Korean brands: Clio professional makeup

Source:Clio Professional

I must admit, I'm very much a monogamist when it comes to the brands in my life. I like packaging to match, and I have a high quality control standard, so when I find a brand I love, I stick to it.

Its no secret that I am a huge fan of MAC makeup, and although I know its expensive, I'd rather buy one eye shadow that I know will last me for ages and stay on my face as long as I need it to, then 5 cheaper eye shadows that have questionable quality and that I'm probably going to have to ditch in a few months. I'm definitely a quality over quantity kinda girl.

That being said- I'm not blinded by brand loyalty and if there's a worthy product out there I'm definitely willing to give it a try!

A few days ago I was killing a bit of time on Gmarket (a korean internet shopping site) when I stumbled across Clio's Gelpresso waterproof pencil gel eyeliner, it was on special for 9 900won as opposed to its normal price of 12 000won and came in an awesome Jade green colour that I had been looking for, for ages. I had some money in my online account and thought I'd give it a try.

2 days later it arrived in the post. I tried it out yesterday and am really satisfied with the results. The pencil goes on easily and smoothly. Its soft tip is great for delicate eyelids and the results really last all day- no smudging what-so-ever.

The pencil comes in 8 great colours including; star purple, metallic silver, golden black, chic navy, jade green, golden khaki and dark choco. I'm going to give chic navy a go next.

I'm so impressed with the product I plan on trying out some of Clio's other products. They have the coolest range called "art" with some really awesome packaging and a lot of variety. There are 5 blusher colours, 2 highlighter colours and 52 different eyeshaddow colours. For more info about Clio go here.

Some of their cool packaging.
Source: clio.co.kr

30 days of me: Day 4

Today's challenge is about a habit I wish I didn't have, I have quite a few bad habits so it was difficult to choose between them. But I guess the habit I hate the most is how much I worry.

Source: Unknown 

I worry about things that have happened, things that haven't happen, things that shouldn't happen, and things that could happen, it's a totally exhausting task living in my head sometimes.

A clever person once told me there's no point in worrying about something if you can't do anything about it, and if you can do something about it, well then there's no need to worry, because you're doing something.

Source: Unknown

Never the less controlling my worry is a daily struggle, if you knew some of the things I worry about it would probably be hard not to laugh. But like I said, it's something I'm working on and I'm getting a lot better at not stressing the small stuff (although this entails multiple self pep talks).

Coffee Lyn Seosan

This past weekend was filled with things I love to do. It included shopping, watching movies, drinking wine, going out for supper and spending time with friends. It also included going for coffee at this darling little coffee shop in Seosan.

Not only does Coffee Lyn sell the most divine coffee and a variety of different blends, but the snacks there are absolutely delicious. The waffles, cheese cake and blue cheese pizza are guaranteed to leave your taste buds begging for more.

The cozy little wooden cabin is a great way to warm up this winter, so if you haven't been there already- you should definitely give it a try.

I absolutely love the interior design and the staff there are so welcoming and friendly. It's definitely my favorite coffee shop I've been to in Korea.

• How you can reach them: 041 667 0284
• How you can find them: Getting there is a little tricky. Basically the coffee shop is behind Lotte Mart, but on the main road.  커피볶는집커피린 South Korea Chungcheongnam-do Seosan-si Yecheon-dong 556-1
• What time are they open: 11am-11pm

30 days of me: Day 3

Todays challenge is to post a picture of you and your friends. I must say- I'm gonna have to bend the rules a bit here- because posting just one picture isn't going to cut it.

A crazy group of awesome girls and guys who helped me survive my first year in Korea. You guys rock.

Through the years I've made so many different great friends, and I plain and simply wouldn't be the person I am today without them.

Unfortunately, I don't have digital copies with everyone, and my prints are back in South Africa, but that doesn't mean I love you any less.

Gone but never forgotten. Beko you will always live in my heart.
You were my rock and I will love you always.

Wish I had a photo with the 3 of us, but this will have to do.
Kath and Lau Lau, you're the first people I think of telling when anything happens, good or bad.
You made the last year of Rhodes magical. I'm so lucky to have two amazing friends like you.

Cherise! I would not have survived high school without you!
Cheers to a friendship I know will last forever.

Leek, you see the world in such a unique way. You have been such an irreplaceable support
system to me here in Korea, although our friendship is less than 2 years old- I know we'll always be friends.
Thanks for everything.

These lovely young ladies made my university experience what it was.
Fun times, great memories and beautiful people inside and out.
 Cara (thats you in the middle), there are no words for
how much I love you, and how much you mean to me.

30 days of me: Day 2

Todays challenge is to share the meaning behind your blog name, so here's the story.

That's me in the middle, my brother on the right and a close family friend's baby on the left. I guess I would have been a little too old for The Binki Box at this point in my life- but I don't have any older digital baby photos, so this will have to do.

When I was a little girl, too little to actually remember, too little to even walk, my parents bought a special cot for me that was able to clip onto wheels, so it served the dual purpose of a cot and a pram/push chair. While in the cot my dad used to sing a song which went along the lines of "a binki a bonky daddy bought a donkey," and as a result my chariot was named 'The Binki Box", and the nickname "Binki" was bestowed upon me. 


I guess I've always thought of The Binki Box as a happy, fun, safe little place, which I could go anywhere in, and thats why I chose to call my website and blog The Binki Box.

A fantastic way to spoil yourself: Alice Nail in Seosan

Every girl deserves a bit of pampering every now and again. One of my favourite ways to pamper myself is to go and have a good manicure. Since coming to Korea, a good friend of mine and I regularly go to a magical little nail shop in Seosan, that goes by the name of Alice Nails. It’s a great way to treat yourself and have a girly catch-up at the same time.

The shop is run by two lovely sisters who do the best mani/pedi I’ve ever come across. A regular manicure will set you back about 15 000won- which includes the whole shebang- from a hand mask, to nail filing, cuticle treatment, a base coat and top coat, and a spash of colour. It always fascinates me how a coat of colour can change the way I feel.

So if you’ve got some time on your hands and a little change to spare why not go check it out for yourself- maybe even take a friend along with you. I promise, if your experience is anything like mine have been, you won’t be disappointed.

Alice nails is open from 10am-9pm Monday to Friday, and every second and fourth Saturday of the month.

They also offer a wide variety of nail art and nail extensions, plus waxing, although I’ve never tried that out personally.

The sisters don’t speak the best English but are very friendly and have the patience of saints. It might be a good idea to get your co-teacher or a Korean-speaking friend to help you make the appointment, they are pretty popular so it’s a good idea to make a booking.

• How you can reach them: 010 7399 1448 or 668 5949
• How you can find them: If your facing the lotte cinema/old CNB cinema walk right, at the first crossroads turn right. It’s on your left.

30 days of me: Day 1

So todays challenge is to post a recent picture of myself and share 15 interesting facts about me, although I can't promise they will all be interesting, I can promise there will be 15. So here we go.

1. I really don’t like the smell of people when they come out of the cold.
2. I’m engaged to the most amazing man, I truly believe I’ve found my soul mate. His name is Chris and he’s mentioned quite a bit in my blog, we’ve been engaged for a year and a half now, and have been together for almost 4. We haven’t set the date yet- but you’ll be the first to know when we do.
3. I cry every time I get my hair cut. After a traumatic childhood experience where a hairdresser butchered my very long hair into a so-called “bob”– I just can’t help it. Even if I like the cut, I think it’s the fear of the unknown before that gets me.
4. I’m a total control freak/perfectionist (maybe this explains number 3 a little more)
5. The things I’m most afraid of are geckos and lizards. Regardless of how big or little they are I can’t even be in the same room as one. I can’t actually explain how petrified I am of them.
6. I think my worst quality is how much I worry about things- even the small stuff. I’m trying to get it under control but it’s a daily struggle.
7. I have an awesome little brother who’s, well not so little any more. He’s 19 and I can’t wait to see him when I go home.
8. I was born in London, England; both my biological parents are British. But I grew up with my mom and step dad (who’s South African) in South Africa, now I live in South Korea where I have been for the last 18 months, but I’ll be heading back to S.A in 4 months time
9. When I was little I slept with a blankie and sucked my thumb. I’ve long since ditched the blankie but have to shamefully admit every now and again I catch myself with my thumb in my mouth. This seems to happen particularly when I’m deep in thought about something.
10. I have a strange relationship with the taste of mint. I like mint, as in a breath mints, toothpaste, gum and the mint you grow in your garden, but I really don’t like peppermint chocolate bars, or mint choc chip ice cream, or peppermint tart. Weird I know.
11. We (Chris and I) have a pet hedgehog named Herbie, he lives with us here in Korea. When we leave we’re going to have to find him a new home because hedgehogs are illegal as pets in South Africa. Sad face.
12. I love make-up especially MAC
13. I’m very particular about egg. Egg really grosses me out. I’ll eat it but it has to be totally cooked. I often go to restaurants and the glasses smell like egg, so I won’t drink out of them. Chris thinks I’m insane.
14. I’m not very good at saving and have a bit of a shopping addiction (the two go hand in hand)
15. Even though I studied Journalism, and the fact that I am currently an English teacher, I can’t spell to save my life! Spell check is my best friend- but sometimes even it can’t help me because I’ve spelt the word so incorrectly that spell check can’t even recognise what the word is trying to be.

30 days of me: Intro

A whole bunch of bloggers are doing this 30 challenge called *30 days of me*. I first found out about it on the lovely City girl searching blog, and thought I'd give it a try.

Heres what it entails:
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song.


If you've done the *30 days of me* challenge or start doing it after reading this, leave me a comment I'd love to go check it out.

Needed: A new handbag!

I'm in the market to buy a new handbag. At the moment my only relatively expensive handbag is falling apart at the seams, and my other handbags are like 10 dollar specials that I bought on the side of the street. How much I actually have to spend on that handbag is debatable (if anything at all really), but a girl can dream right? I've been doing some research and have nailed it down to three handbags, only now I'm confused as to which one I like the most (let's not worry about the fact that I probably can't actually afford it for the moment, and focus on more important things).

I've always been a big bag kinda girl, I definitely have the Mary Poppins complex and carry around way more than I probably need to. So all the bags are big, and they are all leather- because if I'm going to be spending a small fortune on it I want it to last. Coincidently they are all Michael Kors designs, but if you can suggest a sexy alternative, please do! Lastly, I'm focusing more on design here so I'v chosen all the same colour bags in the pictures- but each bag does come in a variety of different colours.

 Ok, so here they are, in no particular order...

Moxley Large Satchel 

Things I love about this bag:
It has a zip that runs across the top of the bag. With big bags such as this one, I always worry that something could easily fall out, or that someone could easily slip their hand into the bag without me noticing, so I prefer having a zip to seal it properly.
Things I'm not so sure about:
I worry that even for me its a little too big- nah, who am I kidding thats never a problem. But I do worry that maybe I should get it in black because its a more classic colour and will go with a lot more stuff. Maybe that old-fashioned thinking? Should a bag match what you're wearing? I'm not sure.

Erin Large Shoulder Tote 

Things I love about this bag:
I love the size of this bag, it also comes in a variety of colours, and unlike the other two bags I  actually like it in black.
Things I'm not so sure about:
It only has a magnet to hold the bag closed as far as I can see. Chris isn't mental about this one, he thinks it looks a bit cheap, I'm not sure that I agree with him, but it makes convincing him its a warranted purchase a lot easier if he actually likes it.

Moxley Shoulder Tote

Things I love about this bag:
Chris likes it, which is a big help in the purchasing department.  I like it because it only has one strap. I find when bags have the handle strap and the shoulder strap things can get a bit messy and when your using the handle strap its easy to drag the shoulder strap on the floor.
Things I'm not so sure about:
I can't tell wether or not it comes with a zip at the top- but I think its just a magnet. In some of the colours it comes in, like black, it has a shiny look to it that I've never really been fond of.

Ok, well there they are, any help or comments on the subject would be much appreciated! Just leave a comment underneath this post. It's as easy as 1,2,3.

Halloween inspired nail art

I had a little spare time on my hands last night, and was feeling a bit festive so thought I'd get into the halloween spirit by painting my nails. Here are the results, I used a Konad M64 stamp for the pattern.

To read more about Konad nail art and stamps, or how to create a look similar to this go here.
To make a cute little Jack-O lantern similar to the one I used in the first frame, follow this fun and easy Illustrator tutorial here.

Travel Bug: China

When we went: August 6^th 2010 (Summer in China)

Travel agency: Tour Ease China

Length of stay: 11 days

Cost of private tour: 888 dollars

Including 13 meals, all entrance fees, a professional English-speaking guide & driver with air-conditioned vehicle. All accommodation. Round trip transfers between airports or railway stations and hotels. All service charge & government taxes, and train rides in private four sleeper cabins. 

Excluding: tickets to and from China. Personal spending money, visa fees and tips.

Visa cost: 50 000 won each (for non-Americans)

Airfare: 331,800 won on China Southern Airlines (return)

Where we went: Beijing, X’ian, Shanghi

Source: Imperial China Tours

Highlight of the trip: For me its impossible to chose between the Great Wall of China in Beijing, and the Terracotta Warriors in X’ian. They both totally blew me away. Really a once in a lifetime experience.

If I could only choose one of the 3 destinations: Beijing, It’s so culturally rich and there is so much to see and do there. Definitely my favorite of the three.

China's unique quirks

• How cheap it was! Food, shopping and public transport is really affordable.
• Fat men with their bellies hanging out. Ok, not everyone was fat, nor had their tummies on show, but in the summer heat a lot of the men have a habit of rolling their t-shirts up and exposing their stomachs to cool down.
• Babies with holes in their pants. Little toddlers stroll the streets with giant holes in their pants where their nappies would be, exposing their little bums! When I asked my tour guide about this she said that their families may be too poor to afford diapers so the babies just go about their business in this way instead. Haha, I guess that’s a little gross - but those little chubby baby bottoms are just too cute!

Places to see and things to do Beijing

• Tiananmen Square which is the largest square in the world
• The Forbidden City which is the largest imperial palace in the world (A MUST)
• The Temple of Heaven
• The Great Wall of China, which is the symbol of ancient Chinese civilization and is approximately a 2-hour drive from the city. (an absolute HAVE TO)
• Ming tomb
• Acrobatic show
• Summer Palace, known as the largest and best imperial gardens in the world (A MUST)
• Wngfujing Pedestrian Street (New York’s equivalent of 5th avenue I was told. There are tons of top of the range shops and boutiques but also some really cool street food markets where you can enjoy delicacies like scorpions!)
• Any reputable fresh water pearl market or jade factory
• Tea shop

Places to see and things to do in X'ian

• Terracotta Warrior army and horse museum, considered the eighth wonder of the world (an absolute HAVE TO)
• Ancient Cultural Street and Bell & Drum Tower Square
• Great Mosque, which was established in AD742 and is still an active place of worship. (Really beautiful and unlike any mosque I have ever seen) 
• Big Goose Pagoda, which was built in AD 648. The pagoda is regarded as a symbol of Xian. 

Places to see and things to do in Shanghai

• Jade Buddha Temple, which was built in 1882, is a well-preserved Buddhist temple. 
• Ming era Yu Garden that is the most famous classical garden of Shanghai
• The Bund, known as the symbol of Shanghai, features 52 high-rises of all styles showing the art of world architecture. 
• Old French Concession Area, the White House and Pudong New Shanghai - The People's Square. 

Things to eat:

• Peking roast duck 
• Scorpions

Pros of the tour:

• Stella the travel agent I worked with was as helpful as I could have possibly asked for, speedy with her responses, polite and offered useful suggestions.
• The price of the trip when compared with other agencies was very competitive.
• The itinerary was well put together and we got to see everything we wanted at a price we could afford.

Cons of the tour: 

• In each city we were accompanied by a different tour guide, which was fine but I guess I should have read the fine print about tips for the tour guide and taxi drivers not being included, because they were definitely expected. That would have been fine, but after paying what was for us at the time a big deal of money, and then being pressured into tipping money we hadn’t allocated for, came as a bit of a shock. Saying this though I must say of the 3 tour guides we only felt pressured by one, and I’m not sure you could blame the agency for that. 
• When staying in 3-star hotels one has to realize you're getting what you’re paying for, and I don’t think I had unrealistic expectations. The first hotel we stayed in, the Minzuyuan Holiday Inn express, was perfect. The rooms were a nice size and clean and the staffs were friendly. The other two hotels, the Bell and Drum tower in X’ian and the Jinming Hotel in Shanghai were really bellow standard though - with peeling paint/wall paper, the smell of damp, filthy carpeting and mould on the walls. I complained about them to the agency and they apologized saying that they hadn’t used those two hotels before, and that they were only using them while the hotels they usually used were under renovation. But a word to the wise, when booking through a tour it may be a good idea to find out which hotels they’re going to put you in first and read reviews on them rather than just taking the agency’s advice. If you tell the agency you’re not happy with a particular hotel they can always change it.

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Travel bug: background and helpful hints

Since living in South Korea we (Chris and I) have tried to make the most of each of our holidays by exploring as much of Asia as we possibly can in the limited amount of vacation days we have (18 days a year excluding weekends and public holidays). The days are divided into two periods- 8 days in the summer, and 10 days in the winter and have to be taken during the schools vacation dates.

In our first holiday, which was in August of 2010, we traveled to China. For our second holiday, which was in January/February of 2011, (where we were given an extra two weeks for re-signing our contracts) we went to Thailand and Vietnam. For our third holiday, which was in August of this year, we went to the Philippines. And now, for our last holiday, before leaving Korea to move back to S.A, we plan on traveling to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia, for 4 days, 4 days and 10 days respectively.

For me personally, one of the best parts about going on holiday, is planning the holiday. I can spend days upon days trawling the internet reading different travel sites, looking for the best flight prices, and reading hotel reviews.

I always try to make sure that I’m getting the biggest bang for my buck, and don’t have regrets at the end of the holiday because I didn’t know about a ‘must see’ sight or destination. Because of this I thought I’d do a little travel feature on each of the destinations we've been to since living in Korea, and share with you what we got up too. So if your interested keep and eye out for my travel posts:)

In the meantime, here are a few tips I apply to every holiday.

• Come up with a budget first. There is no point in planning a fabulous vacation and then realizing you can't afford it
• Always check hotel reviews out before setting your heart on one, I've found that a lot of hotels websites and pictures are extremely misleading. I love tripadvisor when it comes to honest reviews. Obviously some people out there are a little anal, so take some things with a pinch of salt. Trip advisor also has an option to view pictures of the hotel taken by guests during their stay- so you can get a better idea of whats actually being offered
• Take time looking for the cheapest flight- it can really save you a fortune.
• If your going without a tour/guide do your homework, there just isn't enough time during the trip and you will find you miss out on a lot of stuff otherwise.
• Prioritize whats important to you. For me personally, cleanliness and privacy are very important. Staying in a hostel with 15 other people, while perhaps cheap and more of an adventure, is not really in my comfort zone, so its something I tend to avoid. Where at the same time as saying that, I'd rather stay in a friendly and clean 3 star hotel or guest house then spend a huge amount of money on a 5star hotel when I could be spending it on other things during the holiday. There isn't a right or wrong answer when it comes to accommodation at the end of the day, just make sure its something you're happy and comfortable with.
• Lastly, look at a calendar when booking your dates to see if there are any public holidays you can tack onto your vacation to make it last as long as possible. Using the korean New Year public holidays and weekends in 2012 will add an extra 8 days to our trip.

Photography course in Seoul: My exciting news

After putting it off for months now, due to both financial and distance reasons, I have finally decided to take the plunge and sign up for a beginners photography course at Studio 11 in Seoul.

At the moment the beginners course consists of 4 classes, which take place every Sunday for the month you sign up for. The classes are each 3 hours long, and cost 200 000won in total. But if you sign up in advance there is an 'Early Bird" discount.

I'm feeling very excited about it and can't wait to start!

For more information on this and other photography courses offered at Studio 11 go here, and/or if you feel like doing the beginners course with me this November send me an email to thebinkibox@gmail.com

Jinhae Cherry Blossom festival

Realizing the other day that we (Chris and I) only have 4 and a half months left in Korea lead me to reminisce about some of the amazing times we’ve had here and the cool things we’ve done.

One of the most amazing weekends for me was our trip down south to the cherry blossom festival in Jinhae.

The five hour trip from Taean to Jinhae was more than a little off-putting for Chris who couldn’t understand why we had to go “all that way just to see a few flowers.” Luckily I managed to get my way, because after less than an hour in Jinhae even Chris was a fan.

Not only will you see more cherry blossom trees in Jinhae than anywhere else in Korea, but there is heaps of other stuff to do too, including a funfair, cultural shows, flea market, cable car, carnival games and tons of amazing food.

The festival runs every year from the 1^st -10^th of April. For more information on the festival go here.

Great ways to spend time on the internet

The internet can be a distracting place at the best of times, one link leads to another and before you know it hours have passed and there are about 100 tabs open in your browser. You find yourself wondering how you went from quickly messaging a friend, to designing an online photo album, to watching a video of a stranger's baby throwing a massive tantrum...

Unfortunately, this post has nothing to do with how to avoid this kind of rampant procrastination, no, if anything it's going to encourage it. Below I'm going to list a few of my favorite sites to 'hang out' at.

1
The first site I strongly encourage you to check out (if you haven't already) is Pinterest. Pinterest is basically a virtual pin board. You have to request and invite to join the site- but once you have been accepted there is no limit to the number of pin boards you can create or the number of things you can pin on them. What's even more fun is that you can follow your friends and they can follow you. 

It's really easy to do too. You can either download the image you want to pin, or just add a "pin it button" to your bookmarks bar on you browser and then anytime you come across a picture you like "pin it".

Not only is pinterest a great way to find inspiration when it comes to just about anything, but it's also a really cool way to organize you thoughts. As I have wedding planning on my mind- although no set date in sight, I'v been using it to pin different wedding ideas I stumble across, so that when we do finally set the date I'll have a whole bunch of ideas I know I already like at my fingertips.

Feel free to follow my pinterest here.

2
Another space I spend a lot of time hanging out at is Perez Hilton, living in Korea means that english magazines are often not easily available, and I have to shamefully admit that I do enjoy a bit of celeb staking every now and again. Reading Perez keeps me entertained with all the Hollywood drama and up-to-date with any major breaking news.

3
A really cool site I've recently stumbled across is called tinyprints, here you can design anything from photo books to your own personalized stationary. With the holiday season just around the corner making your own calendar or christmas card is a piece of cake, plus they ship all over the world.

These are just a few of my favorites,  if you know any good sites to hang out at please share in the "comment" section below.

Zebra nail art tutorial (Konad)

I was visiting a friend of mine last year and I couldn't help but notice how amazing her nails looked. As we live in a really little town in Korea I was interested to find out where she had her nails done. It was then that she told me that she had done them herself, the results looked so professional that I couldn't believe it. So she let me in on her little secret...Konad. Konad is a company that specializes in nail art products, I managed to find my stuff on a local shopping website Gmarket, but for those not in Korea there are outlets all over the place, check out the listings here to see if there's one near you. 

My nails thank you Megan for opening my eyes to the amazingness that is Konad, my bank balance however, does not.

You will need:

• Any regular base coat
• Colour coat ( use any colour of your choice, I used white in this example)
• Top coat (to prevent chipping and longer lasting results)
• Special nail polish for the stamp, these come in a wide variety of colors and are available here.
• An Image plate, (I used M57) but again there are a wide variety to chose from here
• The stamp itself
• A scraper to remove the excess paint from the image plate (this can be substituted with an old debit card or something smilar)
• O.P.I  or other rapid dry spray of your choice ( this can be substituted with time and patience)
• A corrector pen (this can be substituded with an ear bud and some nail varnish remover)
• A sponge to clean your stamp with before reapplying

Top left: Apply a clear base coat

Top right: Paint two coats of your colour layer

Bottom left: Apply a clear top coat

Bottom right: Spray a rapid drying agent or wait for your nails to dry. It is very important that your nails  are completely dry before moving on to the next step.

Top left: Once your nails are completely dry and look something along the lines of what you can see in

the picture, move onto the next step.

Top middle: Apply the special nail polish to the image plate.

Top right: Using a scraper, or an old debit card you no longer use, scrape the excess paint off of the

image plate.

Bottom left: Using your stamp roll the stamp over the image plate pressing down firmly.

Bottom right: If your satisfied with the way the polish transferred onto the stamp, position the stamp to 

ensure it will cover your whole nail, and then roll the stamp across your finger nail.

Left:Once you have repeated the above step for all of your fingers your nails should look similar to the image on the left. As you can see there is a lot of excess stamp around the finger nail. Using a corrector pen or earbud and nail varnish remover carefully rub the excess away.

Right: And thats it your done :)

More thanks goes to Chris for helping me take these pics:) and Inferlogic for the cool zebra background used in my picture frames.