Review of Big SdP V

 I should rename this post...Those With Long Nails Rejoice!

One of the most common complaints out there regarding stamping is that the images aren't long enough to fit those with really long nails.  Shirley at Dashica took notice and one of her newly released image plates, Big SdP V, seems to have been designed with this in mind.  I must say that before Big SdP V was released, Dashica's images were already one of the largest out there but these are super long!  I can also say that other than the newly released LLC plates, there are no images plates out there that exist that are longer.  I comparison stamped most of the well known series of plates, recognizing that they aren't all here; however, if I've missed one and you are wanted to see, please comment and I will update accordingly...... there's a good likelihood I probably have one in the missed series to sample  :)

Here are some pix of paper swatches I did with most series compared to a few images from Big SdP V.  Unfortunately, I didn't stamp very straight; I'd suggest you click on the pix for a better view if needed!

I may have duplicated some of the images when taking the pix but this should be a pretty good indication of how large the images are for comparison purposes.  You will notice that DRK B is wider but not as long; Dashica also had another plate, Big SdP U, that also has reallyyyyy wide images on it.  

 As a stamper who can't line up images very straight...heck, I miss stamp a lot of images and then have to figure out a way to camouflage it.... I can only image how those with long nails find it trying to line up the image when they are double stamping onto their nails when an image doesn't fit fully...this looks like it would solve the double stamping issue for most....I guess unless you're nails are in the uber super duper length category!

Dashica** products can be found here. 

My next post will feature a mani that I did with this plate...thanks for looking!

**Big SdP V was provided for review.  Please refer to my disclosure policy for further information.

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Unknown comparison post, SdP, SdP V

White Stamping Polish Comps over 515

Another stamping polish comparison post...using a different holo base...not nervous this time as I know if I drop or spill it, I can replace this bottle a little easier!    This is what I came up with.

Started with a base of Ozotic 515.  After my regular base, I did add a coat of Nfu aqua base, then two coats of Ozotic 515.

After Ozotic 515 was applied, I used Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Flash Fast dry topcoat (aka the one in the black bottle).  As I've mentioned before, I had read that this topcoat doesn't dull holo polishes...and so far, I can't complain with the results.

For this stamping comparison post, I decided to do a comparison between Konad white special polish and FUN white stamping polish.  While I'm happy with the results and cleanup of Konad white, I did this comparison more so just to see if FUN came close to the end result of Konad white as Konad does seem to be set the standard of white stamping polishes IMHO. The pix below is the stamping using both Konad and FUN stamping polishes.  Can you tell which one is Konad and which one is FUN?  Neither can I!

On the thumb, middle and pinky as shown below, FUN white stamping polish was used.

Index and ring finger were stamped with Konad white special polish.  I couldn't tell the difference between the two!

The image plate used for this comparison was the same as my last post, XL Y.  This plate quickly became one of my favourites because it has some great full size images and you can see the base polishes well underneath which is great for layering experiments.  I again topped with this mani with Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamond Flash Fast dry topcoat (aka the one in the black bottle); you will notice too that there wasn't any stamping drag using it on either of the stamping polishes.

The next day, I took a pix of Ozotic 515 outside in the sun.

I was really pleased with the results of the FUN white stamping polish.  When I ordered back in the spring, I ordered the small bottles because I wasn't too sure on how they would stamp.  I've since ordered a large bottle for when the mini runs out...along with larger bottles of most of their other colours as I've been happy with the results using the FUN stamping polishes generally.   The small bottle is 6 ml and when converted, sell for $1.69 US.  The 12 ml, larger bottles go for $3.13.

FUN stamping polishes and XL Y are available at My OnLine Shop and Fab Ur Nail.  Ozotic 515 (and other Ozotics) are available from llarowe and Harlow & Co.  All online links are provided on the homepage on the tab Where I Get My Stuff.

Thanks for looking!

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Unknown blue, comparison post, Fauxnad, fauxnad XL Y, FUN stamping polish, Holographic, Konad, Ozotic Pro, XL Y

Black Stamping Polish Comps over MPJ

*Warning.....long, wordy post with lots of pictures*

This is probably going to sound silly, but have you ever owned a polish, but were afraid to wear it?  This is how I felt about OPI My Private Jet.  Silly, eh?  I've had MPJ for a long time, but never wore it.  Then, not too long ago, I got to thinking why am I not wearing some of these htf polishes I own?  Why have them if not to wear and enjoy them?  But I know that my fear is that I'm afraid I'd spill or drop the bottle in the middle of my mani...which I've done before...more than once...then it would be gone.  Then the possibility of getting another bottle is slim to nil.  But it seemed a little silly having a bottle but never putting it on.  So as nervous as I was about putting  it on.....yes, I was nervous about it, no kidding....as well as worried about dropping or spilling it in the process....not too long ago, I took the plunge and decided to do a mani with MPJ; here's what I came up with.

There are a few different versions of MPJ out there; I too have a couple of them.  This is the original holo version; I happen to stumble upon it just as I was starting to get back into polishes after I discovered Konad a few years ago...problem was, I didn't even know it was a *special* polish.  I bought a bottle just because I liked the pretty rainbow in the bottle.   After joining Makeup Alley, I read about the much sought after MPJ holo version.  So I decided to take a closer look at my bottle, and sure enough, it looked like I had one.  Shortly thereafter, I went back to that polish store to see if I could snag a few more bottles for swapping to spread the MJP holo love around like I did when I stumbled upon a place that had oodles of bottles of Essie Ruby Slippers and the China Glaze OMG collex......but unfortunately, they were all gone.  I don't know if a nail fanatic stumbled across them, knew what they had and then sold them all on eBay...or if a bunch of polish noobs like me bought them just for the pretty rainbow in the bottle!   

Here's a whole bunch of pix of it....feel free to click on the pix for some better views.

The pix above is two coats all on its own; I didn't do a black base coat although I may do this next time ....to conserve the bottle!  Two coats makes it look more on the gray side versus charcoal/black; three really were needed to get it on the darker side.  The pix below is with three.

Wayyy too many pix of MPJ...trying to capture some decent pix more than anything!  As beautiful as this is, the holo is hard to capture...at least it was for me!  MPJ has a scatter holo versus a linear holo as seen in the Layla or Jade holos.

Speaking of Layla or Jade, I have the charcoal/black counterparts in their brands plus a few other brands because I do love holos....maybe some day, I'll have to do a comparison post.  I'm positive their versions will be much more holo-tacular...but none the less, I'm still happy I have this one in my stash. 

The pretty-rainbow-in-the-bottle pix.

It was tough to stamp on top of this beauty but there's there's not too many mani's that don't get some stamping on them.  I thought I'd do some black stamping...and while I was at it, sample some different stamping polishes that I had bought recently in my ongoing effort to see if anything stamps as well as Konad black...but without the dreaded cleanup issues.  So did a bit of comparison stamping.

The polishes used were FUN Charcoal (thumb and middle finger), Konad black (index and pinky) and Mash black (index).  All of these images are from plate XL Y.  I chose this plate because it looked like there were a variety of interesting designs that you could stamp on your nails, yet see the base polish underneath.   

The above pix is after SV added.  Looking at the above pix, you can't even tell which polish is Konad and which ones aren't.  Both the Mash and Fun polishes were dark and cleaned up well...the problem is, that with this mani, I didn't have too hard of a time doing the cleanup of the fingers using Konad either...but I know its not always like this.  Based upon past black comparisons like the one I did here, I'd have to use the black stamping polishes on a light base to see if truly they are Konad replacement worthy.  But if the above pix are any indication, I'm sure they will be!  As much as I love Konad black for stamping...the clean up issues are the only problem...I love the dark stamping of Konad but sometimes I just can't get it off my cuticles during the cleanup process afterwards!

Lastly, a pix taken outside a day or so later.  Hello holo!  So pretty!

And still way too many more pix as I can't seem just to pick one or two sometimes....!

Thanks for looking!

PS: I didn't drop or spill the bottle!  Makes all my fear and nervousness seem really silly now in retrospect! 

PSS: Fauxnad XL Y and FUN stamping polishes are available at My OnLine Shop and Fab Ur Nails; as is Mash via their estore.  All links can be found on the tab on my homepage 'Where I Get My Stuff.'

PSSS:  My next post will be a white stamping comparison post on a different holo base.   

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Unknown black, comparison post, Fauxnad, fauxnad XL Y, FUN stamping polish, Holographic, htf, Konad, MASH, OPI, XL Y

A Leafy, Comparison, Plate Review Post!

Yesterday's FB Adventures in Stamping challenge was 'leafy'.  When I set out to do my nails for the challenge, after picking out a polish to use, I thought I do a little polish comparison at the same time with a few others in my stash.  And heck, while I was at it, show a few pix of the new LeaLaC A plate.  But before I get to the comparison and plate pix, here's what I came up with for the leafy challenge.

Base polishes before stamping.  Can you guess which polishes I used?  They will be listed below during comparison part of the post.  (Feel free to click on these pix for a better view of these beauties!)

Stamping polishes used were FUN Gold and FUN Green Metallic using A20 (thumb) and LeaLaC A (or LLC A as it's noted on the plate) for rest of the fingers. 

Topped with SV to finish as shown in first pix. 

I'm sure curiosity is killing you as to which polishes I used, so here's another pix again just for good measure before I list them.



Polishes used were OPI German-icure by OPI (thumb), OPI La Boheme (ring finger and index) and Sally Hansen Ruby Emerald (middle finger and pinky), all two coats.  Did you guess correctly? 

The above pix is all the same polishes, but one coat.  OPI German-icure by OPI (thumb), OPI La Boheme (ring finger and index) and Sally Hansen Ruby Emerald (middle finger and pinky),  I must add that the thumb is one very generous ( and sloppy!) coat.

The above pix is another one with two coats, no topcoat.  OPI German-icure by OPI (thumb), OPI La Boheme (ring finger and index) and Sally Hansen Ruby Emerald (middle finger and pinky),  

There's been some comments out there in the blogesphere if OPI German-icure by OPI is a a close to or dupe to OPI La Boheme...and it clearly is not.  A great fall shade, but close to or dupe it is not.  OPI La Boheme and Sally Hansen Ruby Emerald on the other hand, are pretttttyyyyy close, probably even dupes to me.  I didn't notice any negligible difference.  If you have one, you wouldn't need the other, recognizing that if you don't already have them in your stash, they will be pretty hard to come by, sorry.  I bought OPI La Boheme a few years ago on eBay before prices skyrocketed; I know there are couple versions out there and to be honest, I don't know if I have the good or the bad one, but the pix below is what my bottle looks like.  While there is this awesome flash in the bottle, I couldn't coax it onto my nails unfortunately.  But it is gorgeous on the nail none the less!  Heck, so is Sally Hansen Ruby Emerald!  The only comment I'd have is that I wouldn't 'waste' La Boheme or even Ruby Emerald in the future if I was going to just stamp on it anyway because all the awesomeness of them was pretty much lost when stamped over as you can see from the pix above.  Maybe next time, I'd do a little french tip or a small design. 

I did say I did a little a plate review in this post too, so here are couple pix of the new LeaLaC A plate that arrived last week. 

These are truly some of the largest designs I've seen on plates!  SdP V, which I'll soon be reviewing too,  is really the only other plate that is even close in size to these images.  However, as you can see from the pix below, some of these images are too big for my nails. I can still extrapolate parts of images to place on my nails, but some will be lost on me, like this one unfortunately.

My largest nail, my thumb, is simply far too small to fit this cool dot design on it.  But I will have to come up with a cool way to use it as it is awesome!

The picture above is my thumb nail up against the image from LeaLaC A that I used for the mani for the leafy challenge, just so you get an idea of how large the design.

Another view of it up against my nekkid index finger! These designs are very large.  So large that they in fact will not totally fit onto the XL stamper as I discovered when I was testing them. 

The above pix shows the XL stamper up against the image.  It's close, but the image is larger than the stamper.

The same image compared to Konad stamper.

I wonder if in fact there's going to be a new stamper out on the market soon to accommodate these large images as they do not fit entirely on the XL stamper....maybe an XXL stamper?  But one things for sure.....you can tell that I sure won't be needing it!  I'm good with the Konad size stamper!  In fact, the only reason I even have the XL stamper is that it picks up some images better than Konad stamper and I need to use it on occasion because of plate manufacturing variations.  But if you have long or wide nails, you may wish to look into LeaLaC A and B, or SdP V, which I'll be doing a comparison post soon too!

LeaLaC A and B are available via llarowe; also listed in the tab Where I Get my Stuff on the homepage.

Hope you had a great weekend!   Btw, a winner for the impromptu giveaway that I had last week has been picked as determined by random.org; I'll announce it next post!

Thanks for looking!

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Unknown A20, burgandy, comparison post, fall, FUN stamping polish, htf, LeaLaC, LLC A, OPI, sally hansen

Stamping Polish Comparisons

As happy as I am with the stamping results using Konad black special polish, I'm not generally happy with the cleanup, which is rarely 100% plus it has a tendency to drag probably more than any of the other Konad polishes. I've been wondering if there are other black polishes that work well for stamping. I took note of various comments on my blog (thanks Bunny Nails for mentioning KleanColor because I never would have thought about this one!) as well as seen what some others were using for stamping polishes; either swapped or bought them and decided to see if there was an alternative to Konad.



For this comparison, I used (left to right below) black Konad special polish, KleanColor Black, Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris, FingerPaints Black Expressionism and Essence Stamping polish.



For this stamping experiment, I used FingerPaints Blue Raspberry Taffy (blue) and Misa Without Airs Orange (orange) as the base. Initially, I was planning to do an Aztec theme but when I discovered that the Misa had a shimmer, I wasn't too keen on finishing it for some reason....this is why the plates you're going to see are Aztec themed for the stamping comparison as I already had them picked out for the mani! This is two coats of FingerPaints Blue Raspberry Taffy from their Gumdrops and Lollipops collection and three of Misa Without Airs Orange. (As a side note, I did have skin staining with Blue Raspberry Taffy; if you decide to pick it up, you may wish to be careful with removal.)



Stamped images in same order; starting at thumb: black Konad special polish (Big SdP C), KleanColor Black (Big SdP C), Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris (Big SdP B), FingerPaints Black Expressionism (Big SdP F) and Essence Stamping polish (XL A)...in hindsight, I guess the fairest comparison would have been using all the same image plate...unfortunately, I didn't think of this at the time!



So you could see how dark the stamping polish is, I purposely left it without cleanup. I also wanted to apply the topcoat fairly fast to see if there was any topcoat drag so didn't want to take the time for cleanup at this point to see if they did drag while relatively wet...the only delay was the time taken to snap a couple pictures. I used SV, which is the topcoat I use 99% of the time. Pix below is with topcoat.



I didn't see any visible signs of SV drag on any nails.

The above pictures are on my left hand; on my right hand, I alternated the base colours but kept the stamping colours in the same order, just to see if there was any stamping colour difference, but the results appear to be consistent with the left (ie WnW is still faint).



These are my comments/observations generally on all the polishes I tried:

Konad: I generally buy Konad online for $6.99 as it is $10-$12 at local stores; however, its not that handy for me to buy (flea markets in other towns). Stamping results: Konad stamped crisp, clear and the darkest image of all polishes tested. Cleanup: While it seems I didn't do too bad of a job clean up in this pix and there doesn't seem to be any leftover residue of stamping polish on the skin, I know this always isn't the case from past results as sometimes no matter how much time I spend with clean it up, it stays in the small fine lines in my skin...it also took the most amount of time to clean up in this pix but at least it cleaned up well! Drag: no visible drag in this test (but prone to drag from past experience). I usually wait a bit before topping with SV to ensure stamping polish is good and dry before applying SV to hope to eliminate drag...but even then, sometimes it happens!

KleanColor: Pricing was $2 in my area for a bottle. Availability: There's only two stores that sell KC in my area; the one didn't have KC black in stock; second one did and its pretty close to my house. I'm guessing KC should be found easily online too at reasonable pricing if needed. Stamping results: Stamped dark and fairly crisp, just a smidgen less in darkness and crispness than Konad. Cleanup: No issues at all with cleanup. Drag: No issues with drag. (Additional comments: I wonder if the bottle was left with the lid off for a bit if the polish would thicken to see if stamping results would be better? Because this polish is thinner than Konad, slightly better results may be achieved if it sits on the plate momentarily to dry which sometimes helps with better stamping results. Also, would like to monitor for SV drag because it would be a great plus not to have to worry about drag when applying the topcoat. I also have to recognize that while there is missing pieces of the stamped image on my finger, this may be the design plate and not to say I wouldn't have the same results with Konad as it happens with Konad polish too...sometimes this is remedied by just scraping side to side or down to up.)

Wet n Wild: Pricing was $1.49 for a bottle. Availability: locally sold at Walmart; lots in stock. Stamping results: Stamped the faintest of all polishes; wasn't even dark. Cleanup: No issues at all. Drag: No issues with drag. Additional comments: I have to say I was surprised the most with the results...or lack thereof...from this polish as I've read so often about gals using this for stamping polish but the stamped image is not very dark at all. Terrible brush; wouldn't even want to use this polish as a base polish. Maybe if I need a black to ever franken with I might use this polish. This would be my last choice ever because its just not a good dark stamped image. In fact, if this was my go to black stamping polish...I'd pick another stamping colour.

FingerPaints: Pricing was $5.99 for a bottle (slightly less with Sally's card). Availability: locally sold at Sally's; part of core line; usually in stock. Stamping results: fairly faint for a black but passable. Cleanup; no issues at all. Drag: No issues with drag. Additional comments: Wild card here; I actually bought this as an alternative to black base for manis as I heard it was a one coater and was pleasantly surprised that it stamped OK....maybe a good polish to take on holiday as serves two purposes for base and stamping! On the thin side; maybe another polish to try again if the lid is left off to let it thicken again? The stamped image shadowed which is because its a thinner polish; may be remedied by the polish sitting a bit on the image plate before scraping which sometimes helps.

Essence Stamping Polish: I don't actually know pricing as I received this in a swap. Availability: Not available in my area at all. Stamping results: OK for a fairly thin polish; not as good as Konad or KC. Cleanup: no issues at all. Drag: no issues with drag. Additional comments: Surprised it stamped so dark given that it is a fairly thin polish. Small sized bottle. Probably will never have another bottle as not available in my area at all so probably out of luck once this bottle runs out!



Results? I guess it will depend if stamped image is more important or the cost of the stamping polish! I think that based upon stamping results, availability, pricing, quality of stamping image, etc, the best overall polish would be KleanColor Black....that being said, I'll probably stick to Konad strictly because personally, I'd rather pay the extra and order online for the crisp clear stamping results of Konad! Also, while Konad cleanup takes longer and sometimes stays visible in my clean up pix, keep in mind that this isn't nearly as visible to the human eye as people aren't looking at your nails in macro view and immediately after stamping! As I take these pix mainly late at night, by the time I shower the next morning, there's little stamping polish left visible. All this being said, and as this is the first and only time I've used KleanColor to stamp, I'm going to use it more for stamping to get a good feel with how it stamps...because its available locally and less than a third of the price of Konad...and if I can get it to stamp well and it has no drag, it may be my next go to stamping polish...unless I find something better in the next round of comparison stamping that is!

Have you tried these polishes? Are your results the same or not? Just curious.....its always interesting to hear what others think...just like one person may prefer Poshe topcoat and the next SV if you know what I mean! Do you use any of these for stamping? If not, do you have any other suggestions? There's still a few black polishes I've yet to compare being Beautiful Scratchers black, Sally Hansen Black Out, Wet n Wild Black Creme and CND Blackjack. I think Fab Ur Nails also has a black stamping polish; I'm probably going to order it too whenever I get around to placing my order as I want to try a few of those stamping polishes.

I have a few different white polishes to try as well; KleanColor white, Sally Hansen White Out, Beautiful Scratchers white, Essence stampy white polish...do you know of any others that work well and may be an alternative to Konad? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Thanks for looking!

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Unknown Big SdP B, Big SdP C, Big SdP F, blue, comparison post, essence, FingerPaints, kleancolor, Konad, misa, orange, tricks and tips, Wet N Wild, XL A

Revlon Modern Grace

By sheer fluke, the mani I did after wearing Orly Cashmere Cardigan was Revlon Modern Grace. I try not to wear the same colour one day after the next, but for some reason, my eye was drawn to Modern Grace, which happened to be sitting at my table as I had just bought it over the weekend. By gosh, I think I *may* have stumbled upon dupes. This is Revlon Modern Grace.



Below is Orly Cashmere Cardigan. It's obvious that they aren't dupes, not by these pix as Cashmere Cardigan obviously looks lighter. But close.



Because I just posted Orly Cashmere Cardigan, you can compare by scrolling down to see how close they are. I haven't compared these polishes on nails side by side or even bottles beside one another, but it sure looks like they are close! Close but not exact. Cashmere Cardigan is lighter. Come to think about it, I'd say this also looks mighty close to OPI Parlez Vous OPI or maybe even Zoya Caitlyn, which I have too. (I'm not going to do a comparison post as I know there are others out there in the blogesphere who can do this soooo much better than I, who have a more keen eye for comparisons, shade variation, better photo comparisons etc etc...I'm looking at you KarenD!!) But this is good news for anyone who may have missed out on Cashmere Cardigan a few years ago....no need to search for it as Revlon Modern Grace is on the shelves now (at least in my area!).

Anyway, here is the mani I came up with using Revlon Modern Grace.



Stamped using Konad white special polish using fauxnad SdP D-17.


Added dots to the flower centres using Konad black special polish.



Then a couple whirls of random silver using striping pen. This is one of those times that less is more and I probably should have left the mani alone and not added the dots and glitter.



I really need to be more on the ball about buying dupes, or rather, close to's! My stash is overflowing and I don't think I need a couple polishes that are thisssss close...never mind potentially having 4 bottles thisssss close!

Thanks for looking!

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Unknown comparison post, Fauxnad, Konad, purple, revlon, SdP, SdP D-17