How to choose the perfect stamper - which one is right for you?

*UPDATED* 

Well the answer to that question isn't straightforward because at the end of the day I think each stamper has something that its great for. So how do you possibly choose the right one for you? The sooner you realise that you might in fact need them all, the better off your stamping will be. Read on for a pros and cons look at 7 different stampers and hopefully by the end you can find the one that suits your needs. 

Firmness rating: Out of 5 = 1 is super squishy - 5 is very firm

                Click here to buy - Rectangle Firm (rubber) stamper/Metal scraper

Pros

• It's rectangle shaped! My nails are kinda rectangle shaped! Where have you been all my life rectangle stamper. 
• Awesome for lining up the image so you can apply it straightly to your nails
• Firmness rating: 5/5 - very firm rubber reduces the chances of image distortion and polish smooshing - you know when your image looks fuzzy because the polish has smooshed a bit
• Perfect for very detailed images with lots of fine lines
• Length of stamp is 2.8cm so suits long nails - width 1.8cm 
• Suits all types of plate images, full nail, accent 
• Most stamping polish colours show up over the green rubber
• It's pretty tough, the rubber takes a bit of punishment
• Easy to keep clean - fluff just wipes off - clean with polish remover or acetone 

Cons

• Because its very firm its best for people with flatish nail beds - if your nail beds are curvy you most likely will end up with missing bits of the image especially on the tip
• This stamper is not very forgiving due to its firm nature so its sometimes hard to pick up certain images - best for more experienced stampers
• At first it can be a little awkward to hold and get that continuous rolling motion that you need for stamping but it doesn't take long to adjust to.

                 Click here to buy - Rectangle Semi-firm (rubber)/metal scraper

Pros

• It's rectangle shaped! My nails are kinda rectangle shaped! Where have you been all my life rectangle stamper. 
• Awesome for lining up the image so you can apply it straightly to your nails - this is a great all rounder stamper
• Firmness rating: 3/5 - semi-firm rubber (similar to Konad mushroom stamper) reduces the chances of image distortion and polish smooshing 
• Length of stamp is 2.8cm so suits long nails - width 1.8cm 
• Suits all types of plate images, full nail, accent 
• Most stamping polish colours show up over the red rubber
• It's pretty tough, the rubber takes a little bit of punishment
• Easy to keep clean - fluff just wipes off - clean with polish remover or acetone 

Cons

• Because its semi-firm its best for people with flatish nail beds - if your nail beds are very curvy you may end up with missing bits of the image especially on the tip
• At first it can be a little awkward to hold and get that continuous rolling motion that you need for stamping but it doesn't take long to adjust to.

             Click here to buy - Rectangle Squishy (rubber) stamper/Metal scraper

Pros

• It's rectangle shaped! And it's squishy, my nail sinks into it and 99% of the time there are no missing bits in my image...winning!
• Awesome for lining up the image so you can apply it straightly to your nails
• Firmness rating: 1/5
• Length of stamp is 2.8cm so suits long nails - width 1.8cm 
• This stamper despite its cons is my all time favourite stamper. Its the one I use the most and I do take care to look after it. There is less crazy nail lady stamping rage because I can easily make sure all of my nail has had the stamper rolled over it. There is however some skill involved in using this stamper to get the best from it.

Cons

• Best cleaned with pure acetone - keep in a fluff free place - if you were living in the vacuum of space this stamper would still find a piece of fluff to stick to and when I say stick I mean STICK! 
• It's silicon and it likes to be treated like a princess - it can and will get dings and chunks from sharp edges. The silicon end may pop out of the plastic holder if it gets knocked around or you clean it too vigorously. It's precious alright but show this baby some TLC and it will give you so much stamping happiness.
• It can stain easily with dark colours which doesn't effect future stamping but is still annoying
• Polish smooshing - squishy can equal smoosh depending of the stamping polish you are using - use light pressure when applying stamper to nail
• Better suited for full nail images - delicate and accent images have tended to smoosh for me - sometimes I double scrape the polish off the image before I pick it up on the stamp to combat smooshing.
• Image can distort or curve when picking up from plate or applying to nail - try stamping straight up and down to combat this and use light pressure.
• Special stamping polish may smoosh on impact - not suitable for very detailed images with lots of fine lines
• I like to stamp with white stamping polish and the white on white makes it a bit hard to see but if you line it up right its probably going to work out.

                  Click here to buy - Konad double ended stamper/metal scraper

Pros

• High quality rubber with 2 sizes of stamper - red end diameter 2.4cm, green end diameter 1.2cm
• Firmness rating: 3/5
• It's super tough, the rubber ends never fall out, it withstands lots of acetone.
• Doesn't stain easily - there might be one or two uber dark pigmented polishes that might stain it but I haven't come across any yet
• I know this isn't technically about the stamper but the scraper that comes with this stamper is awesome, my fav, its really wide and scrapes the polish nicely off the plate so it reduces those lines of polish you sometimes get down the sides of the image. 
• Great for kids and applying accent images, helps with placement soooooooo much. This is the stamper I use when I want to put just one small image on my nails.
• Firm rubber reduces the chances of image distortion and polish smooshing 
• Suits all types of plate images, full nail, accent 
• Easy to hold in your hand to get the rolling motion you need for stamping
• Easy to keep clean - fluff just wipes off - clean with polish remover or acetone 

Cons

• Suits short to medium nails, ladies with long nails this one isn't for you.
• Stampers are round which can make applying the stamp to your nail difficult to line up and you might have trouble getting the image on straight
• Because its firm its best for people with flatish nail beds - if your nail beds are curvy you most likely will end up with missing bits of the image especially on the tip
• The red rubber makes stamping in red, yellow, orange etc a bit tricky, its hard to see the image

Click here to buy - Konad small stamper/metal scraper (mushroom stamper)

Pros

• High quality rubber - will withstand mountains of acetone. Im still using my original konad stamper, its as good as the day I bought it. 
• Firmness rating: 3/5
• It's tough! It's pretty hard to get dings and chunks in the surface, bar stabbing it with scissors it will stand up to being knocked around in your nail draw
• The rubber end never falls out
• Firm rubber reduces the chances of image distortion and polish smooshing 
• Suits all types of plate images, full nail, accent 
• Easy to hold in your hand to get the rolling motion your need for stamping
• Easy to keep clean - fluff just wipes off - clean with polish remover or acetone 

Cons

• Suits short to medium nails, ladies with long nails this one isn't for you, diameter 2.3cm
• Stamper is round which can make applying the stamp to your nail difficult to line up and you might have trouble getting the image on straight
• Because its firm its best for people with flatish nail beds - if your nail beds are curvy you most likely will end up with missing bits of the image especially on the tip
• The red rubber makes it hard to see some colours.

                    Click here to buy XL Grey Squishy Double Ended stamper

Pros

• It's massive! And it's squishy without being too squishy. My nail sinks into it and 99% of the time there are no missing bits.
• Because it's not as squishy as other XL stampers, it reduces smooshing significantly.
• It's really great quality. The squishy end stays in place, the rubber is more durable than the old style XL squishy.
• Its double ended.
• Firmness rating: White end -2/5  Red End 3/5
• Suits XL stamping plates, you can pick up jumbo images and eliminate those sad missing bits of image from the sides of your nails - white end diameter 2.9cm, red end diameter 2.0cm
• Perfect for ladies with long or curvy nails
• Great for stamping the thumb or if you have wide nail beds - it helps with placement as you will most likely end up with the design over the entirely of your nail just due to the width of the plate image its capable of picking up.

Cons

• White end is best cleaned with acetone - keep in a fluff free place
• Because its silicon its precious - the white end can and will get dings and chunks in it if you aren't careful.
• It can stain easily but most of the time pure acetone will remove it and it doesn't effect future stamping
• Polish smooshing - squishy can equal smoosh depending of the stamping polish you are using - use light pressure when applying stamper to nail.
• Its round so lining up images can be tricky.
• Better suited for full nail images - delicate and accent images have tended to smoosh for me - sometimes I double scrape the polish off the image before I pick it up on the stamp to combat smooshing.
• Image can distort or curve when picking up from plate or applying to nail - try stamping straight up and down to combat this and use light pressure.
• Stamping with white polish is tricky

Click here to buy - XL Squishy Round Stamper/Plastic scraper

Pros

• It's massive! And it's squishy, my nail sinks into it and 99% of the time there are no missing bits in my image...winning!
• Its double ended
• Firmness rating: White end -1/5  Red End 3/5
• Suits XL stamping plates, you can pick up jumbo images and eliminate those sad missing bits of image from the sides of your nails - white end diameter 2.9cm, red end diameter 1.0cm
• Perfect for ladies with long or curvy nails or Rihanna talons
• Great for stamping the thumb or if you have wide nail beds - it helps with placement as you will most likely end up with the design over the entirely of your nail just due to the width of the plate image its capable of picking up.

Cons

• Best cleaned with acetone - keep in a fluff free place - this stamper is THE WORST - it could beat Miley Cyrus is a dust licking competition hands down - everything sticks to it.
• Because its silicon its precious - it can and will get dings and chunks in it if you aren't careful and the silicon end pops out all the time. I have glued mine into place to stop this from happening but I'm kinda over this stamper for this reason. Our new grey XL stamper is MUCH better!
• It's round so lining up images can be tricky.
• It can stain easily but most of the time pure acetone will remove it and it doesn't effect future stamping
• Polish smooshing - squishy can equal smoosh depending of the stamping polish you are using - use light pressure when applying stamper to nail
• Better suited for full nail images - delicate and accent images have tended to smoosh for me - sometimes I double scrape the polish off the image before I pick it up on the stamp to combat smooshing.
• Image can distort or curve when picking up from plate or applying to nail - try stamping straight up and down to combat this and use light pressure.
• Stamping with white polish is tricky
• Again not directly about the stamper but I DO NOT like plastic scrapers, they suck and spread polish unevenly. I dont care if my plates have scratches on them it doesn't effect future stamping, but if you need your plates to be all shiny and scratch free you might like this.

Well you hung in there until the end, well done! Hopefully you guys now have a better idea of the benefits of having multiple stampers in your arsenal. I do use all of my stampers for different things but if absolutely pushed to say which one I couldn't live without, I would have to say its...um...ahhhh...eeeee....my squishy rectangle stamper. She is a high maintenance stamper but she makes me so happy when every single little detail of the image ends up on my nail and its straight! If you can think of any more pros or cons for the stampers please comment below and I will add them to the post. xx