Nail Art Stamping For Beginners: How To Successfully Start Nail Art Stamping!

Updated 1/2015

Welcome to the classroom stamparistas,

This is the start of my Beginner's Series on Nail Art Stamping.  It's actually been a long time coming. In fact this is draft 2, the first was deleted by blogger sigh, but I've been slowly and carefully crafting what will be a 3 part series to help those that are just beginning to stamp or for those who what a good start point before making purchases. This series will act as a guide to those new to stamping and a resource for pros or vested stampers to point out in aiding others.  I figure as I've been at this stamping thing for about 8 years now I've accumulated lots of tips and tricks that will hopefully help you become successful at the craft of stamping, and assist in getting over that hump of frustration that one can experience when starting out.  Part 1 is all about where to begin when you first start stamping.  Don't forget I also have up a Stamping 101 page with some resources that you can check out as well. Now let's get started.....

1. What should I buy first?

Not A Damn Thing! Yup I said it.  Ladies love to shop, myself included, but seldom take the time to do the proper research to ensure that your money is going to be well spent.  And darlings if you are going to spend your hard earned cash it's probably best to invest in things that you will love or that will be at least have some resale value should you tire of your hobby.  That's right it pays to think ahead! So buy nothing and do your research first.


2.  Measure your nails!

Huh? Yeah ladies.  I don't particularly take the time to do this myself anymore but that's because I have a firm grasp with just how long and wide my nail beds are, and I know which plates will and won't work well for that size.  I also happen to know how to get around plates with images that are too small, but let's save that for another post.  For now measure your nail beds because just like all nail polishes are not created equal the same is true of stamping plates.  Some feature larger images and some smaller.  It's entirely up to you to determine which plates will work for you and the only way you will be able to determine that is by measuring the width and length of your nails.  Once that is done then you can find the plates that will work best for your size.  Need help with that?  Peep the multitudinous chart with all the sizing information across multiple brands below.

Lacquer Lockdown Full Nail Image Size Comparison Chart
Brand	Length (cm)	Width (cm)	Length (inch)	Width (inch)
Apipila G Series	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Apipila P Series	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Betina	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Bundle Monster CYO	2.0	1.7	0.78	0.66
Bunny Nails HD Series*	2.5	2.0	0.98	0.78
Cheeky Jumbo Set 2013	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Chocolate Vanity Poupee	2.0	1.6	0.78	0.62
Cici & Sisi Jumbo Sets 1 & 2	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Dashica Beauty Infinity*	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
DRK Nails Designer Series	3.0	2.0	1.17	0.78
DRK Nails XL A-D	2.2	1.9	0.86	0.74
Emily de Molly 1-5	1.8	1.5	0.70	0.59
Emily de Molly 6-8	1.9	1.6	0.74	0.62
Fab Ur Nails Fun 1-2	3.0	2.0	1.17	0.78
Fab Ur Nails Fun 3-12	2.2	1.7	0.86	0.66
Fashion Disaster	2.0	2.0	0.78	0.78
Handy Nails	1.5	1.2	0.59	0.47
Konad (old)	1.5	1.2	0.59	0.47
Konad (new)	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
LeaLaC A & B	3.0	2.3	1.17	0.90
Lilic
Lily Anna	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Loja BBF*	2.0	1.6	0.78	0.62
Magno Nails XL
Mash 2013	1.5	1.3	0.59	0.51
Marianne Nails	2.0	1.6	0.78	0.62
Messy Mansion*	2.3	1.8	0.90	0.70
MoYou London non-XL Series	1.5	1.3	0.59	0.51
MoYou London XL Series	2.2	1.6	0.86	0.62
MoYou/OMG Nails
MyOnline Shop Jr Series*
MyOnline Shop MJ Series	2.2	1.7	0.86	0.66
Nailz Craze
Nailways	2.0	1.4	0.78	0.55
Petla Plate*	2.4	2.0	0.94	0.78
Pueen Love Elements and Sumptuous Gallery	1.8	1.4	0.70	0.55
Rica
Red Angel
Stampaholics	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Sugar Bubbles
Topatopa	2.0	1.5	0.78	0.59
Winstonia Gen 1, 2, and single plates	1.6	1.3	0.63	0.51
Vivid Lacquer*	2.0	2.0	0.78	0.78
*Full nail image size varies to larger measurements on some plates. The smallest size is listed here.

Blank slots will be filled in when I can get back to my plates, but for now this is a pretty solid list.  I will move this chart to its own tab after this post for ease of access.

3.   Go back and narrow the focus of your research.

Yeah I know wasn't that Step 1? However initial research was to provide you with info on the many brands of nail art stamping plates out there.  Also so that you can get a feel for word of mouth, performance, cost, and accessibility of some of these brands.  However this is what I call the "second look".  Now you know the plates that should work well for your nail size so you can narrow down on a few key brands.  Stalk their pages, read up on reviews (ahem welcome to Lacquer Lockdown home of nail art stamping plate reviews galore), look for art using the plates, and see if they are worth your investment.

4.  Are their any start up kits or beginner's kits that I could purchase reliably?

Did you really do that research? Lol kidding, but seriously the answer is not at the moment. Right now there isn't a single company that offers excellent, plates, stampers, and stamping polish across the board in one convenient kit.  Messy Mansion is working on plates aimed at Beginners, but I am not sure sure these will be kits, Mundo de Unas sells both polishes and plates but not in kit form and the size of the Handy nail plates may not work well for everyone as the images tend to be on the smaller size. MoYou London has a kit that in my opinion isn't quite what it should be in terms of the quality of the stamping polish and the pricing. With that kit basically you'd get a good stamper and plates, but I'd stick to the metallic polishes only.   I feel honestly right now your best bet is to buy items individually while attempting to minimize net number of purchases.

5. What stamper would you recommend?

What a loaded question! I have a post up about marshmallow stampers, which I personally feel are the penultimate stampers to own.  You can read about them here.  Right now you can purchase marshmallow stampers either from Messy Mansion (I recommend the yellow or pink set) or from Magno Nails and Dashica Beauty, looking for the Magno Nails stamper.  I own and love both of these.  However I also own a hell of a lot more that are no longer in production.  I will say I think every stamper should own a squishy firm stamper and a marshmallow stamper both in XL size.  The firmer stamper if for those times when you don't want your image to warp or conform to your nails which can happen more often with the marshmallow variety (read the post linked earlier for more detail about that if you don't know what I mean by warp).  Also a new option I've come across would be the set of stampers I reviewed from AliExpress.  These are a good price and you'd get 5 stampers not including the squishy firm that comes in the holder!  You can read about those here.

6.  Should I buy special polish for stamping?

Yes.  Let me put it like this.  You need a lot of things to line up in order to successfully stamp an image - a plate that is well etched, a stamper with excellent pickup, the correct angle to scrape the plate, the correct speed to transfer the image to your nails, a polish that reliably picks up images from the plate, etc, etc, etc.  I could go on but I won't.  The point is to minimize your struggles from the outset and purchase a polish designed for the task you are trying to accomplish.  When you have speed and precision down you can move onto non-stamping polishes some with more ease than others.

7.  What kind of scraper should I purchase?

Oy! I find this question a bit silly, but I get asked it all the time.  I know there are ladies that swear by metal stampers, others that use betty crocker ladles, dough handles, plastic gift cards you name it.  I think it's all rather ridiculous and I'll be honest your money could probably be better spent purchasing other necessary items.  Personally the only reason I don't still use the metal Konad scraper I got so many years ago is because it scrapes up my plates.  It doesn't damage them functionally, but aesthetically I find all the little superficial scratches displeasing.  So I use a plastic Starbucks gift card.  It works perfectly every time.  It cost me zero dollars.  I'll let you decide.

8.  What other items would I need for startup other than the stamper, plates, polish, and scraper?

Items that I like to have when I sit down to create any stamping nail art is the following:

• Lint roller for cleaning up
• Plastic mat for placing under my stamping area
• Paper towels 
• Acetone pump for clean up
• Cotton balls
• Clean up brush (I like the e.l.f concealer brush for this purpose)
• Cuticle oil (perfecting the look when complete)
• Fast drying topcoat

9.  The best tip I can offer to a new stamper?

Give yourself a break and be patient.  If you look back at the start of my blog you can see my nail art is nothing like it is today.  I have improved a lot and that came about through practice and patience and more practice.  Don't expect to create super complicated masterpieces right off the bat.  Instead work on building up your speed and precision and then add various techniques to your arsenal.  Success is built like this - at least it was for me.

10. Final recommendations?

Ok yeah all this talk it great, but I know at the end of the day you want to hear from my mouth which are the brands I would point newbies toward when they are just starting their purchases so here you go.  You can click the individual links to purchase and as an fyi international shops may require a little more effort you can read more details about this on my Stamping Supplies page.

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Best sets: 

Cici&Sisi Jumbo Sets 1 & 2 (I would not recommend 3 or 4) 

Pueen Stamping Buffet, Love Elements, or Sumptuous Gallery

Bundle Monster 2012 Set

Best Individual Plates: 

MoYou London Pro Collection

Winstonia Store Square Plates (especially the original 4)

Messy Mansion MM Series

Marianne Nails

Loja BBF

MyOnline Shop Jr Plates

Vivid Lacquer

Best XL/Large Plates: 

Fab Ur Nails

MyOnline Shop

Apipila 

Best Stampers: 

Magno Nails (marshmallow)

Messy Mansion Med and Soft replacement heads (marshmallow)

FabUr Nails XL Double Ended gray stamper (squishy firm)
AliExpress Jelly Soft Stampers

Best Scraper:

Starbucks Gift Card

Best Stamping Polish:

Mundo de Unas

Handy Stamping Nail Polish

Konad

Best Tool:

Patience

Alright stamp champs I hope you found this little morsel in the snack pack of the Beginner's Series helpful. Let me know what you think in the comments below and I'll see you next post....