Stamping Mat Head To Head: Which Mat Is The Right Mat For You?

Updated 2/24/2016

Hey stamperistas,

I put together this little post because these days we are literally being SLAMMED with options for nail art stamping mats.  It's actually a little overwhelming and crazy nevertheless the upside of all the variety is that competition welcomes variety and improvement.  The downside is that it leaves us as the consumer wondering which is the best choice when it comes to our precious dollars and cents. Luckily you have a little ace in your hole - I am of course referring to me ;)  So today I'm going to show you what's out there on the market thus far, and give you a brand by brand comparison.  This won't be incredibly long, but will likely be quite useful especially the chart below.  Now let's go and for heaven's sake leave me some comment love ;)

UberChic Beauty Uber Mat 

The original creator and first of its kind stamping mat unveiled to the market! Offered nail guides for decal making as well as a large surface for color combo testing.

Messy Mansion Decal Work Mat

Second to the market in the stamping mat offerings creating a mat that offers stampers multiple nails on which to create decals.  In short can be thought of as a decal mat in its entirety.  First time offering stampers both a white and black surface to stamp and test color combos on.

DRK Nails Stamping Mat 

The first company to offer us several color combos of stamping mats i.e. opaque, black, pink, turquoise, etc along with specific rainbow colored "splashes" on which to test color combos.

Marianne Nails Training Set 

To those in the know these are already on offer for purchase but also are newly released stamping mats.  These offer us black and white versions of the nail guides along with areas in which to test color combos, and for the first time we see concise directions on how to create decals using the mat. Kush! Plus for ladies living in the EU this is the first supplier of any kind of stamping mat.

MyOnline Shop Stamping Mat

Another new comer to the stamping mat market - think released just yesterday   This one also functions like a decal mat with several sized and variations in nail shape, kinda cool, as well as black colored nail guides again of varying nail shapes.

Bundle Monster Lotus Mat

And yet another new contender on the market i.e. also released yesterday.  We continue to see the nail guides, multiple nail shapes, and a small accented black area for color testing e.g the lotus, but this time we see a very useful addition of a ruler as well!

Winstonia Store Mat Like Me Nail Art Station Table Mat

Whew the name is long! This one also released yesterday and also contains a rather large ruler throughout the bottom edge of the mat.  This one does not however offer the black accented area for color combo testing. It does however offer some various nail shapes as others have.

Oshine Ur Nails Silicone Mat (AliExpress)

This one is by far has the least features out of any of the stamping mats here.  It kind of begs the question as to whether guides are even necessary as it's just a plain opaque silicone mat lol.  No color accents for which to test color combos or other additions.  If you are really considering this option I'm going to offer you another option from AliExpress which has a lower price point and also comes with free shipping globally and retails for $2.90 USD - click here.  Want it with a lovely flower print across multiple colors? Click here. One more option which is also a plain opaque white mat from Hypnotic Polish which is more expensive than any of these options including the Oshine Ur Nails Mat is here. 

Chez Delaney Travel Mat

The most recent edition seen in the stamping mat arena, save one other that is a brand new to me and so requires a review before I post about it.  However this one is pretty plain.  It does offer the nail decal guides in a variety of nail shapes and well as just straight up decal areas.  No black accents or color accents.  However once again we have another mat available in the EU.  

Nail Matinee Stamping Pad

Boy these makers have been busy lately! You may recall I reviewed this brand of stamping plates last summer.   This Mat came out a few months ago.  It's the standard 30 x 40 cm size and offers black and white accents. This one only offers one nail shape but does offer it in white and black variations. This mat is also one of the more affordable ones especially if you reside in India or will be traveling there.  This one is also a working mani by mani mat given the limited number of nail areas for art rather than the decal mat type.

Bliss Kiss Simply Neat Miracle Mat

Well good golly Miss Molly!  This is complex.  Not from a traditional platemaker, but instead coming from one of the indie powerhouses in nail care - Bliss Kiss.  I actually won one of these mats in a contest Ana ran so mine is a signed copy!  This stamping mat features a raised edge that contains spills up to 1/4th a cup.  Obviously it has the white and black accent stamping areas as well.  No nail shapes here instead we have these grids which appear to be organized by the rule of thirds for each finger  with a few extra thrown in and then ones for our pinkie and opposable digit.  I'm not sure how I feel about the grids for now, but I'll have to take the mat out for a spin to say for sure.  They also feature tiny little "cups" holders called Create and Contain circles.  I think these were made to hold rhinestones and other little nail accents while doing work, but I've seen tons of viral use of these things as tiny little watermarble cups.  I'm not sure how much fluid they hold but that would be perfect for travel.  The retail on this one is $20 making it the most expensive mat on the market, but considering all the features that's probably why.  This mat is more of a working mat mani by mani since you won't be able to make too many extra decals here.

Moyra Nail Designer Pad

I'll sum up this mat in one word - smart.  You may remember my review of this new Hungarian based stamping company here. They have recently also released a stamping mat a few weeks ago.  It got the theme we are seeing loads of recently - black and white accents, various nail shapes, white and black nails, and a ruler which I just love.  This mat also happens to be in the more affordable range of stamping mats out there.  You just have to be able to purchase from the company.  Details for that are in the bottom of the review post which I linked above.  

MoYou London Your Magic Workshop

People have been waiting with baited breath on it and anticipating MYL's take on this whole stamping mat craze.  I'm including myself in this category because if its one thing MYL does well its stamping accessories and stamping plates, and well everything.  Lol.  Even if you don't like every collection they've released which I will admit I don't I'm still a hardcore fan!  Let's state the obvious this mat has aesthetic.  Someone took the time to decorate it and did it beautifully using features from the Artist's Collection.  It has the black and white accents in various sizes across various shapes.  I'd say it falls easily into the decal mat category.  It also offers larger sections for color testing etc.  The only thing it lacks is a ruler.  I don't know the price and I don't know the size.  This mat is set to release on February 27th 2016 so I'm a few days ahead of the release.  I'll update it later.  Oh btw....

It features a rather beautiful holder that comes with as well.  See? They even take care of the small detailing that makes plates special.  I remember when MYL was the first company to put sleeves over their plates.  Always adding that extra special touch!

Stamping Mat Comparison Chart

Ok so yeah lots of options out there! Feeling overwhelmed yet?  How oh how will you make a choice?  Should you start with size? Color? Price point? Don't know what they are? No worries cause I created a handy dandy chart to ease the burden of your purchasing!  FYI from this point forward this chart will reside in its own tab on the blog as its kind of a hassle to keep running back to update only this post.

Lacquer Lockdown Stamping Mat Comparison Chart
Brand	Dimensions (length x width)	Colorway	Price (USD)	Shipping	Availability
Uberchic Beauty*	30.48 x 40.64 cm	opaque white	$14.99	$5.00 (flat rate)	http://goo.gl/WwCOqM   or http://goo.gl/7LpI7T
Messy Mansion	30.00 x 40.00 cm	opaque white/black	$9.00	Varies-free	http://goo.gl/cM4nZf
DRK Nails	30.48  x 40.64 cm	multi	$9.70	Varies-free	http://goo.gl/Dz9Ecz
Marianne Nails	30 x 40 cm	opaque white/black accents	$11.78 (10.99 euros)	Varies	http://goo.gl/KuSLqb
MyOnline Shop	30.48 x 40.64 cm	opaque white/black accents	$10.00	Varies	http://goo.gl/hX64XH
Bundle Monster	29.85 x 39.88 cm	opaque white/black accents	$13.99	Varies-free	http://goo.gl/xESOg4
Winstonia Store	30.48  x 40.64 cm	opaque white	$13.95	Varies-free	http://goo.gl/oFg2kd
Ohsine Ur Nails(AliExpress)	30 x 40 cm	opaque white plain	$12.34	Free	http://goo.gl/60XfJk
Chez Delaney	30 x 40 cm	white plain	$12.96 (11.90 euro)	Varies – free	http://goo.gl/JgfhBV
Moyra Designer Pad	30 x 40 cm	opaque white/black accents	$8.84 (2490 FT)	Varies	http://goo.gl/mH1iOm
Bliss Kiss Simply Neat Miracle Mat	30.48 x 40.64	opaque white/black accents/beveled edge/raised cups/grids	$19.99	Varies-free	http://goo.gl/x3CfYz   OR http://goo.gl/mW4AB2 (Amazon)
MoYou London Magic Workshop	TBA	opaque white/black accents/decorative detailing	TBA	Varies	http://www.moyou.co.uk/
Nail Matinee Stamping Pad	30 x 40 cm	opaque white/black accents	$8.74) 599 INR	Varies	https://goo.gl/rNKAfI (send a PM)
*Landmark brand i.e. original creator.

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta ;)  Lol for the record I don't own any of these.  I have my own homemade version of these that I have been using for years. You can see it in some of my earlier videos on Youtube.  That's not to say I won't be getting any or these or doing an even more extensive comparison, but as I looked around yesterday I was like geez there's a lot out there what's the difference?  Hence the birth of this post.  Do you have any favorites? Do you own any of these already? Let me know!

Final Thoughts

To be frank the cheapest option, if you don't need the guides, is just your basic silicone baking mat which I linked above.  However out of all the options laid out for us above the Messy Mansion mat, if you qualify for free shipping, followed by the DRK Nails version are your best bets with regard to price point.  Since they are all essentially the same size it's then just a matter of preference versus expenditure.  I don't really have a true sense of which is the best it's more about what you prefer to spend or which brand your favor and why.  In any case I hope this was helpful for some of you drowning in the sea of plenty!  Please leave your thoughts below, and also let me know if you'd like to see similar posts for other stamping products on the market!  Happy hunting and I'll see you next post...

Updated 1/2016