Kiss Stamping Nail Art Kit (Soft Stamping)

I just found this at my local Wal-greens! I have heard of "soft plate" stamping, but had never seen it before. It is an interesting take on the nail stamping technique. There is no metal plate, instead the etchings are right on the stampers. I decided to give it a try and see if it works as well as its metal plate counterparts.

Here is a shot of every thing that comes in the kit. The stamping head holder, 3 etched stamping heads, a small bottle of white polish and directions in several languages.

Sinful Colors "Tempest"

My very first attempt and I'm rather impressed by it. The idea is, you fit the stamping head you want to use into the holder. Then paint over the image you want to use. Rub the stamper over a paper towel to remove the excess leaving paint only in the etched areas and press it onto your nail. You can see I have a little streaky-ness still on the nail from where I didn't get all the excess off. I figured I just needed practice.

Sinful Colors "Pastiche"

This one turned out well, but I think I rubbed a bit too hard. Some of the stamp came off when I rubbed.

Sinful Colors "Endless Blue"

This one I know I rubbed too hard. I lost most of the detail of the flower. That and the blue wasn't dry all the way and smudged a bit.

Wet n Wild "Black Creme"

And finally I used the full nail image. After rubbing too hard the last too times, I don't think I rubbed hard enough here. I got a lot of fog in the image. I was pleasantly surprised by the polish that came with the kit. As a beginner polish, it really is quite nice.  Overall, while this is a nice set and decent for beginners, I don't think I would recommend it as anything other than a novelty. I can see many drawbacks to stamper heads as opposed to stamping plates. One, the stamper head size must be standardized or else each brand would have to sell holders just for their heads. With stamping plates, any stamper can be used on any brand plate. Two, storage might seem like a minor issue, but when I think of the number of plates I have, and try and convert that number into stamper heads...well that would take up tons of space. Three, what about the girls with really long nails? Most metal plate makers make XL series for big images, but a stamper head image is restricted by the size of the stamper. Unless you made bigger stamper heads, but then you would need to make bigger stamper head holders. And the last reason I can think that it's not as feasible as metal plates off the top of my head, how do you care for the heads? I know that many stampers will break down after repeated exposure to acetone and nail polish remover. Will etched stamper heads break down too?

Bottom line? Fun and novel, but you won't see me switching from my metal plates anytime soon.