Pigment powders of all sorts have been burning up in the nail art world. There's chrome, holographic, and chameleon – some of which are also called "mirror" pigment powders. Chameleon powders are called as such because they make the nail shift between two colours, but they can also be called mirror powders because of their ability to make the nail shiny and reflect the light sources around it. Chrome powders can also be called a mirror powder because it makes the nail's surface shiny enough to reflect its surroundings onto it.
I recently purchased all three types of pigment powders from Born Pretty Store to see if these powders truly live up to their hype.

All of the powders came in a cute little container similar to a pot of loose eyeshadow, and they all came with an application tool which are basically little eyeshadow application brushes. When you apply the product to your nails, you may need to take preventative measures so that you don't make a mess. These powders get very messy and will leave glitter all over your workspace. I strongly recommend doing your nails over a piece of paper or paper towel so that you can easily contain the mess and just throw it away when you are finished. I used white paper which turned out to be very convenient, as I was able to roll the paper into a funnel and tap excess powder back into the pot for future use.

In order to apply pigment powder, you will need a gel topcoat and a UV lamp. However, I've seen many nail artists using gel formula polishes that do not require a UV lamp in order to create pigment powder nail designs (e.g. Essence The Gel Nail Polish Top Coat, Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat). This important to note when doing chrome nails, because just like when using nail foils, pigment powder designs can crack when using traditional top coats. Water-based top coats are also acceptable for pigment powder designs because they will also not cause cracking in the design (Suncoat Water-Based Nail Polish). However, your base coat and coloured polish do not need to be gel formulas. I used a regular base coat and black polish paired with a gel top coat from Born Pretty Store. When my black polish was finished drying, I applied the gel top coat and cured it under my UV lamp. Once cured, I buffed the silver chrome powder onto my nails. The powder applied with ease and instantly transformed my nails from black to chrome. When I was finished applying the powder, I sealed it in with one last coat of cured gel top coat.

If you've been keeping up with the nail pigment powder trend, then you'll have probably noticed that many nail artists have been expressing their difficulties trying to remove excess powder off of their skin. Many have been using liquid latex barriers around their nails so that they can peel off and discard the glitter. Some have also been using acetone and a cleanup brush to remove the small particles from their skin. I personally found that just rinsing your hands under water was a very easy method of cleanup. Just be sure that if you are not using cured top coat that your nails are completely dry before using a hand towel. If your nails are not completely dry, you may accidentally dent your design on a hand towel's fibres.

Overall, my chrome nails looked incredibly chic and I received many compliments on them. They were very shiny and reflective and I often found myself ogling my nails and watching the different reflections appear on their surface. If you are interested in trying out chrome or mirror nails for yourself, be sure to check out Born Pretty Store's website. All of the products that I used to create this look are listed below.


Products Used*:

Silver Mirror/Chrome Powder ($2.65 CAD)
5ml UV Topcoat/Basecoat ($3.18 CAD)
Sally Hansen Salon Gel Polish Manicure Starter Kit ($69.97 CAD)
Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Black Out ($2.47 CAD)
Revlon Colorstay Gel Smooth Basecoat (discontinued)

*Product price points are subject to change based on the current exchange rate.

If you live in Canada, or basically anywhere that isn't the United States, then you'll probably understand the struggles of online shopping. Shipping internationally isn't cheap, and after conversion of the dollar, shipping costs, and sometimes even duties, it almost isn't worth it to shop online at all.

I scoured the internet for the cheapest stamping mat I could possibly find. I really had my heart set on the Simply Neat Miracle Mat by Bliss Kiss, but it just wasn't a good financial decision for me. After adding it to my cart and going through the checkout process to figure out how much it would cost with shipping, it came to $34.72 USD. Which isn't entirely bad... But when you work conversion into this equation, that's about $46 CAD. Yikes! I am NOT paying nearly $50 for a stamping mat. Cue the as-seen-on-tv "there has to be a better way!"

I searched high and low for a cheaper alternative to the Miracle Mat. After shipping costs, duties, and conversion, I had come to the conclusion that I wouldn't ever shell out the cash to purchase one. Thinking I was doomed to use the plastic baggie method to create decals forever, I stumbled across the Fairy Mat on Aliexpress. For only $9.21* + free shipping, I thought it was too good to be true. And when you buy off of sites where the products primarily come from China, it's always a bit of a gamble of whether or not the product will be of good quality. I couldn't find a single review for this mat anywhere aside from the reviews on the seller's page. And when you're purchasing from an online vendor, it's hard to know which reviews are real and which are paid for when they're all positive 5-star reviews.

*Prices may vary depending on the seller and/or exchange rate of the current time.

I took a chance on the Fairy Mat, and of course by the time I had received it in the mail, Born Pretty Store had released their new stamping mats on their website ($11.97 CAD for the larger size, or $7.98 for the smaller one). AND, they also offer free worldwide shipping. C'est la vie, right? But the Fairy Mat from Aliexpress still works out to be the most inexpensive stamping mat I've found to date online.

Now let's do some math now boys and girls. My measurements are based on a conversion widget that I found on Google, so don't take my 100% word on these numbers, okay? The Fairy Mat is 33*24cm which is a pretty decent size for a stamping mat. That is roughly 13*9.5 inches.  The Miracle Mat is 16*12 inches, which makes the Fairy Mat a bit smaller. The BPS mat is 11*8 inches (28*21cm) which is smaller than the both of them. They also offer an even smaller mat that is 8*6 inches (21*15cm).

I was pleasantly surprised by the Fairy Mat's excellent quality, and I now use it all the time when I do my nail art. The mat is made of a bendable and durable white silicone, which has yet to stain from use. Any polish residue can be cleaned off of the mat with 100% acetone and a cotton ball. I've used it for reverse stamping which was very fun and a new experience for me. In the past, I used to create decals for my nails by using the plastic baggie method (i.e. you just paint onto a baggie and wait for your designs to dry, then simply peel off the design). I found that my decals dried faster when I painted them onto the stamping mat than when I painted them onto a baggie. I'm not sure why, but I'm blown away and will probably never be using a baggie for nail art ever again. If I'm not using the Fairy Mat for actual nail art, I love to paint my nails over the mat because if I make and accidents, it's super easy to clean. It also has a bunch of little stencils that you can use as guidelines to create decals, a little ruler on the bottom right corner, and two sets of fingernail templates that you can use as approximate guidelines for your designs. If you really want an inexpensive stamping mat, then I would recommend giving the Fairy Mat a chance.

Be sure to check out my video below! I'm still playing around with my Fairy Mat and all of the different things I can do with it. Reverse stamping is fun and all, but I've learned that stamping mats can be used for lots of interesting nail art techniques. I saw someone else do this trick on Instagram, but I have no idea who it was. If you figure it out, please let me know so that I can credit them! If you recreate this design, please tag me so I can check it out (@blondiesnails).