I got home and let them sit there for a while, contemplating when I should give them a go, I decided that last night would be the perfect opportunity since I had nothing else to do. Before I continue my review I would like to mention that while I have never used Sally Hansen strips before I have used Kit Cosmetic nail strips so I did have some knowledge of how these things should work. So please keep reading about my experience of taking my nails from this...
To this...
When I first opened the box I was greeted with 1 little nail file, 1 little cuticle stick, 1 set of instructions, 1 set of white tips, and 2 sets of nail strips....WAIT WHAT!! 1 set of white tips and 2 sets of nail strips that can't add up. Don't worry as I soon found out it does you have to carefully (and I do mean carefully) separate the white tips apart as they are two to a sheet.
After I had prepped my nails and wiped them over with polish remover to get rid of any remaining oils I set about applying the strips. My first thought was how hard the little pouches were to open, I would pull off the silver backing only to find a plastic membrane had remained which I would have to hack into with nail scissors to retrieve my strips. After I did get the packets opened I was overcome with the familiar smell of nail polish, this ruled out my plans of ever being able to apply these strips in a shared living area.
Next it was time to apply the white tips, this was a little tricky as 1) it was really hard to guess where my nail line is 2) the sheets are really flimsy and thin 3) the white tabs don't really stick well no matter how much I buffed my nails and 4)I found many of the white tabs to be just a little bit too wide for my nails (I ended up having to trim the sides off). Please note that this did get easier as I went along, but my first thumb has a massive white part to it that looks a little too big. After you get the white strip where you want it its time to file off the excess white part, be very very careful when doing this as it is really easy to rip them.
After this you have to apply the top strip, this is a sheer pink or beige colour depending on the set you get. I found getting these to not sit all over my cuticle and sit centred was a little tricky. They are a little stretchy so you can pull them a little to cover your whole nail but not too much otherwise they will rip (as I found out). When you get it centred you have to push it down with the cuticle stick to there are no air bubbles and once again file it off at the end. I found it a little harder to file this off than the white strips but eventually I got all 10 fingers done.
Afterwards I finished with a layer of clear top coat just to seal the strips onto my nails for longevity. They say these will last for 10 days, so I'll see how I go and report back with how they held up in 10 days time.
Some initial thoughts
- These were a lot more fiddly than I thought they would be and the whole process took about an hour
- I feel that these weren't the most user friendly strips and that the Kit Cosmetics ones were much easier to use
- Even though I got these 20% off, I'm still a little bitter about paying $11.96 on nails that I will only get to use once. Again to compare to the Kit Cosmetics ones which are $9.90 for 20 strips which gives you 2 wears out of them (4 if your nails are shorter as you can cut them easily and they don't dry up).
x Stacey
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