NOTD: Sally Hansen Mousseline and Instant Coffee Leopard Print

More nail stamping! Will it ever end? Probably eventually... But not anytime soon! This is my favorite stamped nail design I've done so far; I used colors that contrasted with each other better but weren't too loud, and the design was definitely noticeable. I got a few compliments on my nails while I had this manicure, and people were really curious about how I did it. I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Mousseline as my base, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Instant Coffee for the leopard print stamping. I love both of these colors, and they worked really well together. This was the first time I had worn Mousseline, a shade that I found on clearance at Ulta and was able to use a $1 off Sally Hansen coupon with, so I got it for next to nothing. After I put it on, I fell for it... hard! I actually went back to check and see if there was another bottle hiding in the clearance bin! (No luck.)

Mousseline and Instant Coffee

Mousseline as my base, Instant Coffee for the leopard print design

A couple of the leopard spots got smudgy (one of my little fingers was the worst offender, which is why you don't see it featured here), but I think that is just the nature of stamping. I'm sure that my success rate will go up the more I practice, but so far I have found it difficult to stamp my little finger (the curve of the nail seems too severe to get the stamper to roll across it easily without any smudging), and you have to be really, really careful that you scrape the plate really well and keep the area around the image clean of excess polish before you pick up the pattern; that's been the mistake I've made the most often. Oh well, I am still having so much fun with this! It's really satisfying to think I can do neat designs on my nails quickly, easily, and (usually) accurately. The lamest part is waiting for the base color to dry enough to stamp on without relying on fast-dry top coat!