FAQ: All about stamping nail art!

EDIT: May 8th, 2013 - I wrote this post when I felt I was very knowledgeable about stamping at the time - but it has since grown into a much bigger trend and I am no longer completely familiar with all the new plates and companies and the different supplies available. I have updated this post to the best of my ability and if you have anything to contribute, email me or comment it below!

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I have a long and wordy post for you today to hopefully answer some questions about Konad and other stamping nail art.

I get a lot of emails, Facebook messages and post comments asking about stamping. Where do you get plates? How do you use them? Are they expensive? Do you need to use special polish? How do you get it on your nails? Etc, etc.
I especially got a lot of comments after my Nicki Minaj nails!

So, I’m writing this post. I’m going to try to list all the tips and tricks I know and all the information I have. And I hope it helps!

I’ll start with the most popular question. 

What do you need for stamping and where do you get stamping supplies?

To start stamping, you need to get a stamper, scraper, and image plates.
There are many different brands and retailers for stamping supplies.

The most popular (and I believe the pioneers of stamping) is Konad. You can see all their plates and images on their website here. Konad is sold for around $6.99 per plate at some professional beauty stores, and also online at WowSoCool.com. Nail Polish Canada also has a huge selection of Konad supplies.
You can also find Konad plates on eBay, and you can usually get them for $1 or $2 cheaper than retail.

Konad also sells starter kits which come with a stamper, scraper, and a special polish. However, the special polishes are not necessary.

Another popular brand is Bundle Monster. You can order from their website, or on Amazon, or Nail Polish Canada. They currently have three sets of image plates, with 21 or 25 plates per set.

You get a lot more plates for your money but the quality overall is not as good - often some of the plates will be improperly etched. But, that being said, Bundle Monster has awesome customer service and will replace a plate if you receive a faulty one. (This happened to me once and they replaced it, no problem.)

You do need to buy a stamper and scraper separately, the BM plates do not come with them. 

One thing to remember - the full-nail images in the first set are not as big as Konad designs and some people have trouble getting them to fit their full nails. If you have large nails, you might not want to invest in the first set. The full nail images in the second set are the same size as Konad images. (Yet this is still too small for some people's thumbs.)

Another popular stamping company is Cheeky Beauty. They sell many different sets of plates and some large plates as well as lots of nail art supplies. The prices are great and they ship free worldwide! Always a mega plus. Click here to go to their nail art section.

Born Pretty is another popular stamping plate retailer. Here is their page for plates. They have a ton of plates with amazing prices, some are just generic flowery ones, but they also have a set that are duplicates of Konad plates plus a bunch more of really nice ones. You can also buy a stamper/scraper set here for really cheap. The quality of the plates is not as good as Konad but definitely useable. They also sell stamping polish but I cannot speak to its quality because I have not used it, but I imagine it is again not as good as Konad but still decent. 

Born Pretty ships free, worldwide. They also have just about every nail art item you could ever want. And you can get a 10% discount from many bloggers but I believe my particular code has expired.

MASH is another stamping company. They have a set of Konad knock-offs as well as original plates. I really like the original ones and they often have sales, I think I got mine for $10. The link to them is here, and they also carry stamping polishes and stampers, etc, but I haven't used those so I have no opinion on them.

Winstonia has a set of plates that I purchased recently. They are good quality and good value. They also have stampers/scrapers, including one that has both on the same tool, and also they sell a large stamper which is good for people with large nails. Find them here.

Ninja Polish sells a lot of plates from brands like DRK Nails and Fab Ur Nails and I will be honest that I don't know much about the plates sold there because I don't have any, but I know a lot of people are in love with their plates! There are some large plates (like, the size of a piece of paper) with tons of images and there are lots of options. Check out their site to browse the plates here.

I know of another brand called Nail Art Diva which is sold at some Lawton's stores here in Canada. I'm not sure where else they are available but they sell individual plates and special polishes.

You can also get lots of plates on eBay. There are many generic brands there, and you can usually get a bunch for a good price. (I got a set of 30 for just $15 once.) As well there are many specialty plates, for instance, you can find plates with Marilyn Monroe on them or the Transformers logos, etc. There's something for everyone!

Personally, I like Konad the best. In my opinion, you will have much better success using a Konad brand stamper than any other. If you're having trouble stamping, consider purchasing a Konad stamper and I think you'll find you get better results. The same goes for Konad brand polishes. 
I did not think this way at first and I always went for the cheaper supplies until I worked in a salon with actual Konad supplies and was amazed by the difference.
You can always count on the quality, and I find the images to be more pleasing all around.

Do you need to use the "special polish" with stamping plates?

No. You don't need to. But obviously they do work best.

Here is what makes the special polish "special" - the opacity. That means, the polish is much thicker and more pigmented, so that when you are applying the stamp, which is a very thin layer, it will still be visible. 

Who makes special polish? Mostly Konad, but as I said above you can find some with some of the other retailers.

What sorts of regular polishes work well for stamping?

The general rule is - if the polish covers your nail in one coat, it will be good for stamping. That just means that the polish is well-pigmented and will act most like the special polishes.

The most readily available polishes that work for stamping are Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. Their polishes are marketed to cover in just one coat, and most of them do, so they are good for stamping. I have noticed that the ones that don't work so well are the old formula. How do you tell the difference in old and new? The new ones will have the name of the polish on a sticker on the top of the cap.

Insta-Dri Whirlwind White is the best white polish I have found so far but it is now discontinued.

Insta-Dri Silver Sweep is an amazing silver - get this one!

Their bright creme colors are also awesome, I like Presto Pink, Brisk Blue, and Lickety Split Lime.

The best non-special black polish for stamping that I have tried is Wet N Wild Wild Shine Black Creme.

A few China Glaze collections work extremely well - Khrome Collection, Romantique Collection, and Sci-Fi Collection. Those are all metallic polishes.

Metallic polishes will most always work.

Most holographic polishes will most always work.

Glitter polishes, in my experience, do not work. The glitter sticks into the plate.

Shimmery polishes can work, so long as they are opaque.

Trial and error is the best way to figure it out. Experiment with what you have!

How does nail art stamping work?

This is another popular question that is pretty hard to explain. I watched several YouTube videos to find the most informative one for you guys, and the best one is actually from Konad! I would do my own, but I don't have a suitable camera.

The woman in the beginning of the video is a bit creepy, but this video is really informative.

The only thing wrong about this video is you DO NOT need the IP Holder (Image Plate Holder).

The IP Holder is used to collect the excess polish, but you can just do it on scrap paper or paper towel.

Other tips and tricks:  

-Make sure your base polish is completely dry before stamping. If necessary, add a quick drying topcoat to your nails before stamping to speed it up. If it isn't dry, you can end up squishing the polish on your nail and ruining it.

-It is best to wait a few minutes before applying topcoat. You can smear the designs if you apply too early.
Also, make sure you have enough topcoat on your brush before applying topcoat. That is the main reason why smearing occurs. Do as the video says, and apply the top coat in as few strokes as possible, which will reduce the chance of streaking. (But you don't need to add two coats like the video says to do. Only do that if you usually prefer 2 coats.)

-Clean your plates with normal nail polish remover and a Q-tip. You can also use cotton pads but I prefer the control you get with a Q-tip. (Plus then you don't get any remover near your nails!)
Pure acetone will leave streaks on your plates, so they will look messy but it doesn't affect the stamping.
Make sure you dry off the plates after wiping, or else the polish won't apply right the next time.
Images with lots of detail can require a bit of scrubbing with the Q-tip to get all the polish out.
You do not NEED to clean the plate between each stamp, but I prefer to because it helps you get a perfect image every time.

-Do not press too hard. Many of the popular YouTube tutorials are wrong in this aspect. You do not need to press hard against the image plate to pick up the image. If anything, that makes your image pick up worse.
Like in the video I showed, one gentle roll across the plate will pick up the image.
Do NOT rock the stamper back and forth on the image, that will ruin it.

-Work quickly. Be as fast as you can from the moment you scrape to the moment you roll the image onto your nail. The polish can dry in the plate or on the stamper if you don't move fast enough.

-When using full-nail or tip images, chances are you will get some polish on your skin. Remove this with some polish remover on a Q-tip or on a makeup brush, if you want to be extra neat.

-You can use a plastic card (like an old gift card) as a scraper if you lose yours, or if you got a metal scraper. The metal ones can scratch your plates and I don't recommend them.

-Having trouble with the scraper taking out too much polish from the image? That means you are scraping too hard.
It can also happen with images that have large areas - try scraping in different directions. I explained that in this post.

-Don't try to stamp in a room with a fan or air blowing in from a window. It will make it much harder to get the images to transfer because they will dry too fast.

-Practice makes perfect. At first it is really hard to get images on straight, but really you just need to practice. The hardest images to do are the french tip designs and even I haven't mastered those yet!

-It takes time to get the hang of stamping and it can be frustrating. At first, a stamping manicure may take you more time than you would like, but as you get more accustomed to it, it becomes very fast and easy!

-Most importantly, be creative! Use multiple base colors, multiple stamp colors, multiple images, anything you can think of! Stamping opens up a whole other dimension of nail art that can't be achieved with freehand art. Go nuts!

If you have ANY other questions, please leave them in the comments. I will reply to all questions that I can. And if you think I left something out, please leave any suggestions below!