Acrylic Branding Tutorial

Here is a short tutorial on how to do Acrylic Impressions/Branding. You can brand with lots of things: Paperclips, C-Curve sticks, rubber stamps, the list is endless!
You can sculpt or use tips. Since I was doing this on myself, I used tips. Prep the nails, apply tips, cut and shape them. Prime for product application. Overlay the nails with product of choice. For this demonstration, I used clear acrylic.

When the product is just about set, it will start to go from wet looking to frosted, this is when you want to brand. Take your branding tool of choice and dip it in powder so that it will not stick. Press the brander into the acrylic, making sure to get a good, deep image on the entire surface. For this demo, I used a scrapbooking paperclip.

This is what it will look like when finished. It's not a pretty sight, but will be in the end!

Fill the branded area with colored acrylic or glitter acrylic of choice. Don't be afraid to get it all over, you will file the excess off. You client will look scare, but be amazed at the finished product.

File and shape the nails like you normally would. You will then dust off the nails and apply YN Finish Gel Topcoat and cure in a 9 watt lamp for 90 seconds.

This is your end product!

Here is an example of using the C-Curve sticks to brand. Nail bed was clear, tip was black. Branding was completed with the C-Curve sticks. Black and white acrylic were applied to the branded area.

Here is an example using mesh. Black acrylic was applied to the entire nail, then mesh was used for branding. Lime green glitter acrylic was applied to the branded area. This method is great for reptile skin looks!