Emily de Molly Stamping Polish Review

Hey stamperistas,

Press Sample

Welcome to my 2nd review of the new year on the Lacquer Lockdown blog! What?!? I know I feel like I've done so many reviews and comparisons how is it possible? But recently I've been very focused on my filming and photography so I haven't spent as much time sitting down to review items that I've been using.  I've only ever done one prior review on stamping polish and I didn't really like the the layout I used on that one so this time it's going to much more in depth.  I'm choosy when it comes to stamping polish.  Behind the scenes I try a lot; some I'm not happy with and they never make an appearance on my blog and for others you know it's business as usual.  Today I'm going to be reviewing a brand of stamping polish I've never reviewed before - Emily de Molly which is run by the adorable, creative, and kind Hayley!   P.S. If you have any questions or comments or felt I missed something leave them in the comments below! Now let's take a look at these gorgeous polishes shall we?

Emily de Molly

For those of you who don't know this brand let me introduce you.  Where should I start? I ran across this Australian indie brand about 3 or 4 years ago now back when Hayley was still making etched leather accessories and her indie polish on Etsy.   Back then, before the US based warehouse, if you ordered internationally you would receive your polishes by sea mail!  It was totally worth it hunnies and let me tell you she's only continued to improve upon her utterly drool-worthy wares.

Eventually she started releasing stamping plates with some of the most exquisite abstract designs and motifs I've ever seen!  I own quite a few of her plates so I should know.  She's released 22 plates to date and a little birdie has informed me we are in for even more spectacular plates for larger nail sizes coming very soon!  And now she's gotten into stamping polishes.  Btw if you have never checked out her Instagram feed you really ought too! Sometimes I go there just to get inspiration for nail art because not only is her photography stunning, but her creativity is beautiful as well!  I know honestly when makers like this ask me to review for them I'm really stunned.  She's a powerhouse all by herself.  Lol!

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So normally when I swatch for plates I do it on paper when I swatch for stampers I do it on the stampers themselves.  Since this is the first time I'm reviewing stamping polishes I was a little torn over the best way to show off these polishes.  Ultimately I decided to show them on stampers (white and black).  I'm going to be using images with both very thin lines and very thick lines so to that you can judge how well these polishes pick up.  I'm also going to do a comparison to a few other stamping polishes I regularly use.

Swatches

For this review I'm using stamping plates from Messy Mansion's Leadlight Lacquer series.  I'm using these because I've previously reviewed them before (read here) and I know that the etching is excellent so this will not be an issue regarding pickup.  For the stamper I will be using my old Winstonia Store marshmallow (white).  This is the stamper I use if I ever ever have a plate that just won't pick up or struggles with polish.  Why am I using this stamper? Because I don't want my swatches to be affected in any way by confounders like the stamping pad itself or the stamping plates themselves.  For the black stamper I will be using my marshmallow 2.0 from the AE set I reviewed here.  This one is not perfect, but has very reliable pickup.  This way I can firmly say the polishes stamp as they stamp independent of all else save my technique as a stamper.

After swatching I found the Lime color slightly stained my white stamper a pale yellow.  It was very light and I was able to remove most of the staining right afterward with a swipe of acetone. Obviously this wasn't the case for the black stamper.  I had no other occurrences with the other polishes.

Note how a few of the colors seem to shift over black.  This holds true for nail polish as well which is why I didn't show swatches on a stick.  Also for most of the polishes Hayley has already done so on her website.  

As you can see these polishes were quite opaque for the most part. Obviously a few of the colors are much bolder over black.   These swatches were done in one scrape and one stamp pressing straight down.  As always with my reviews I will not edit my swatch photos in any way save labelling and placement of the images.  

What's really cool about these metallics is how they shift depending on whether they are swatched over black or white.  The teal is an example where you can really see teal as a mixture of blue and green.

Swatch & Dry Time Comparisons

Why compare? Multiple reasons actually.  First I'm always on the hunt for great stamping products and my regular followers know this very well.  I hate not having options and knowing if I run out of brand X I may not have alternatives.  Some of you also know there are a few brands of stamping polishes I use consistently.  I will tell you now the EdM stamping polishes are not as opaque as MdU or some of the other oil based stamping polishes.  On the other hand MdU has an issue that was and has been faced by many out there - odor sensitivity.  I'm not going to lie, no shade, but when I first got my MdU I struggled because I did get terrible headaches from the scent.  When the scented ones came out I was pleased and so continued to use them however some people were never able to overcome that issue and finding suitable and excellent alternatives has been challenging.  Some people also desire formulations of polish that are 3 or 5 free so this presents another option.  Now don't get me wrong I love what I love, but having more options and more colorways across more brands is definitely awesome as well!

The EdM stamping polishes dry faster than my other stamping polishes, but take longer than regular polishes used for stamping.  And as you can see are much more opaque than most other stamping polishes.  They come quite close to being as opaque as MdU!  I was quite pleased.  I wish they gave a little bit more room in terms of dry time for positioning when stamping, but I'll tell you now I was able to do some positioning with these polishes using a CJS if I moved fast.  By positioning I'm referring to the time needed to line the stamper up with your nail when you are doing a "placement" nail art.

*China Glaze Sparks Will Fly (Magnetic)

Other metallics I compared EdM too seemed to fall very short in terms of opacity and dry time with the exception of the dry time for Dashica.  However as you can see the Metallic Turquoise is so sheer its not a very good stamping polish at all.  Ultimately EdM was the winner in terms of opacity and dry time in this respect.

Final Thoughts

I'm really pleased with these polishes! They are quite opaque, odor free, and dry in a reasonable enough time to even allow for some quick and focused placement.  That last point is unbelievably important because I can't stand a stamping polish that dries at lightening speed allowing me to do nothing in the way of placement or aiming.  Let me tell you too I always place my stamps with or without a CJS.  I'm actively thinking about where I want my pattern to land on my nail and positioning the stamper to achieve that.  Hence why dry time is so important to me. These dry a bit faster than my usual polishes, but are still workable. If you are a slower stamper it may take you may have to adjust your pace when using these.

In terms of opacity they are fabulous and they also come in a variety of pretty and beautiful finishes. I only had an issue with one staining my stamper ever so slightly which I annotated above and it was very mild.  To be honest I was a bit worried when Hayley asked me to review them since she said she hadn't gotten any feedback on them.  I worry because I'm really strict when it comes to my products in case you hadn't noticed, *rolling eyes hard at self right now*.  I'm so glad I can honestly and fully endorse my girl Hayley's stamping polishes and say they are great to work with!  Now you can purchase these polishes in 2 sizes 8ml and 12ml each retailing for $6 AUD and $9 AUD respectively with worldwide shipping. A few of the special finishes such as silver holo are $1 more.  You can find Emily de Moly polishes, stamping polishes, and stamping plates all on Emily de Molly's webstore.


Stay tuned tomorrow for some pretty nail art and a tutorial using these pretty babies! Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts in the comments below and happy hunting ;)

The polishes were sent for my honest review.  For more information please see my Disclosure Policy.