guide for how big I needed to make my decal.


2.  Stamp you desired image onto the top coated section.  I did this both when the top coat was slightly tacky and when it was dry and didn't find a difference in how the image transferred.



3.  Fill in your image with you choice of colours.



4.  After about 10-20 mins add a layer of top coat and allow to dry fully.  Paint your nails the desired base colour while you are waiting for your decal to dry.  I used OPI Alpine Snow as my base.



5.  After you have allowed you decal to full dry (I have seen people use timeframes from one hour to overnight - I left mine for about four hours) gently lift up your decal from the mat with you tweezers.  They should left quite easily but just make sure you do it gently and slowly to avoid breaking your decal.



6.  Now the next part it up to you.  You can either trim down your decal to fit you nail or you can leave it as in, apply it to the nail and then clean up.  I tried both ways and it didn't effect how the decal applied.  Only the clean up time.

To apply the decal, paint a thin layer of top coat onto your base colour.  Whilst the top coat is still tacky, position the decal on the nail and lightly press down to smooth out the decal and make sure it sticks to the nail.  Clean up any excess parts of the decal, add top coat and you are done.



I know my mani isn't perfect (I put some creases in my decals when I placed them on my nails) but I am so happy with how it turned out.  This is definitely the best stamping decal mani I have ever done and I owe it all to the Uber Mat.  You can bet that I will be practice more stamping decals in the future.

The Uber Mat is currently in stock and is available from Uberchic Beauty.  It has sold out before so definitely grab one (and some plates) while you can.

14 comments:

  1. My base polish on the Uber Mat kept coming up when I stamped on it and I was told to stamp with a lighter touch. This is a great tutorial.

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    1. Really? I haven't heard of that happening before. Was the base polish completely dry? I was told that it's best to have the base colour slightly tacky to pick up the stamp. I have only used the uber mat once so far so I can't really comment from personal experience. I'll definitely let you know if I come across that issue :)

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  2. It's going better now if I leave the base polish tacky and use a slower drying one.

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    1. I have heard that decals work better with a slow drying top coat. Glad it's working better for you now. :)

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  3. Great tutorial! I don't use a top coat after filling in colour though. Do you think it makes a difference?

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    1. Thanks Claire. I have no idea to be honest. Previously I when I was using my stamper the polish would crack and separate when I applied it. I assume the extra top coat holds it together. But who knows really. If you can do it without it then go with that. Save the top coat ;)

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  4. When I apply my decals they seem to get all squished and deformed. Am I applying them to too wet of a top coat? I have been using a quick dry top coat to maybe I need a slower drying brand.

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    1. That's a tricky one. It could be a number of things. From my experience you need to leave the decals for quite some time to dry (the longer the better). When putting them on the nails your top coat on your nail needs to be tacky not wet. It shouldn't matter if you use a quick dry top coat on your actual nail to place the decal. You just need to move a lot quicker to place it. Overall, it really is just trial and error, and practice. I still have issues making decals some days. Hopefully that helps. Good luck :)

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    2. Thanks so much! I have tried letting them dry overnight before I apply them... but usually I brush the top coat on my nail and then apply the decal right away. So maybe the topcoat is still too wet and I have to let it get a bit tacky first. I'll try that. Thanks for the article! And I love that flower stamp, I think I have that one...

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    3. No problems at all. I use to do the same thing and use to get so frustrated when it didn't work properly. It really is trial and error and practice! Well that's my experience anyway :)

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  5. My topcoat always separates from the mat 😕

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    1. Oh no. What sort of top coat are you using? Maybe try switching top coats or even whipping down your mat with acetone before applying the top coat.

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  6. My nails are super curved and my decals are always wrinkled, no matter what I do, when I place them. Any tips?

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    1. I don't really have any tips. My nails are super curved too. Honestly I have more troubles than not when it comes to decals on my nails. They always crease to varying degrees. This mani is probably the best decals that I have ever done, and it still has creases in it (although they don't stand out heaps)

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