Tuesday Stamping #1

Hi lovelies,

I have had these stamping posts in the pipeline for ages now and I am absolutely thrilled to finally start.  There will be plenty of them and I hope tons of input from you as well.

This idea started when Thea from Madness Nails and I were having a conversation about stamping and polishes.  She mentioned that she was going to start doing stamping swatches of all her polishes so that she could better keep track of which stamped really well and which didn’t.  I thought this was a brilliant idea and said I would be doing the same.  Then I thought, why not share it with all of you as well.  I know Thea will also be doing some of her own stamping swatches but I suspect she will be doing it a little differently.  Either way it is going to be super interesting.  We have a few polishes in common but quite a few more that we don’t have in common so make sure you keep an eye on Madness Nails to see her stamping swatches when she starts.  So first things first, a huge thanks to Thea for the brilliant idea!

Basically, this is how I am going to do it.  I am going to be stamping over black and white. White will be the lightest colour you ever wear and black the darkest.  What better way to see how a polish works over dark and light colours.  Now, obviously, not many will actually want to stamp OVER black but it will be a good way to find out if a polish will show up over dark colours.  If it shows up on black you can be pretty certain it will show up over everything.  That does mean that if it is noticeable but not very, it will probably work much better over say a purple or a blue.  I will try to address this with each polish I show you as well.

I will also be using the same plate for all the stamping to make sure there will be continuity.  I chose a stamp that had some images with thin lines, with bigger spaces, with some detail etc.  That way you can see if a polish will stamp crisp lines when they are thin or if it will smudge when the image has bigger spaces.  I decided to go with Pueen11. I will be using the 4 full nail images on this plate.

I will show you 4 of my ordinary polishes with every post.  If you want to see more or less per post please let me know.  I will use 4 random polishes each time until I have worked through all the polishes I have (excluding glitters of course) and I will show you everything, whether it stamped well or not.  I will also be showing you my first attempts at all of them.  Sometimes it happens that you move the stamper a little bit when you stamp onto the nail.  Or you waited just a second too long and the whole image doesn’t transfer.  Or you press too hard and get the shadow stamping.  Usually if this happens I would remove it and stamp again.  It also happens that a polish looks so promising and after you’ve stamped you think, ah this could look better if I tried it once or twice more.  I will not be doing any of that.  What I stamp first try is what you get.  I just feel that you can get a better result if you keep trying but the mark of a good stamping polish is how well it works straight off the bat.

Ok and lastly, I mentioned in a previous post.  If quite like the idea of doing one stamping idea with each of these posts.  Something chosen by you.  I have posted most of my stamping plates and they are all in albums on Facebook so if you want to go through them and let me know what, how, what order, what colour.  You can either tell me what colour/s you want it in or go through my stash list and pick the polish by name.  You can leave a comment or email (info (at) ordinary misfit (dot) com) or use the ‘contact me’ tab on the top.  Every week I will pick one out of a hat and all the rest will stay in there.  Good idea?  If you think so, I would love to hear from you.  I will add the links of all the albums below (for those who aren’t on FB or hasn’t like the page. The links will work)

• Essence Stamping Plates
• BornPrettyStore Stamping Plates
• Pueen Stamping Plates
• BundleMonster Stamping Plates
• My polish collection. 

Really, this is the last one :P.  If you have ANY questions please do not hesitate to ask.  I will answer each and every one in the following weeks post.  If it is urgent I will reply in the comments and repeat it in the next weeks post anyway.  If you want to see any of these polishes stamped over another colour or a specific polish, let me know and I will do that as well.  See  why I said I hope to get lots of input from you as well?  Ok let’s get the show on the road shall we?

Sinful Colors – Fig

I am going to start with the white.  On my ring finger you can see here was a little bit of shadowing.  It was completely my fault.  The thinner lines are quite clear and crisp.  On my middle finger the lines are still quite clear but you can see there are a few spot where the polish didn’t take.  I am inclined to think that it is still a good enough image.  On the black, you can see that Fig is much more subtle.  There isn’t a huge contrast between the black and Fig BUT Fig looks almost metallic against the black.  The two images on the black also stamped quite crisp and clear except for a very few bald spots on the pinky. In fact I think there is just one spot.  I actually really like the way it looks over the black and I can already imagine it stamped over a matte purple.

My findings:  This might not be the perfect stamping polish but it works quite well and I will definitely put this on my “Suitable for stamping” list.

Catrice – I’m not a Greenager

Starting with white again.  On my ring finger the thing lines don’t look too bad.  They came out quite clear.  On my middle finger however it looks a bit smudged and patchy.  Even over the black it seemed a little patchy and it also didn’t show up very well.  I was a little disappointed because it had all the markings of being a really good stamping polish.  That being said, the thin lines did come out quite well.

My findings:  So far this does not seem to be a great stamping polish.  I might be inclined to give it another try if I HAD to have a green and didn’t have another green that stamps well.

Tip Top – Cha Cha Cha

Starting with the white again, Cha Cha Cha looks very light on the white.  That being said, it is still visible.  Once again, the thin lines on my ring finger came out nice and crisp.  Middle finger came out a little patchy but nowhere near as bad as I’m Not a Greenager.  What was a bit of a surprise was how it showed up over the black.  On my pinky you can see the bigger pieces look a bit smudged within the pieces but the black lines are quite clear.  On my index the images came out pretty clear all things considers.  The stamping on the black does not seem show the colour as very blue but considering it is a light colour to begin with I think it works ok.  I wonder how it will look on a darker blue.

My finding: This is an OK stamping polish.  It seems to be more effective over the dark colour.  This isn’t a great stamping polish but it can be made to work.

Essence – Free Hugs

This one was a surprise for me.  Starting on my ring finger, the thing lines are nice and crisp and the bigger pieces are quite well shaped.  In the middle of my ring finger you will see a small piece of the triangle has a white spot on it.  I actually had a piece of something (grass, fluff, who knows) stuck to on my nail that I didn’t notice, hence the gap.  On my middle finger it isn’t perfect but it looks pretty decent.  On the black the pink stands out quite well.  The lines on my pinky are crisp and the finer detail on my index finger also shows up quite well.  Free Hugs really surprised me.  I wasn’t expecting much at all to be honest.

My findings: I was really impressed with Free Hugs and even though it might not be a perfect stamping polish it does stamp really really well.

So these are the four polishes for today.  What do you think of them?  Do you want to see any of them stamped over a specific colour? Do you have an idea for a stamped design you would like me to do?  Do you have any suggestions for changes or additions you would prefer on these posts?  Are you interested in more of these posts? 😉  Ok no more questions.

As a side note:  I am thinking of organising a little polish play date with a Q&A and some quick how-to’s.  Basically we can all get together and play with my polishes or stamping plates.  If you have any questions you can ask  away and of course, I can show you some simple, quick and easy nail art ideas.  As subtle or as bright as you want.  Obviously this will only be for Durban or surrounding folks (unless you are prepared to travel – which would be awesome!).  If this is something you will be interested in please pop me an email to info (at) ordinary misfit (dot) com or use the ‘contact me’ tab at the top.  It would just be much easier to keep track of everyone and send updated information through to anyone.  I have already asked on twitter, instagram and Facebook.

Thanks for reading!