Stampers and Decal mat

This started out as a stamper comparison-post, which it still is, but I realized something else while working with my Messy Mansion mat.
So, is my go-to stamper the best for me of do I have a better one in store?

These are my stampers:

 

Row behind we have a random square stamper (this MAY be from MoYou London, I’m not sure), pink squishy one from Pueen, legit Clear Jelly Stamper-head in Dashica’s holder, a regular marshmallow from Cesars Shop. In front there are medium firm (blue set) and medium soft (brown set) from Messy Mansion and last, but not least, legit Creative Shop Jumbo marshmallow stamper.

My scraper is from Creative Shop too, and for this test I used Mundo de Uñas stamping polishes Black, White and Red and MoYou London Pro Collection XL – 15. I also clean my stampers always with a tape roller, never with acetone. My technique is that I press the stamper firmly on the plate, and straight on to my nail. No rolling, except with the CJS.

 

1. First we have the Creative Shop (CS) stamper. My Black stamping polish was running out, so that’s why I decided to take the Red along.
   CS easily widens the stamp, being too soft and squishy to my use, but it still leaves a decent stamp.
   It’s a bit too big and clumsy to be the number one for me, but I need to try the image shrinking -technique with this one, when I have the time!

2. With the first Messy Mansion medium soft stamper I don’t know what I did wrong. It seems soft but still firm enough for me, but I couldn’t get a sharp stamping result with it. Too sticky maybe, and needs another technique than mine.

 

3. Third one was the Clear Jelly Stamper (CJS). I’ve been fighting with this #%@$&! thing from hell since I bought it. It didn’t work for me at all. When I was doing this tryout, I had a moment of enlightenment with the technique (rolling, as I mentioned above) and these turned out quite well I think!
I still don’t fancy this stamper, it’s too firm to be used with big images, and it smudges out the smaller ones, maybe MdU polished don’t dry fast enough, but it’s still a big no for me.

 

4. Messy Mansion’s first medium firm is the dark blue one. This one was also okay, but not too good for me. It worked out well with the mat, but is too firm to me to use on my nails. Maybe some smaller images, but not the “whole nail” ones.Not too picky, but also not too sharp with details either.

 

5. The marshmallow stamper from Cesars is my go-to stamper at the moment. Even couple little dent in the surface don’t make a difference on its results. I like how it picks up every little detail on the image, maybe even too well if you’re not careful enough with the scraping (as you can see on the picture.) This was my fist decent stamper, and has had it’s share of acetone, so maybe that makes it so soft.
Affordable, holder makes handling very easy and you can get this stamper from all around the world. Me likey!

 

6. Messy Mansion’s other medium soft, dark brown one, if very similar to the Cesars one. Sticky but still firm enough, picks up the image very easy, and one more plus is that all the stamping colors are visible on this, even black. Definitely worth buying! And also MM’s stampers are affordable!

 

7. Next one is Pueens pink marshmallow stamper. It’s also quite similar to Cesars’ one, but smaller. And I think it’s a bit firmer too, at least it doesn’t work as well for me, as I hope you can see from the pictures. And if I want to stamp big images, this is too small for my nails on their normal length.

8. Then we have another Messy Mansion medium firm, the light blue. This actually worked better for me than the dark one, but is also a bit too firm on my nails. Maybe with some smaller images, or with simpler design, but nothing too detailed. Maybe with decals?

 

9. The square one is not for me, not at all. Even if the red stamp looks good, it was only the third one that I approved on this test. Something in this makes me not like it, I don’t know if it’s the shape of the texture, it’s also on the firm side, and I can’t space this right on my nail, while I’m used to the round ones. If your nails are flat and it’s easier for you to perceive the square shape, this one’s for you!

Then the thing I realized. I was meant to use all stampers with white polish, and I was horrified how no stamper can pick up and stamp with white polish! Until I got to the Cesars one, I’ve used it like a million times with white polish, and even this one didn’t work out too well. Let me show you.

 

1. Creative Shop
2. MM medium soft Yellow
3. Clear Jelly Stamper
4. MM medium firm Dark blue
5. Cesars Shop marshmallow
6. MM medium soft Brown
7. Pueen wannabe marshmallow
8. MM medium firm Light blue
9. Square

Soon after I did my test, there were a discussion on Facebook with other nail enthusiast and bloggers, that which decal mat is the best, and soon we realised that not all stampers, nor all polishes work with all mats. Well sh*t. You just have to find your own combination that works out the best.

But the result with my go-to stamper is that maybe the white marshmallow isn’t the best, and I need to use my stampers on wider range more often. I think I’m going to sell CJS, square and Pueen one, they just don’t do it for me.
After this I have been using the brown MM stamper as my number one, and I bought a new clear stamper from Cosette, which is a bit softer than CJS and works better for me, at least what I have tried it.

I don’t know if you have any use for this post, but it sure did the thing for me! And I broke my nails AGAIN (could this winter be over soon, like, really soon?) so I needed something to post about 😀

If you were left with any questions, just leave a comment!

Links are attached just to help you find some great stuff, I have bought all the products with my own money and my opinion is honest. C’mon, I have no sponsors yet!