Battle of the Top Coats | Which is best for stamping

Hello loves,  I hope you're doing fantastic. I absolutely love stamping, I tend to do it over every swatch I do. So I have a good amount of experience however with stamping you always face the worry of "Will my top coat smear it?". So I've been working on this project for a bit. & you can believe there will be a second post in the future containing more top coats. Until then, let's just check out this comparison of 12 different top coats.

* Some of these top coats were sent to me for free, & some I did purchase, so any that were free will have an asterisk(*) beside it.
Battle of the Top Coats | Which is best for stamping
Battle of the Top Coats | Which is best for stamping
All top coats are shown in alphabetical order. My final list will be at the very bottom, as well as the photos of the order they went into.
All bottles are brand new, that way they are at peek performance & consistency. 


Name: Super Dry
Type: Quick Dry Top Coat
Price: $15.99 USD / $18.11 CAD
Adrianne K Polish - Super Dry
Adrianne K Polish - Super Dry

Brand: Bundle Monster
Name: No Smudge
Type: Regular
Price: $4.95
Bundle Monster - No Smudge
Bundle Monster - No Smudge
Bundle Monster - No Smudge
Bundle Monster - No Smudge

Brand: Ella + Mila*
Name: In A Rush
Type: Quick Dry 
Price: $10.50 USD
Ella + Mila - In A Rush
Ella + Mila - In A Rush
Ella + Mila - In A Rush
Ella + Mila - In A Rush

Brand: Essie*
Name: Speed Setter
Type: Quick Dry
Price: $8.00 ish
Essie - Speed Setter
Essie - Speed Setter
Essie - Speed Setter
Essie - Speed Setter

Name: Glitter Glaze Quick Dry
Type: Thicker Top Coat made for glitter polish, quick drying.
Price: $8.25 CAD
Girly Bits - Glitter Glaze
Girly Bits - Glitter Glaze
Girly Bits - Glitter Glaze
Girly Bits - Glitter Glaze

Name: What A Rush
Type: Quick Dry
Price: $8.25 CAD
Girly Bits - What A Rush
Girly Bits - What A Rush
Girly Bits - What A Rush
Girly Bits - What A Rush

Name: Formally known as HK Girl is now just Top Coat
Type: Quick Dry
Price: $6.99
Glisten & Glow Top Coat
Glisten & Glow Top Coat
Glisten & Glow Top Coat
Glisten & Glow Top Coat

Brand: Moyou London
Name: Top Coat
Type: Smudge & Smear Free
Price: $9.50
Moyou London Top Coat
Moyou London Top Coat
Moyou London Top Coat
Moyou London Top Coat

Brand: New York Colour
Name: Shine in a Minute
Type: Quick Dry 
Price: $1.99
New York Color - Shine In A Minute
New York Color - Shine In A Minute
New York Color - Shine In A Minute

Brand: Sally Hansen*
Name: Miracle Gel Top Coat
Type: Regular
Price: $10.00
Sally Hansen - Miracle Gel Top Coat
Sally Hansen - Miracle Gel Top Coat
Sally Hansen - Miracle Gel Top Coat
Sally Hansen - Miracle Gel Top Coat

Brand: Sparkle & Co*
Name: Luxe Top
Type: Quick Dry 
Price: $10.00 USD
Sparkle & Co - Luxe Top
Sparkle & Co - Luxe Top 
Sparkle & Co - Luxe Top
Sparkle & Co - Luxe Top 

Name: Marvel Liquid Macro Top Coat
Type: Quick Dry 
Price: $6.95 USD
Superchic Lacquer - Marvel Liquid Macro Top Coat
Superchic Lacquer - Marvel Liquid Macro Top Coat
Superchic Lacquer - Marvel Liquid Macro Top Coat
Superchic Lacquer - Marvel Liquid Macro Top Coat

Well there you have it, all of the up close photos of each swatch. So I used 6 different stamping plates, as well as my favourite stamping polish & my favourite stamper.

The stamper I used is the Bundle Monster Dual Ended Clear Stamper, & the stamping polish is Cre8tion Products Stamping Nail Art Lacquer Black 02

The 6 different stamping plates I used from left to right are:
Uberchic Beauty - 1-03

**Please note**
I did not float the top coat when applying specially because I cannot float top coat on my own nails. I have very curved nails much like the swatch nails. Usually the floating top coat can apply too much & which can cause it to pool on the sides & make it look awful. So I have to paint on the top coat. Please remember that just because these didn't work well for me when painting them on, they wont work using the float method. 
So 1 being the best & 10 being the worst this is my list.
So 1 being the best & 10 being the worst this is my list.
So 1 being the best & 10 being the worst this is my list.
Tied for 1st is Bundle Monster No Smudge & Moyou London Top Coat
2nd Sparkle & Co Luxe Top
3rd Glisten & Glow Top Coat
Tied for 4th Girly Bits Glitter Glaze & Superchic Lacquer Liquid Marco
5th Girly Bits What A Rush
6th Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat
7th Ella + Mila In A Rush
8th Essie Speed Setter
9th NYC Shine in a Minute 
10th Adrianne K Polihs Super Dry

*Edited*  The Bundle Monster & Moyou top coats have thinner consistencies so you can feel & see the lines of the stamped design. I would recommend topping them with a quick dry top coat if you really want a smooth glossy finish.

So that wraps up todays post. I hope it helps you keeping your stampicures beautiful. Please let me know what other top coats you recommend for stamping! I would absolutely love to test them out!

Thank you so much for reading,
Anita xo

12 comments:

  1. Awesome thanks! So it seems that if it’s considered a quick dry top coat it will smudge? As the BMC and MoYou don’t say quick dry, that was my assumption. Maybe there is something in qdtc that causes the smearing? Thanks for doing this! Now I need to get some BMC!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll have to test out some non quick dry top coats now ! Thank you so noticing that. I appreciate it.

      Delete
  2. Thank you SO much for this review!I have had some smearing even with top coats that I considered pretty good, like the Girly Bits, Superchic, and Glisten & Glow. I just bought a bunch of the BMC to try out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you enjoy it! So glad this helped you!

      Delete
  3. How long did you let the stamping dry before the topcoat was added? I don't seem to have much problem if I let it dry 15-20 minutes before I topcoat.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for doing this. It’s perfect! Just wondering if the BMC is toxin free (ie free of the top 3 or 5 etc toxins)? Also, I love doing foils and adding water decals etc, I would love to see a post testing different top coats on these different nail art options. Thank you, Kathleen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a wonderful idea for a post, I'll have to start order some more swatch wheels & foils.

      BMC top coat **Ingredients**: Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Acryates Copolymer, Nitrocellulose, Ethanol, Adipic Acidneopentylglycotrimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, and Acetyl Tributyl Citrate.

      I believe it's 3 or 5 free. I don't see any of the usual chemicals.

      Delete
  5. So bmc... It isn't quick drying??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not labelled as a quick drying top coat, however it has a very thin consistency. So it kind of dries fast, but not super fast.

      Delete
  6. Thank you for diligently testing them all out! Love to know before I waste money on something that's just going to smear.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great article! My results have been similar to your's. The problem I find is that the good topcoats for stamping dull holos and sparkles. If I stamp on top of a boring base, I use BMC. If I stamp on top of a pretty base, I use Glisten and Glow or POP. Have you noticed any difference with these top coats when making decals?

    ReplyDelete