This nail polish strip review came in from a reader with the user name SerendipitiousP. She answered our Reader Respond: Nail Polish Strip Reviews, but I thought it was such a helpful submission it deserved to be its own article.
----------I am fussy about any imperfection in my finger nails. I often prefer gel nails at the salon because they last longer without problems, but I sometimes can't afford the time to maintain gel nails. So, I finally tried nail polish strips. I picked Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips - Laced Up.
I have to say, they were much easier to apply than I expected. The results are also better than I anticipated, even after a few days wear. I'm particularly hard on my nails - I don't have a dishwasher, I type constantly (IT consultant), and I garden a bit. The attached picture is after 2.5 days wear and tear.
I picked a pattern to go with a black and white outfit I planned to wear. It's a bit wilder than my normal style, but still not skulls or camo or animal print.
I found the instruction to stretch the strip material a bit misleading - I didn't really need to do that much. The hardest part for me was getting the strips off of the paper form - especially once down to the last or next to last nail to finish. I found it very simple to hold the strip in the middle, stick it down as close as possible to my cuticle, press down with the orange stick, pull a little bit over nail edge and then buff the edge so I could remove the excess.
The strips are packaged in 2 sets of 8 each, with varying sizes. I found I only needed to use 1 set of 8 to do my whole manicure, because my nails are not very long so I could use one strip for my pointer fingers (2 sides), one strip for my middle fingers (2 sides), and one strip for my ring fingers (2 sides). I did end up using separate strips for my pinkies, probably because those nails are thinner and I creased the other half of the pinky nail strip.
I have a hand/arm/neck disability so painting my nails myself is often frustrating and messy due to my hands shaking a bit. The fact that I could actually use the strips with no problems was awesome! Even a few of my male colleagues noticed my new funky nail design and commented!
Here are some things that I think are helpful to know before you try them.
- If your nails are short, you can probably use one strip for 2 nails.
- If the strip is a tiny bit wider than your nail, push the edges under your cuticle with the orange stick.
- You don't really have to buff the end that much. Just do it a little and then gently tug on the excess nail material to remove it. Buff the ends down *after* removing the excess.
- I had a lot of success using the other half of the nail strip on the nail of the other hand.
- Then, I went back and finished off all of my nails.
- You should start at your pinky nails and work towards your thumb nails as mentioned in the instructions.
Curious about nail polish strips? Check out our list of 6 nail polish strips to try. We also reviewed Incoco's Nail Polish strips and loved them. (Read Review) And if you've yet to try Shellac, you must learn more about it.
If you have a tip about a product or a skin or nail treatment that you'd like me to consider sharing, email me at skincare@aboutguide.com.
