Monday, July 6, 2015

Mundo de Unas stamping polish review and swatches

Introduction

Today I prepared something which might be useful for you, my second Mundo de Unas stamping review. You can find my first review here. This time I decided to combine black&white swatches with bottle shots and polish names/numbers, so it's super convenient for you to use it as a reference. There are total 40 polishes swatched and for 27 of them you can find direct links to my blog posts where I used corresponding polish (look for links under macro previews). From bottle pictures you can see which polish separates easily. Metallics gold, silver and bronze separate really bad so I mixed them before taking picture. All pictures were taken under LED light lamp, so there is no variation in the light settings between them. I love my MdUs, yes they are smelly, but never smear and can be easily removed with sticky tape if you want to re-stamp image again.

Results
Collage with 36 swatches of MdU polish.





  White           Pastel Pink     Mexican pink       Old pink
Figure 1. White and pink. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. All stamp nicely. White is a perfect white polish for stamping.  Pastel and old pinks are separating, but you do not have to mix polish before stamping, it works well anyway. Mexican pink can stain stamper, but stain goes away after some time.


Figure 2. Red.Click on link under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. No bottle for Tulip, because I gave it to my mom. Reddish is super vibrant and does not separate at all, I like it more than Red or Tulip. Copper separates a lot and requires mixing before stamping.


Peach                Neon orange                                                           
Figure 3. Orange. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Peach separates, but does not require mixing, while Neon orange needs to be mixed and stamps not very vivid. Geranium and Orange look almost identical, which Orange  stamping more sheer.


Gold                      Bronze                                                                  
Figure 4. Gold, bronze and brown. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Both Gold and Bronze have to be mixed before stamping, otherwise they do not work well.

Cream                 Neon yellow               Yellow                               
Figure 5. Yellow. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Cream and Yellow stamp beautifully, while neon yellow is a bit sheer an might look more green than yellow.

Neon green             Lemon tree              Avocado                                       
Figure 6. Green. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Neon green, Lemon tree and Avocado all stamp beautifully and do not separate. Lemon tree is warmer than Avocado, but they are pretty similar.



Dark green                   Fijii                        Aqua                       Forest      
Figure 7. Green and teal. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Dark green stamps perfectly and visible even on the black. Fijii and Aqua are quite similar, but Aqua shade is lighter, no need to mix before stamping. Forest is one of my favorite colors, it separates, but can be used without mixing.

     Pastel blue          Holland blue              Fantasy                                        
Figure 8. Blue. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. All these blue colors are different and stamp beautifully. blue navy might not be very visible on black.


Figure 9. Purple and red. Click on link under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Violet gorgeous and vivid color. Red wine separates quite a bit and looks similar to Fiusha.

 Black                                             Metallic purple             Silver
Figure 10. Black, grey and silver. Click on links under macro preview to see nail art done with corresponding polish. Black is perfect stamping black polish. Silver and Metallic purple need mixing before stamping and look very similar, which was very disappointing for me. Light grey is similar to silver, but without metallic finish.


Materials and Methods

Nail Polish:
  • Julep - Nicolette (white base)
  • Essie - Licorice (black base)
  • Creative shop stamper
Stamping plates:
  • Mundo de Unas - D8
Discussion


Mundo de Unas is definitely on of the best stamping polishes, however there is an ongoing issue about it, because owner of MdU Sylvia does not share list of ingredient. Some people are concerned that unknown ingredients might be the cause of their health problems. I personally use MdU for almost a year  and did not notice any heath related problems. Whatever ingredients are, amount of polish coming in direct contact with you is really small. First of all, stamping polish is always applied on top of several layers of another polish, never directly on the nail and topped with a coat. Second, if you want to minimize contact further use skin protection around your cuticle, it can be one of the multiple specifically designed products (I use Crystalline Nail Veil from color4nails, because it has tiny brush for precise application) or cheap solutions like latex pain or hair glue, which works fantastic ( I love to use it to protect large skin areas). Finally, let some fresh air in, I always work with my balcony door opened. Strong smell coming from any kind of polish and polish removers can accumulate and you might not tolerate it well.  Stay safe and enjoy stamping, there is no need for drama.

References
You can buy this polish directly from MdU. It's cheaper but takes long time for delivery.

Or from US based store Llarowe.

23 comments:

  1. You went above and beyond with this review Alesya! I've already bookmarked it and will be using it as a MdU cheat sheet from now on :D

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    1. Thank you Sumeet, it took me quite some time before all the organization settled down and I came up with final version. I'm super happy that people like it and will actual use it, especially such great stampers as you ;)

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  2. Great post! I used you're previous one for my first purchase from mdu. I didn't know the Metallics were the most prone to separating, i don't have any of those and that info makes my reluctant to try esp since many normal metallic polishes stamp well. I have the most problems with my Neon orange. It separates so badly it's near impossible to mix. I also have problems withs is vibrance and opacity, which i think has to do with me not being able to mix it...

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    1. Thank you so much, i just found your own review, it looks great ;) I agree with you about neon orange. Neons for some reason do not stamp really vivid, but more transparent, like a regular non stamping polish would do. I use ink mixer, it was pretty cheap and works great to mix polish in mini bottles. Also recently I bought metallic bissu polish and even though bottle is non transparent, you can not see separation it stamps like a charm. Highly recommend it!!!

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  3. awesome post - it must have taken forever but it's great!!

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  4. I had heard about the ingredients controversy, but didn't know it originated from someone (more than one?) person having health concerns. What happened to the person/people that thought MdU started their health issue?

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    1. I'm not sure what happened to them, this issue was brought to my attention after i posted review, so i added my thoughts about it. I guess you can try to google MdU controversy. As I understand mostly there were complains about headache, which honestly can be caused by any kind of strong smell.

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    2. Interesting! Thanks Alesya! Amazing work here by the way, now I know what MdU's to get! =D

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    3. I'm sorry that I could not provide any links to controversy, it's because I'm not really into it and I do not want to link you to something, which i even did not read. I hope you will be able to figure it our for yourself :)

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    4. I had lots of problems with mdu- nail lifting, bad headaches, sore throat, stinging, runny nose and watery eyes only appeared after using for a few weeks. At first the only thing I wasn't keen on was the smell, I was happy with the way they stamped and the bright colours. Then the symptoms began to get worse and worse. Please be aware that chemical exposure can occur from these polishes with cumulative use, so may not show up straight away. In my opinion the polish is toxic and dangerous. I'm far from alone in developing these issues. When I contacted Sylvia she said that no one else had any problems with them, (not true) and that I should open a window. She wouldn't tell me what I was allergic to but offered a refund if i sent them back to Mexico at my own expense.( I didn't bother) They don't conform to US, EU or even Mexican regulations so she shouldn't really be shipping them internationally anyway. If you still want to use them then go for it, but personally I am not prepared to risk my health for pretty nails.

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    6. i'm sorry that you had so many problems.

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  5. Great post, thank you! I know all about the controversy, but I really don't care lol. Nothing stamps as good as MDU!

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    1. Thank you so much !!!, I do not really know much about this controversy, but just like you personally I do not care much, they stamp perfectly, easy to remove and do not smear, that's enough for me to keep using this product :)

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  6. Very helpful and interesting post :)

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  7. Love this post and details/specifics you shared. This helps

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    1. Thank you so much Manisha, I'm happy to help :)

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  8. Thank you so much for this article. I've heard so much about these polishes and have decided to give them a try. You've helped me narrow down the color choices.

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