Stamper Test and Review
Happy Sunday everyone, hope you have all had a good weekend.
I have a post today testing and reviewing some different stampers that I have. Most of us use stamping in our nail art these days but is one stamper better than another?
If you don't already stamp I definitely recommend you give it a go as it's brilliant for adding something extra to your manicure but it does take a bit of practice to get the hang of it!
I have tested 5 stampers and I purchased all of them from Rainbow Connection. Not only does Annette stock a wide range of polishes she also has stamping supplies and other nail care items so I definitely suggest you have a look on the website and maybe get some Christmas Pressie Ideas!
Check out RC here - http://rainbow-connection.co.uk/
So here are the stampers I tested and my thoughts -
1st up is the New Messy Mansion Jumbo stamper. This comes as a set with 2 super soft heads in translucent and black a stainless steel holder and a credit card style scraper and it came all in a beautiful bag. My 1st impressions of this were very good, the stamper heads are really soft and squishy but not sticky, the scraper is sturdy but still flexible.
So for this one I lightly scraped away the polish with the scraper and then used a gentle rolling action to pick up the image. This was my 1st ever attempt with this stamper and has you can see it's perfect with no priming required. The image transferred beautifully too.
This stamper definitely gets a thumbs up from me.
Next up is the original Jumbo stamper the Creative Stamper. This comes with a soft head but I would say its not as squishy as the MM, it also has a holder and flexible credit card scraper. I have had this stamper for a while now and I got it when I was still getting to grips with stamping. I remember I did need to prime this one as it didn't pick up at 1st.( I will talk about priming towards the end of this post)
I don't use this stamper so often these days as I know have so many so it was nice to give it a go again. I very lightly scraped away the excess polish holding the scraper at a 45 degree angle and the very gently rolled the stamper over the image to pick it up. I do find with this stamper that it really does need to be a very light roll or it doesn't pick up well at all but as you can see I got a perfect pick up 1st time. Again this transferred fine by pushing the nail pop into the image.
Next is a smaller stamp and this very pretty one from Fab ur Nails. This comes with a soft, squishy non sticky head and gold holder and is available in a variety of colours (I chose pink) and also a firm scraper. This is another one I have had for a while and use quite a lot especially on my clients as it always works perfectly for me. I would say this one isn't good for long nails if you are wanting to do a full nail image as it is smaller.
When I first got this it worked perfectly from the 1st go and no priming was required. I scraped away the excess polish with the scraper and I find with the firmer scrapers you need to be a bit firmer and then unlike the others I push the stamper straight down on the image and I do this quite firmly and as you can see I get a good pick up and again a good transfer. This is probably one of my favourite stampers as I have never had a problem with it.
Another new stamper, this is the new Fab ur Nails Jumbo Stamper and is available in pink or mint (I brought mint) it comes with and super squishy and sticky head and holder and a scraper but sadly my scraper was missing. This is the only sticky stamper I have from RC and it is very sticky!
I scraped away the polish using one of the other scrapers and then used a gentle rolling motion the pick up the image, I find with sticky stampers the gentler the better and see how well it picked up. This was my 1st ever attempt with this particular stamper and it was perfect, it also transferred brilliantly - I pushed the nail pop into the stamper.
Last but not least is this Medium soft stamper head duo by Messy Mansion, I this set you get 2 soft heads in a tin. I then brought a cheap stamper from Ebay which was the perfect size for them. Again these are a bit smaller but still good stamper heads. I have had these for a while and they are often my go to stamper for my manicures - it is just big enough for my nails.
This was another one that required no priming as it worked perfectly when I 1st got it. After scraping away the excess polish I gently pushed the stamper down on the image to pick it up, however I have also used this stamper by rolling it and it also worked great, i just find you need to be gentle with it and it picks up no problem and transfers really well too.
So there are my thoughts on the stampers, I hope you have found it useful - please leave me a comment below. Here are all my swatches and it's pretty hard to tell any difference in them - also these aren't in order so I cant tell you which is which!
My overall comments are you really cant go wrong with any of these stampers so it comes down to your preferences - size, squishiness, stickiness etc but personally I think they all produce great results.
We are pretty spoilt for choice with RC
For the purpose of these swatches I used a Messy Mansion plate - MM75 (its wine themed!) and Esmeltas de Kelly stamping polish in Zilda - both of these were also purchased from RC and my swatch sticks were polished in CBL memories of you also RC!
I'm really sharing the RC love today aren't I!! I did purchase them all myself.
Now a few quick stamping hints -
Never use and acetone/remover on your stampers, I clean mine with a lint roller, I clean them before use to remove any dust or particles and between nails to remove left over polish - the lint roller does no damage to the stamper.
Only use pure acetone to clean plates and I clean the before, during and after to get the best stamping results.
If you find your stamper isn't picking up you might need to prime it and to do this I give a little rub over with a magic eraser block - never acetone or a nail file/buffer which can do damage. I have also heard giving it a good clean in warm water and washing up liquid and leaving to try in a bag works but I have never tried this as the magic eraser has always worked for me.
Finally my biggest tip for stamping is keep trying and have fun! It might take a while to get the hang of it but once you do there are so many plates and designs and techniques you can try it is brilliant and very addictive!
Hope you have enjoyed this post - please leave me a comment.
Have a good week.
Love and Stamping
Helen aka Cinderhellie xx
I have a post today testing and reviewing some different stampers that I have. Most of us use stamping in our nail art these days but is one stamper better than another?
If you don't already stamp I definitely recommend you give it a go as it's brilliant for adding something extra to your manicure but it does take a bit of practice to get the hang of it!
I have tested 5 stampers and I purchased all of them from Rainbow Connection. Not only does Annette stock a wide range of polishes she also has stamping supplies and other nail care items so I definitely suggest you have a look on the website and maybe get some Christmas Pressie Ideas!
Check out RC here - http://rainbow-connection.co.uk/
So here are the stampers I tested and my thoughts -
1st up is the New Messy Mansion Jumbo stamper. This comes as a set with 2 super soft heads in translucent and black a stainless steel holder and a credit card style scraper and it came all in a beautiful bag. My 1st impressions of this were very good, the stamper heads are really soft and squishy but not sticky, the scraper is sturdy but still flexible.
So for this one I lightly scraped away the polish with the scraper and then used a gentle rolling action to pick up the image. This was my 1st ever attempt with this stamper and has you can see it's perfect with no priming required. The image transferred beautifully too.
This stamper definitely gets a thumbs up from me.
Next up is the original Jumbo stamper the Creative Stamper. This comes with a soft head but I would say its not as squishy as the MM, it also has a holder and flexible credit card scraper. I have had this stamper for a while now and I got it when I was still getting to grips with stamping. I remember I did need to prime this one as it didn't pick up at 1st.( I will talk about priming towards the end of this post)
I don't use this stamper so often these days as I know have so many so it was nice to give it a go again. I very lightly scraped away the excess polish holding the scraper at a 45 degree angle and the very gently rolled the stamper over the image to pick it up. I do find with this stamper that it really does need to be a very light roll or it doesn't pick up well at all but as you can see I got a perfect pick up 1st time. Again this transferred fine by pushing the nail pop into the image.
Next is a smaller stamp and this very pretty one from Fab ur Nails. This comes with a soft, squishy non sticky head and gold holder and is available in a variety of colours (I chose pink) and also a firm scraper. This is another one I have had for a while and use quite a lot especially on my clients as it always works perfectly for me. I would say this one isn't good for long nails if you are wanting to do a full nail image as it is smaller.
When I first got this it worked perfectly from the 1st go and no priming was required. I scraped away the excess polish with the scraper and I find with the firmer scrapers you need to be a bit firmer and then unlike the others I push the stamper straight down on the image and I do this quite firmly and as you can see I get a good pick up and again a good transfer. This is probably one of my favourite stampers as I have never had a problem with it.
Another new stamper, this is the new Fab ur Nails Jumbo Stamper and is available in pink or mint (I brought mint) it comes with and super squishy and sticky head and holder and a scraper but sadly my scraper was missing. This is the only sticky stamper I have from RC and it is very sticky!
I scraped away the polish using one of the other scrapers and then used a gentle rolling motion the pick up the image, I find with sticky stampers the gentler the better and see how well it picked up. This was my 1st ever attempt with this particular stamper and it was perfect, it also transferred brilliantly - I pushed the nail pop into the stamper.
Last but not least is this Medium soft stamper head duo by Messy Mansion, I this set you get 2 soft heads in a tin. I then brought a cheap stamper from Ebay which was the perfect size for them. Again these are a bit smaller but still good stamper heads. I have had these for a while and they are often my go to stamper for my manicures - it is just big enough for my nails.
This was another one that required no priming as it worked perfectly when I 1st got it. After scraping away the excess polish I gently pushed the stamper down on the image to pick it up, however I have also used this stamper by rolling it and it also worked great, i just find you need to be gentle with it and it picks up no problem and transfers really well too.
So there are my thoughts on the stampers, I hope you have found it useful - please leave me a comment below. Here are all my swatches and it's pretty hard to tell any difference in them - also these aren't in order so I cant tell you which is which!
My overall comments are you really cant go wrong with any of these stampers so it comes down to your preferences - size, squishiness, stickiness etc but personally I think they all produce great results.
We are pretty spoilt for choice with RC
For the purpose of these swatches I used a Messy Mansion plate - MM75 (its wine themed!) and Esmeltas de Kelly stamping polish in Zilda - both of these were also purchased from RC and my swatch sticks were polished in CBL memories of you also RC!
I'm really sharing the RC love today aren't I!! I did purchase them all myself.
Now a few quick stamping hints -
Never use and acetone/remover on your stampers, I clean mine with a lint roller, I clean them before use to remove any dust or particles and between nails to remove left over polish - the lint roller does no damage to the stamper.
Only use pure acetone to clean plates and I clean the before, during and after to get the best stamping results.
If you find your stamper isn't picking up you might need to prime it and to do this I give a little rub over with a magic eraser block - never acetone or a nail file/buffer which can do damage. I have also heard giving it a good clean in warm water and washing up liquid and leaving to try in a bag works but I have never tried this as the magic eraser has always worked for me.
Finally my biggest tip for stamping is keep trying and have fun! It might take a while to get the hang of it but once you do there are so many plates and designs and techniques you can try it is brilliant and very addictive!
Hope you have enjoyed this post - please leave me a comment.
Have a good week.
Love and Stamping
Helen aka Cinderhellie xx
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