Everything You Need to Know About Konad (Pt. 1 Materials)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Ok, I should amend the title to "Everything Mimi Knows About Konading". I've been using the Konad system of nail stamping for about four weeks, and I'm pretty darn proud with the progress I've made so I wanted to show you all how it's done. Chances are, you've already seen other bloggers/YouTubers talk about it (because I'm always the last person under the sun to try anything) but I wanted to have a very detailed tutorial nonetheless.
First, though, I wanted to talk about the materials. You'll need:
Plates- Konad (which is the brand) sells a whole range of plates for about $7 a plate, each plate with 5 images. Some have little symbols, while others have fancy tip designs, and others have designs that are meant to cover the whole nail. Bundle Monster, another brand makes a whole set of 21 plates (each with 6 images) for $17.99 or so. I got that set as well on Amazon with free shipping, a pretty good deal. There are also other generic plates out there, sold on eBay that the nail world calls 'fauxnad' that are octagon shaped. Essence (found in Ulta) even has a little nail stamping kit with a plate (and in Europe, have expanded their line to several more).

Konad double ended stamper and Essence regular style.

Stamper- The tool that allows you to transfer the image. There's a few different stamper styles out there. There's the cute little pink one sided stamper with its scalloped edges, a double sided stamper (one regular sized side for all over the nail images and a smaller side for tiny images) and even a stamper-scraper combo all in one. I prefer the double sided stamper, just because it's easy to grip.

The plastic scraper looks really
similar, only you know, plastic.

Scraper- This is what you need to scrape off excess nail polish, a crucial part of the process. There's two, a regular scraper with a metal blade, and a plastic scraper. I really would recommend the plastic one (as recommended by StrawberryMochi, thanks!) because I had tried the metal one and it scratched the crap out of the plate I was using.

Polishes- Konad sells special polishes that they recommend using them to get the best result. They're $7 each and honestly, I never bought into them. I've used regular nail polish and it's turned out just fine. The key though, is to use very dense, pigmented polishes.
I've used Wet'n'Wild Black Creme, Color Club holos, holos from China Glazes' OMG collection as well as Romantique collection metallics and even Orly Foil Fx collection, etc.

So let's run through some costs real quick:
Essence Stampy Kit (one metal scraper, one regular stamper, one plate with 6 designs) at Ulta: $2.99
Konad plates: about $7 on eBay or WowSoCool.com
Bundle Monster plates: 21 plates for $17.99 on Amazon or BundleMonster site
Konad stampers, scrapers from $2.50-$7, depending on style and retailer

Other materials you'll need include: nail polish remover, cotton pads, a base color, a top coat and optional- Vaseline or natural oils to cover your cuticles if you're picky about getting polish on them.
I'd also recommend working on a polish safe surface.

Stayed tuned for Part 2, the actual tutorial!