65 polishes.
260-ish swatch sticks.
1 bottle of acetone.
1 bag of cotton balls.
1 giant blog post.
I started off wanting to compare a few black and white polishes for how well they stamp, and it turned into “okay, I’m just going to buy almost every one I see and test it. FOR SCIENCE!”
I am ALSO going to swatch each and every one of these to see which are one coaters.
If you like this blog post and would like to buy me a coffee, I have created a Ko-Fi! There is never any pressure to donate, but it is very much appreciated if you choose to <3
Donate here: https://ko-fi.com/nerdlifenails
A few things up front:
- I will try to answer questions (on comments or in social media) but if it is already answered in here (there is just SO MUCH here), I will direct folks back to this blog post. I will not be answering questions like “which was the best” or “which was your favorite.” This post is not meant to pick a “winner” 🙂
- If you would like to compare polishes, please feel free to save photos to your phone and swipe between them or make a collage out of them. I just cannot do that for every polish. It’s too much! haha!
- I want to reiterate, take ALL of this with a grain of salt. This is not some end all review. My technique could be off. It could be too cold. I could have a bad batch. Maybe the polishes sat for too long. Just keep all of those things in mind please.
- I purchased ALL of this MYSELF. Nothing was sent to me for free or by a maker with a promise of a good review. I did however use any and all discount codes I could find along with waiting for Black Friday sales. Mwahahaha.
NOTE: I wrote all of this and then got to Cuticula and realized it was originally a PR Sample in June 2019. *face palm* It’s sold out right now or I would reorder it. More on this in the Cuticula section. - “But where is brand ________?”
I know they are not all included here but it came down to how much I could purchase at once (again, this was all purchased by me) and how many times a polish/ brand was suggested to me. I tried to include those that were mentioned the most / ones I already owned first.
Please feel free to comment with ones you would like to see added and I will definitely take them into consideration for a *possible* part 2 post! - Gel polishes are not included as I have never used gel before and was not wanting to start right now. I also do not have plans to start using gel anytime soon either unfortunately.
- I obviously have my favorites and biases, but I am going to ignore all of that and be 100% honest in this post
- Some of the polishes are not described as stamping polishes but I wanted to test some “non-official-stampers” out
- I will not be editing photos (unless it is just adjusting brightness) and I probably will not even add my logo. If you want to use any of the photos, just try to give me credit. I’d appreciate it! (@smashlee1 https://www.instagram.com/smashlee1/ and/or @nerdlifenails https://www.instagram.com/nerdlifenails/)
- I will try to test each polish in the same conditions
- I will be stamping onto nail swatch sticks (I don’t have enough fingers, yo). These are really just so I have the stamp “saved,” but I would go off of the pictures of the images on the stamper itself if I were you. It is difficult to get the images to stick to the swatch sticks perfectly and they do not always wrap around all of the way
- I will be stamping with my What’s Up Nails large clear jelly stamper that I use personally for almost every manicure
- I will be scraping with a plastic Maniology scraper card
- Since you usually want to work pretty fast with stamping I will be rushing on photos taken of the polish on the stamper, so some may be blurry. Some photos may also feature some cotton ball fuzz as my area I gave myself to work is small and cotton balls are everywhere
- I know that sometimes my technique could be off, so if I have to try a second time to pick up an image I will mention that
- Will I destash some of these after the post is done? Of course! There are 60+ polishes and I do not think I need to keep that many. Please do not assume if I am destashing that it means the polish was bad–I just cannot use them all!
I will probably destash a majority of them after this blog post has been live for a week or two. My Instagram destash page is below:
https://www.instagram.com/ashleespolishdestash/ - One big thing, I will try to mention how old the polish is. I think I have had a few of these for almost a year or longer, so who knows if just sitting around could affect things.
- I will include links to where I personally purchased these polishes but keep in mind a bunch of these are probably available in /at different stores for different prices.
- Definitely please do not use this post to go after any brands or bad mouth any brands. That is 100% not the point of this post.
- One last thing, again, PLEASE keep in mind that polish can change based on batches. It is quite possible that you have polishes from this list and yours do much better than mine and that’s okay! There will not be a “winner” selected from this post. I am simply testing them out and you, as the consumer, get to choose which you would like to buy!
The Swatching
I had requests to test out the one coat claims for each of these polishes. I will not be listing out who claims that their polishes are one coaters because:
1) I’m not trying to call anyone out
2) I really don’t want to go through all of these sites again (lol) and
3) honestly, that CAN depend on a few things such as:
-how much polish is on the brush
-how big the brush is
-how long your nails are
-how the batch of polish is just in general
So, that makes this tough. I will explain my plans for testing this out:
I will be taking the brush out of the bottle of polish and wiping the front of the brush on the bottle lip, and then the very bottom of the backside of the polish brush on the bottle lip to remove any large drips at the bottom. This is my normal “routine” to how I apply polish. I will then do one swipe down the middle of the swatch stick, then one swipe to the left and right. If I need to do more swipes to even things out (I will not put the brush back into the bottle) then I will do so.
I plan on swatching over clear swatch sticks so that if the polishes are thin, light should / will shine through and thin spots will be visible. Maybe this is a bad choice because nails are not clear / see through like these swatch sticks, but we shall see. Also keep in mind that I will call out thinner one coaters. A swatched polish may let light through when held up in the air, but look fully opaque when just sitting normally on the counter. I will definitely mention that.
I will photograph them after they have dried a little bit and the swatch sticks will not be top coated.
Take these with a grain of salt, and I will also comment on the polish consistency.
I unfortunately cannot comment on polish wear time / chipping or anything like that because I will not be wearing them.
The Plates
I want to give each polish a chance to shine so I will be testing each one three times using the same three images (listed below) for all.
ADDED NOTE: Please keep in mind that sometimes some polishes work better with some plates. It can also depend on the stamper! Polish / Plate / Stamper–all three of these is an important combo. 🙂 I cannot test every plate brand here, but just because something doesn’t work the best on one, doesn’t mean that it won’t work perfectly on another.
Image one: Mandala Flower (4th image from the left on the top row) from Maniology Work It! BM-XL174
I use this image for any stamping polish I want to test out on a “stamp me” sticker, like the ones on top of every Maniology polish bottle. I am hoping that it is an easy enough image to pick up and will be a good starting point for each polish.
Image two: Various Images from Mundo De Unas Mario Bros stamping plate
I had to put in something nerdy of course and this plate seemed perfect. Sometimes Mundo Plates are etched a little deeper than others and I hear folks have trouble picking up images from them–to me that means this plate will be a good test for every polish. There are a variety of images towards the bottom and I plan on trying to pick up a little bit from each of those 6 image groupings on the bottom.
Image three: Multi donut image from Uber Chic Beauty 8-02
I have done quite a few donut manicures in the last couple years, but I always get frustrated because so far I have only been able to get Twinkled T’s Vibin’ to work on this image (not even Twinkled T’s Ghosted worked, and I cannot remember if I have tried Volcanic on it or not). I am hoping that changes today (and maybe someday I can get a light brown polish–an actual typical donut color–to work).
Or….. maybe I just have a poorly etched plate. I will try to include some of the image of the sprinkles above the donuts just incase.
I honestly chose this image for my own curiosity. I would almost ignore this one from my results if I were you.
Now, after that super long novel worth of information, let us begin.
*Polishes are in alphabetical order
Born Pretty
Name: Throne / Pure
Price: $4.99 USD each ($2.34 on Aliexpress)
Size: ~6 ml
Where to buy:
(I purchased mine through Aliexpress)
https://www.bornprettystore.com/born-pretty-bottle-stamping-nail-polish-gold-silver-black-white-color-nail-printing-polish-p-42857.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32883630640.html?gps-id=pcStoreJustForYou
Purchased: October 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: Actually semi thick. Almost goopy but not quite. That could be from sitting around
Black

I think some of this was my fault. I missed some of the image when trying to pick it up

There may have been a little bit of cotton ball fuzz left on the plate, but not enough to cause this many issues picking up the image

I wanted to try out some more of the Mundo plate because I was worried it was my technique, but I think Born Pretty black just may not work well with Mundo plates
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: Semi thick but not goopy
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think for the price these are not bad. I think what will change people’s minds is knowing that they could take 3+ weeks to get to you if you order off of Aliexpress. The bottle size is also a little small, but maybe that is good for actually getting through a bottle (I mean, who does that? XD). I am still a little weirded out that the black did not work on the Mundo de Unas plate, while the white did. I tried double scraping incase I was putting too much polish on the plate when I did the 2.5 stamp, but that did not change much. I also noticed these polishes were a little more difficult to clean off of the plates but that is not too much of a big deal. I also didn’t feel like I was having to put a ton of polish on the plates.
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish, but the listing does mention that they can stamp*
Name: On The Black / Shutout
Price: $8.50 USD each
Size: (I cannot find the exact size on the site but they look to be the same size of the Geekish Glitter Lacquer Bottles) 15 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.bravesdivapolish.com/product/on-the-black
White: https://www.bravesdivapolish.com/product/shutout
Purchased: November 1st, 2019
White
Swatch: It’s close to a one coater but may be the tiniest bit too thin.
Formula: Thinner than some but not in a bad way
Black
Swatch: It’s close to a one coater but may be a little bit too thin.
Formula: Thinner than some but not in a bad way
FINAL THOUGHTS: These polishes stamped really well. The black was a little less opaque on the thinner donuts image but it still picked it up! I bet these polishes would be fully opaque in two coats, or maybe with just more on the brush. Or as mentioned in the intro, maybe they sat around for too long. But, in the end, no complaints here.
Cirque Colors
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Memento Mori / Carpe Diem
Price: $12.50 USD each
Size: 11 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.cirquecolors.com/memento-mori/
White: https://www.cirquecolors.com/carpe-diem/
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: I would say this one is almost a one coater. It is not fully opaque. So maybe it is a thinner one coater as well.
Formula: This one leans a little thin
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: These both stamped decently well, with the white doing better. They also cleaned up very easily. I do wish the stamped images were a little more opaque though, but they stamped rather “cleanly.” I will also mention that these are the most expensive polishes on this list.
Clear Jelly Stamper
Name: More Like 1 AM / Jennys Gonna Love It
Price: $4.50 USD each
Size: 5 ml (larger sizes are available as well)
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.lanternandwren.com/1-more-like-1-am-nail-stamping-polish/
White: https://www.lanternandwren.com/2-jennys-gonna-love-it-white-nail-stamping-polish/
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black

This just was messy and I wanted to try stamping it again because I just felt like I didn’t scrape enough

The first try I felt like maybe I didn’t scrape enough polish off the plate, so I retried it. It did a little bit better after scraping two times instead of one time.

I was worried that I didn’t scrape enough on the Mundo plate so I tried some other images on the plate. This time I tried scraping 3 times and it did not change much. I also tried pushing the stamper straight down onto these images instead of rolling the stamper over the images like normal, but there was not a difference on the Mundo plate.
Swatch: A one coater! I just apparently missed a spot while evening things out or I bumped it and didn’t realize it when carrying it downstairs to take pictures.
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I am unsure on these polishes. I think part of the problem was maybe me not scraping multiple times. My normal process is just scraping once on the plate. That is why I redid the black #1 and #2 stamps. I think at least the black polish must be a bit thicker. I did also try pushing the stamper straight down onto the image vs rolling the stamper over the image, but that did not change much. The white polish did quite a bit better and I didn’t have to redo those. I thought my tests might have some operator error involved, but the white polish worked with my normal methods, so I will let you decide based on the photos and my notes.
Cuticula
SHOOT. So I just now remembered this was originally sent to me as a PR sample (in June 2019) and I swatched it and tested it out back then. I just went to look at the site and it is sold out, so unfortunately I can’t purchase another bottle right now to make it fair. Big oof as the kids say. So just keep that in mind. I am obviously still going to be 100% honest but transparency is important!
Name: Licorice
Price: $10.00 USD
Size: 15 ml
Where to buy: https://cuticulanailtape.com/licorice-one-coat-stamping-polish/
SENT AS PR: June 2019
Black
Swatch: It is a thinner one coater I would say. It has full coverage but under light it looks to be thin.
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think this is a solid stamping polish. Do I feel the urge to be more harsh on it because I received it as PR? Probably so, mostly because I feel bad that I forgot. But I would say that it stamps well and it is a thinner one coater. I didn’t feel like I was having to almost pour polish onto the plate because it covered enough with just normal polish application on the plates. Definitely a solid buy!
Dance Legend
Name: Black Stamping Polish / White Stamping Polish
Price: $6.99 USD each
Size: 6 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.lanternandwren.com/dance-legend-stamping-2-black-stamping-nail-polish/
White: https://www.lanternandwren.com/dance-legend-stamping-3-white-stamping-nail-polish/
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: These polishes have a very unique formula. They are thin and apply smooth while also being thick and fully opaque? I did not have to use much polish of either of these on the stamping plates. Both cleaned up rather easily with the white only smearing a little bit during cleanup, and they stamped fantastically! I have never used anything from Dance Legend before and I am very impressed.
Dollish Polish
Name: Black Velvet / White Knight
Price: $8.00 USD each
Size: 15 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://dollishpolish.bigcartel.com/product/black-velvet-stamping-polish
White: https://dollishpolish.bigcartel.com/product/white-knight-stamping-polish
Purchased: April 2020
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, but leans a little bit thicker
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, but leans a little bit thicker
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think these are solid polishes. I felt like I was using a lot of polish on the plates because the polishes are almost a little bit thin when spread out, but I was trying to cover larger portions of the last two plates, so that might explain it. I think that maybe these just don’t work as well on the thinnest of images (the donuts) but really, no complaints here.
Essie
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: now or never / blanc
Price: $8.99 USD each (I purchased mine at Target)
Size: black: 10 ml, white: 13.5 ml
Where to buy: Target, Sally Beauty, etc.
Purchased: May / April 2020
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Essie Black 1 Essie Black 2 Essie Black 3
Swatch: Not a one coater
Formula: Very thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think the white essie is decent, but I can’t say that I would use the black expressie polish for stamping or for a base color due to how thin it is. It’s just sorta meh. It did pick up 1 and 2, but they are not very opaque and it would not show up over many colors. Maybe the black non-expressie essie polish would have worked as well as the white, but I was not able to find it unfortunately.
Fancy Gloss
Name: Pitch Black / Snow Queen
Price: $7.50 USD each
Size: 15 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://fancyglosspolish.com/pitch-black/
White: https://fancyglosspolish.com/snow-queen/
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: Leans a little thick, but not in a bad way
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: Leans a little thick, but not in a bad way
FINAL THOUGHTS: I did not have to use very much of these polishes when I stamped thanks to them being a little bit thicker. They were easy to clean up and the white only smeared around the plate a little bit. I think these are nice and work pretty well, they just may not just work the best on the finest images (like the donuts) due to the thickness of the polish (or maybe that is just operator error and I put too much polish or need to scrape more, I am not sure).
Formula X
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Dark Matter / White Matter
Price: $1.99 USD for this small clixi set of 4
Size: 3 ml
Where to buy: Tuesday Morning (It looks like some are on ebay but the prices seem to be a little ridiculous)
Purchased: February-ish 2020
White
Swatch: One coat wasn’t enough for full coverage, but the brush is tiny and keep in mind who knows how old these are. Formula X was sold in Sephora quite a few years ago so I imagine these have been sitting for awhile. The same goes for the black
Formula: A little on the thin side
Black
Swatch: One coat wasn’t enough for full coverage, but the brush is tiny and keep in mind who knows how old these are. Formula X was sold in Sephora quite a few years ago so I imagine these have been sitting for awhile. Yes, this is the same as the black
Formula: A little on the thin side
FINAL THOUGHTS: My original thoughts were that these were probably not worth going out of your way for, especially if you do not have a Tuesday Morning in town, but they actually stamped rather well. I did feel like I was using a TON of polish on the plates to cover the images and actually poured out some of the white onto the Mundo plate…Maybe if I had full size bottles it wouldn’t feel like so much. I think I have seen full size bottles of at least Dark Matter at my Tuesday Morning stores so it may be worth a look!
Funky Fingers
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
*NOTE – When I went to 5 Below I was not able to find the black polish counterpart to Gesso. I did not see it online either, but you may be able to find it on Ebay*
Name: Gesso
Price: $5.00 USD
Size: 14 ml
Where to buy: 5Below Stores / Ebay
Purchased: Fall 2019
White
Swatch: Pretty streaky. It’s close-ish to a one coater, but not quite one. The very tiny brush didn’t help much
Formula: A little on the thin side
FINAL THOUGHTS: I am pretty impressed with how this one stamped! I thought with how thin it was it would not work well, but I was wrong! Cleanup was a bit of a pain for this one though–the white smeared everywhere and took a couple clean cotton balls to get it off the plates. Otherwise, for $5.00 USD and if you are already at Five Below it could be worth a shot!
Geekish Glitter Lacquer
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Impala / Lilith
Price: $7.00 USD each
Size: 15 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://geekishglitterlacquer.com/products/impala
White: https://geekishglitterlacquer.com/products/lilith
Purchased: May 2019 / March 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: This one is starting to lean a little on the thicker side, but still runs/moves/drips easily
Black

There was still some cotton ball fuzz left on the plate but it didn’t affect the stamping too much
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: Like the white, this one is a little on the thicker side (but in a good way). I think the black is thicker than the white polish
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think these are solid polishes and work as one coaters along with stamping polishes. As you probably know, I do swatch for GGL quite a bit, but I purchased and tested these out myself. It has also been mentioned that these may be difficult to stamp with? I didn’t have any difficulty though and think they should work for anyone. They just might not work the best on the finest of images (the donuts).
Girly Bits Cosmetics
Name: Little Black Dress / White Wedding
Price: $8.99 USD each
Size: 9 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.lanternandwren.com/little-black-dress-creme-stamping-nail-polish-9-ml/
White: https://www.lanternandwren.com/white-wedding-creme-stamping-nail-polish-9-ml/
Purchased: November 2019
White

I was worried that I didn’t stamp well enough with the first stamp (#3 above) so I tested this one out again. There was not much of a difference.
Swatch: A one coater even with a smaller brush!
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Swatch: Looks to be a one coater!
Formula: A little on the thin side, but still has good coverage
FINAL THOUGHTS: At first I was scared that the smaller brush on these just wouldn’t work the best, but the polishes themselves did very well. I felt like I was using quite a bit of polish but the images are nice and opaque. I would say these polishes did well!
Hit the Bottle
Name: As Black as Night / Snowed In
Price: $8.00 USD each
Size: 9 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.lanternandwren.com/as-black-as-night-hit-the-bottle-stamping-polish/
White: https://www.lanternandwren.com/snowed-in-hit-the-bottle-stamping-polish/
Purchased: November 2019
White

This may have been slightly due to operator error and me not scraping correctly, but it still somewhat picked the image up
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, may lean a little towards the thick side
Black

I noticed the bottom of my black Hit The Bottle polish says “improved” while the white does not. I am not sure when this improvement happened or what it entails, but I wanted to mention it.
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, may lean a little towards the thick side
FINAL THOUGHTS: Both of these polishes did very well. They both have a nice formula and I did not have to use much of the polish when I was putting it on the plates. They did not work 100% with the thinner images (the donuts), but I would say these are solid polishes!
It Girl Nail Art
Name: Obsidian / Alabaster
Price: $7.00 USD each
Size: 10.5 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.etsy.com/listing/492254475/obsidian-5-free-stamping-polish-black
White: https://www.etsy.com/listing/478757554/alabaster-5-free-stamping-polish-white
Purchased: April 2020
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: Both of these stamped well and are both solid one coaters. The white was a little bit difficult to clean off the plates, but nothing major, just one extra cotton ball. I would say these are good polishes but they might just not work the best on thinner images (the donuts). They do work very well on the deeper etched plates like Mundo though!
KB Shimmer (OLD VERSIONS)
UPDATE: I received a message from the maker and I did not have the correct polishes listed here!! I have in my hands older versions that have since been discontinued (around the time of my order, hence this complete oversight on my part.) There are new one coat versions of these polishes on the site and I have not tested them out. I sincerely apologize for this mistake!!
Name: Eclipse / Eyes White Open
Price: $10.00 USD each
Size: 14 ml
Where to buy:
Black: Eclipse has been replaced with “Total Eclipse”
White: Eyes White Open has been replaced with “White Here White Now”
Purchased: April 2020
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: A little on the thicker side, just not in a bad way
Black
Swatch: A little on the thin side, but maybe not a one coater
Formula: A little on the thin side
FINAL THOUGHTS: These worked pretty well and produced pretty clean lines and images. The black was not super opaque but it still worked as a stamping polish. I do want to mention that the white has a newer rounded brush so the black polish I received may be from an older batch. I would say that the black just might not work over darker colors due to not being very opaque.
Kiss Gel Shine Nail Polish
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: No name? DTGNP07 is all I see
Price: $1.00 USD
Size: 13 ml
Where to buy: Dollar Tree
Purchased: Late 2019
White

NOTE: I didn’t get all of the cotton ball fuzz off of the Mundo plate before stamping and I am honestly still impressed it did so well! I probably should have redone this one but I think you can tell it worked even with all of the fuzz.
Swatch: This is almost a one coater. It seems to be a little streaky, but mostly covers the nail
Formula: Leans a little thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I am shocked that this polish stamped so well. For $1.00 I am definitely not complaining. I thought it would be too thin but I guess it worked! The images even seem to be mostly opaque.
L.A. Colors
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: 412 Circuits / 402 Energy Source
Price: $1.00 USD each
Size: 13 ml
Where to buy: Dollar Tree
Purchased: Mid to late 2019
White
Swatch: Almost a thin one coater, but looks to have full coverage
Formula: A little on the thin side, but the larger brush did hold more polish
Black
Swatch: Somewhat streaky, not a one coater
Formula: A little on the thin side
FINAL THOUGHTS: These actually stamped pretty well. For $1.00 I cannot complain too much. They are not one coaters, and the black is not very opaque, but it could work over white or lighter colors.
Maniology
Name: Straight Up Black / Bam! White
Price: $6.00 USD each
Size: 13 ml
I debated whether or not to put my ambassador code in this post because I want everyone to be sure and know I am being 100% honest, and putting my code kinda made me feel like I was still trying to show favoritism? Well, I also tend to overthink things so I’m going to put it in anyway! I figure I put all of this work into this blog post so I might as well have my info in here!
If you would like to purchase these stamping polishes, or anything on the site, my Maniology ambassador code SMASHLEE10 will get you 10% off of your order (or $5.00 off a ManixMe subscription). And if my code is used, or if one of my referral links is used (the links below are NOT affiliate links), I could receive a commission off of your order just as a heads up. 🙂
Where to buy:
Duo: https://maniology.com/collections/nail-stamping-polishes/products/2pk-nail-stamping-lacquers-creative-art-polishes-bam-white-straight-up-black
Black: https://maniology.com/collections/nail-stamping-polishes/products/essentials-primary-collection-straight-up-black
White: https://maniology.com/collections/nail-stamping-polishes/products/essentials-primary-collection-bam-white
Purchased: Honestly I am not sure. I have purchased these a few times because I use them a lot and I am not sure which bottles I am using haha! I would guess mid to late 2019
White
Swatch: I would say this is a thinner one coater.
Formula: In between thick and thin but leans a little toward the thin side
Black
Swatch: This one is a one coater but still feels a little thin
Formula: In between thick and thin but leans a little toward the thin side
FINAL THOUGHTS: I swear I remember the black Maniology polish being even thinner in the past but I could be wrong. Neither did the best on the Mundo plate but both surprised me by picking up the donut image. Both performed well and I consider them to be a good value! The images are also fully opaque.
Moonflower Polish
Name: Noche / Dia
Price: $5.00 USD each ($7.00 each for 15 ml)
Size: 7 ml (15 ml size also available)
Where to buy:
https://www.moonflowerpolish.com/product/day-and-night-duo
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Swatch: Appears to be a thinner one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I would say both of these are solid polishes and both have a nice formula. The images are nice and look to be opaque and the lines are nice and crisp when stamped. They both performed well and I think the price is nice as well for the minis or full sizes–which is always a bonus.
MoYou London
Name: Black Knight / White Knight
Price: Varies based on US / UK Site
UK Site – £7.99
US Site – $11.99 USD / $14.99 (15 ml size)
Size: Size availability varies based on US / UK Site
9 ml (15 ml size also available of Black Knight in the US)
Where to buy:
(I purchased mine in a destash for an amazing price)
Black: https://moyou.co.uk/collections/polish-best-sellers/products/stamping-nail-polish-black-knight
US https://moyoulondon.com/collections/polishes-view-all/products/stamping-nail-lacquer-black-knight
White: https://moyou.co.uk/collections/polish-best-sellers/products/stamping-nail-polish-white-knight
US https://moyoulondon.com/collections/polishes-view-all/products/stamping-nail-lacquer-white-knight
Purchased: October 2019 (I don’t know when the first owner purchased them)
White
Swatch: A thinner one coater
Formula: A little on the thin side
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: A little on the thick side
FINAL THOUGHTS: These had nice wide brushes and are both on the thick side (the white seemed thicker when stamping with it) so they are one coaters which is great, but I noticed that stamping with them was a little difficult. Having to stop to take photos took me a few seconds but I had a hard time getting the thinner image lines to stick to the nail sticks. I have no idea how old my bottles are, but that could have something to do with it, or you just have to be lightening fast with these. I also noticed the polish odor was very strong but I don’t know if I have noticed that with my other MoYou London Polishes. Unfortunately with the higher shipping prices from MoYou London I almost didn’t include these, and I feel like that might almost change more minds than how well the polishes did.
Moyra
Name: Black / White
Price: $7.99 USD each
Size: 12 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.lanternandwren.com/moyra-stamping-nail-polish-sp-06-black/
White: https://www.lanternandwren.com/moyra-stamping-nail-polish-sp-07-white/
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: This looks like a one coater but it may be a little bit of a thinner one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin, maybe leans a little bit thinner
Black
Swatch: This looks like a one coater but it may be a little bit of a thinner one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin, maybe leans a little bit thinner
FINAL THOUGHTS: These both have fairly small brushes which made it a little difficult to apply the polishes over larger surfaces, but I bet it would work great for applying it over smaller spots / images. The black polish seemed to not be as opaque as the white, or to do as well, but both work and are solid polishes I would say.
O.P.I
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Black Onyx / Alpine Snow
Price: $8.69 USD each (price varies based on store, I purchased mine at Target)
Size: 18 ml
Where to buy: Target, Sally Beauty, Walmart, Ulta, etc.
Purchased: April 2020
White
Swatch: The polish looks to be a thinner one coater
Formula: On the thinner side
Black
Swatch: This applied a little streaky looking due to how thin it is and definitely did not cover everything in one coat
Formula: Very thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think these are both okay polishes. Neither have the best coverage in one coat, but both stamp decently well (at least for plates 1 and 2). The black is a less opaque than the white but they work. If you want my honest semi-rude opinion, I haven’t been the most fond of O.P.I due to the price and polish application, but they do work and it is a decent sized bottle for the price I suppose.
Orly
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: White Tips
Price: $7.50 – $9.99 USD (price varies based on store)
Size: 18 ml
Where to buy: https://orlybeauty.com/products/white-tips
Or it’s available at Ulta or Sally Beauty
Purchased: Late 2019
NOTE: I was reluctant to purchase Orly at all due to the price and the fact that it wasn’t guaranteed to stamp (I know that I am testing out non-stamping polishes on here, but I mostly chose those I had seen multiple “reports” that they stamp or I have stamped with them myself before. Orly was sort of a wild card and I had not heard that they stamp from many people). But several people mentioned wanting to see it and I found this one at Marshalls for $3.99. Well, I jumped on that deal.
White

I somehow super messed up this stamping. I think I scraped wrong or lifted up the scraper wrong or something? Either way, the large rectangles are not the fault of the polish
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, I am impressed. I wish I had picked up the black Orly polish as well. I think this is a great buy and I am even happier that I found it for so cheap! After testing it out, I think it is worth its full price. It stamped well and is also a nice one coater.
Painted Polish by Lexi
Name: Midnight Mischief / Blanc Slate
Price: $10.00 USD each
Size: 13.2 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.paintedpolish.com/product/midnight-mischief
White: https://www.paintedpolish.com/product/blanc-slate
Purchased: August 2018 / January 2019
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, leans towards thick
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, leans towards thick
FINAL THOUGHTS: Both of these polishes stamped well and I did not have to use much polish when stamping. The white smeared a little bit when cleaning the plates but not too much. In my past usage of these polishes, I think I prefer them as base colors to using them for stamping because they are really nice one coaters.
Picture Polish
Name: Stamped Black / Stamped White
Price: $9.11 USD each
Size: 11 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://picturepolish.com.au/product/black-stamping-polish/
White: https://picturepolish.com.au/product/white-stamping-polish/
Purchased: April 2020
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin, leans towards thick
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: Both of these polishes did very well. The brushes are semi small, but I felt like I wasn’t having to use very much polish on the plates. All of the images seem to be fully opaque so I would say that these are definitely a great buy!
Pueen
Name: Black Jack / Pure White
Price: $9.98 USD for the kit with two polishes, plate, stamper, and scraper
Size: 10 ml
Where to buy: Walmart (I purchased mine in the nail stamping starter kit that is linked below)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pueen-Nail-Stamp-Starter-Kit/55549841
Purchased: Late 2019
White
Pueen White 1 Pueen White 2 Pueen White 3
Swatch: I would call this one a thinner one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black

I was worried there was operator error involved after stamping this one so I did a 2.5 test below
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: These Pueen polishes take some getting used to I think, at least for me they did. I think they are thicker than I’m used to, so it took the second test of the black polish (2.5) to get a little bit more used to it. These seem thicker when trying to stamp and require more scraping–at least on the mundo plate which is etched deeper. The black polish cleaned up easier than I expected and I did not have to put very much of either polish on the plates when I was stamping. I think in the end, either using less polish or scraping more than once will help with using these. I would say these are a good purchase, but just may take a little practice.
Sally Hansen Insta-Dry
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Black To Black / White On Time
Price: $5.00 USD each
Size: 9.17 ml
Where to buy: Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Ulta, etc.
Purchased: Honestly I’m not sure. 2018? Maybe 2019?
White
Swatch: A one coater! This might be a thinner one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin but leans thick
Black
Sally Hansen InstaDry Black 1 Sally Hansen InstaDry Black 2 Sally Hansen InstaDry Black 3
Swatch: A one coater! This might be a thinner one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin but leans thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I would say both of these performed pretty well. The black was a little bit thinner and less opaque than the white but they both performed pretty well. I am honestly wondering if I need a different bottle of the black? I don’t remember my previous bottle being that thin but I could be wrong. I will say it is nice that these can be picked up at most stores if you are out running errands already.
Salon Perfect
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Pillow Talk
Price: $3.98 USD
Size: 14 ml
Where to buy: Walmart
Purchased: March 2020 (?)
White
Swatch: Not a one coater. It is thin. This one might almost take 3 coats for full coverage.
Formula: Thin, somewhat watery
FINAL THOUGHTS: This polish stamped pretty well, but it’s still not very opaque and it is barely visible even on black. Based on that and the ultra thin formula, I would say this one is probably not worth it, but I am impressed with how well it did on the Mundo De Unas plate!
Sinful Colors
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Black on Black / Snow Me White
Price: $1.99 USD each (At Target)
Size: 15 ml
Where to buy: Walmart / Target
Purchased: Late 2019
White

I accidentally had some of the sprinkles image left on the stamper from a previous test
Swatch: Appears to be a one coater
Formula: Almost watery, or a little on the thin side
Black
Swatch: Not a one coater
Formula: Very thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: Both of these cleaned up easily. I did feel like I had to use quite a bit of the polish to stamp, and the black was not very opaque at all. The photos above are not too bright or anything, the polish is just very thin. The white was more opaque. I would say these are not bad for the price, but I wish at least the black was more opaque.
Twinkled T
Name: Vibin’ / Glow Up
Price: $6.00 each
Size: 10 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://www.twinkledt.com/collections/stamping-polish/products/vibin
White: https://www.twinkledt.com/collections/stamping-polish/products/glow-up
Purchased: 2018? These are brand new bottles though
White
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: Almost leans a little thick
Black

I believe it was operator error on this stamp so I wanted to try stamping this one again

This one worked so much better. I think I had put too much polish on the first time and only scraped once. I believe on this one I put less polish and scraped twice.
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I have used Twinkled T quite a bit in the past and never had issues, but I guess I had not tested them on a Mundo de Unas plate. I think these polishes work better on finer etched images, as deeper images seem to not want to pick up easily and end up looking thicccc on the stamper. The white was also semi difficult to remove and took a couple cotton balls when cleaning it off the plates. But I do think, especially for the price, that these are still good. They just work better on certain images.
Uber Chic Beauty
Name: Pure Black / Essential White
Price: $7.99 USD each
Size: 12 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://uberchicbeauty.com/collections/stamping-polish/products/pure-black-stamping-polish
White: https://uberchicbeauty.com/collections/stamping-polish/products/essential-white-stamping-polish
Purchased: October 2019
White
Swatch: Looks to be a one coater! Unfortunately my brush seems to be damaged (I had not used this one before) so it applied a little streaky and because the brush is bent so much, I cannot really even it out
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: Both of the Uber Chic polishes performed well. I would say that they maybe actually run a little bit thick, so they were almost too much for the Mundo plate (the image looks a little thick), but still worked. Maybe I just needed to scrape the plate one more time. Otherwise, no complaints here!
Vapid Lacquer
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Pessimist
Price: $7.00 USD
Size: 12 ml
Where to buy: www.vapidlacquer.com
Purchased: Jan 2018
Currently Pessimist and Optimist are not available on the site, but I had Pessimist sitting around and figured why not give it a shot.
Black
Swatch: I would call this a thin one coater. It looks to cover everything but once there is light under it, you can see it is a little on the thin side.
Formula: A little on the thinner side
FINAL THOUGHTS: I did not expect this to stamp so well! I am very impressed. It being on the thinner side actually helped it I think, and I expected the opposite. The stamped images are thin and not super opaque as you can see in the pictures though so this may be hard to see over colors that are dark. I also did feel like I had to put a decent amount of the polish on the plates, but it still worked.
Wet n Wild
*NOTE – Not described as a stamping polish*
Name: Black Creme / French White Creme
Price: $1.00 USD each
Size: 12.3 ml
Where to buy: Dollar Tree
Purchased: Fall 2019 (?)
White
Swatch: If it is a one coater, it is a very very thin sort of one coater
Formula: Very thin
Black
Swatch: Not a one coater
Formula: Very thin and watery
FINAL THOUGHTS: These are okay. Both work, but the stamping is not very opaque (the white is more opaque than the black). I would say that for $1.00 I cannot complain too much, but I still think they’re just okay. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to get them unfortunately. I also heard that maybe the formula of these has changed within the last year or two? I have heard quite a few people mention these as good stamping polishes, but I wasn’t impressed. Apparently they were good for stamping in the past, but now the formula has changed.
What’s Up Nails
Name: Neither Noir / Blanc My Mind
Price: $7.75 USD each
Size: 11 ml
Where to buy:
Black: https://store.whatsupnails.com/collections/stamping-polishes/products/neither-noir-stamping-polish-black-creme-whats-up-nails-nail-polish
White: https://store.whatsupnails.com/collections/stamping-polishes/products/blanc-my-mind-stamping-polish-white-creme-whats-up-nails-nail-polish
Purchased: November 2019
White
Swatch: A thin one coater, very close to being just a full one coater
Formula: In between thick and thin
Black
Swatch: A one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: These both stamped very well. I did not have to use much of the polish on the plates either. I actually don’t have much else to say except I am very impressed with these!
Wildflower Lacquer
Name: Stamp Tramp
Price: $7.50 USD
Size: 15 ml
Where to buy: https://www.wildflowerlacquer.com/
Purchased: November 27th, 2019
Black
Swatch: Looks to be a one coater!
Formula: In between thick and thin
FINAL THOUGHTS: I think this one did decent. I especially like that the Mundo images aren’t too thick after they were picked up. I didn’t have to use very much polish to cover the images before I stamped and the cleanup for this one was extremely nice. I think I got all of the polish off the three plates with one side of a cotton ball which is impressive for a black polish! I believe that this one just may not work the best on the thinner lined images (the donuts).
Well there you have it folks.
I hope this helps at least some of you!
Honestly what I got out of this is there are SO many good options out there it turns out! I would once again like to reiterate, take ALL of this with a grain of salt. Maybe I tested things wrong (if I did, that means it is ALL wrong, because I did everything the exact same), maybe my conditions were bad, or I got a bad batch of a polish.
Definitely please do not use this post to go after any brands or bad mouth any brands. That is 100% not the point of this post.
But any who, happy stamping, and maybe if this is successful and I get enough feedback / requests, I might be persuaded to do a part 2!
But, like, after a long break because this took awhile! 😉
If you liked this blog post and would like to buy me a coffee, I have created a Ko-Fi! There is never any pressure to donate, but it is very much appreciated if you choose to <3
Donate here: https://ko-fi.com/nerdlifenails
18 comments
I have to give you some serious props for this post and the work you did – BRAVO! I was quite shocked at how poorly the Uberchic plate performed for most of the polishes… This is an amazing amount of work – I am doing something similar (probably won’t ever post about it) with top/matte coats, so I know the time/effort/MONEY/energy that goes into this kind of thing. Maybe in future you can do a post on the Holo Taco White/Black polishes… if you are interested in doing that, I have them and would be happy to post them to you to try out (I probably won’t ever use them, so it would be gratis from me) – let me know.
It’s always a possibility! I will write that down!
Holy info! Lots of great options for stamping and one coat polishes! Who knew?! Thank you for all the work you put into this!!
Awwww thank you so much!!!
Great info! Thanks!
You are very welcome!
Great research. It definitely shows that one person may need multiple black/white stamping polishes (unfortunately lol…) with differrent formulas. Plates are all differently edged. Interesting is that in general the white polishes definitely performed better because lots of blacks don’t seem opaque enough. For part two I would include Colouralike and Konad. It also got me thinking to use my stamping plates as soon as I get them to see if any are poorly etched. Thanks for putting effort in doing all this and sharing. Bookmarked this page
I’m so happy that it was helpful!!
I will definitely add those two to my list!
Wow girl! That was some mammoth stamping and swatching job you undertook here, kudos to you for your patience, perseverance, perfectionism (and I’ve run out of ‘p’ adjectives). You did an amazing job showing the images and the descriptions given for each Polish. This is one post I will keep handy in my fav list to refer to when I need it.
Awww I am so very happy that it helped! I really very much appreciate all of your kind words.
Wow, this post is most impressive! I can’t imagine how long this took. I tend to do research to this level with other things so I completely appreciate the detail of your work! I am new to stamping and have just a few colored stamping polishes from destash’s but I haven’t found a good white or black from polishes that I already own. This is so helpful! Thank you so much for doing this!
I am so very happy that it helped!!!
I love that you took the time to perform and document this experiment! I found this post while trying to research low-smear white and black stamping polishes, since that’s a huge issue for me with those two colors. Any plans to test how these blacks & whites fare with topcoat?
Well unfortunately I have sold quite a few of the polishes I tested so I wouldn’t be able to test a lot of these out. It could also be the top coat that could / would affect smearing as well, and I do not think I would have the time or extra cash to purchase a ton of different top coats to test out as well. I would have to decide if I wanted to use a quick dry or non quick dry, and what if one brand of top coat smears everything, while another doesn’t? It’s definitely a good idea though and I wish I could add that in, I just don’t think I would be able to make that happen unfortunately. I will say that this blog took me probably close to 100 hours, so if I added more to it, I just don’t think I could do it. haha!
This is impressive and very helpful. I wonder if you would consider trying shemodern for a future test, I have heard good things but don’t know how it compares to maniology. Thanks!
I am so happy to hear that! And I do not believe I have heard of that brand!
I actually have a bunch purchased for a part 2 post, but I have not been able to work on it! Maybe some day! haha!
Wow! This is an amazing post!! Kudos to you. I really appreciate it because I am on the hunt for some now stamping polishes and this gave me some great choices! I am looking for white and black but also some colors that I reach for and aren’t there LOL. I’m hoping the colors to my top choices hold up as well and the black and white. Again, many thinks@@
I am so happy to hear it helped! Yeah, there are a TON of options out there and even I was curious about them all. Someday I will get that part 2 post out. 🙂