Nail Vinyls - Review

At about 3 am one morning I happened to see a bloggers review of nail vinyls, and I impulsively bought three pages of them. I don't know WHAT I was thinking. I SUCK at stamping, stenciling, anything artistic at all and I am out. But I bought these and by morning was instantly regretting it. Another nail art project to fail at.

So they came in the mail relatively quickly, with the above directions. They were $5 a sheet and the shipping was about a dollar. I instantly decided to try to screw up I mean accent my current manicure. 

I got lightning bolts, small chevrons and large chevrons. The truth is that the chevrons are so similar in size I regret buying the large ones. But oh well. Lesson learned.

Here are the three shapes I got:

And in 15 seconds (maybe thats why all my nail art fails. No patience.) this is what I had! Not too bad for my dominant hand on the first go round!!

Overall, these are pretty much fool proof, idiot proof, or Polish Jinx proof. However you want to word it. And this is my manicure. I type this as I am about to take off on a flight to LA for L's wedding. So this is the wedding manicure. My dress is black with purple flowers.

IF YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT 

LINDA'S OTHER VINYLS, OR ORDER 

(AND YOU SHOULD REALLY ORDER THESE!!) 

YOU CAN DO SO HERE! 

Nicole by OPI Nail Apps in Steps Review

So I have never actually used these before. My understanding is that there are two distinct types of nail appliqués. Those made from REAL nail polish and those that are essentially vinyl stickers. These are the latter. I planned on using the Julep ones if you recall, but the sizes were so insanely large that I just gave up.

The info outside the package. Seems pretty straightforward to me! A big bonus!!

And in tiny type at the bottom of the back of the package it says it lasts for 1-2 days!! FOR 14.99???!!! ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME??? A LOT OF MONEY for two days!

This design is called steps. I really love the design and I appreciate the added directions inside the package! It comes with quite a substantial nail file as well! Not the teensy tiny one I have seen or noticed in other brands. So far I am feeling confidant and assured I will be able to do this!

WRONG!!! It was a NIGHTMARE! No matter how long I held, pushed and rubbed the strips, I noticed no difference in texture. They are a thick plastic! I felt like I needed a saw to saw off the remainder of the strips. I just could not get it to file away smoothly. It looks like someone chewed the heck out of the edges. I did put a top coat on top of them though, hoping that would at least extend the wear a bit. And to be truthful they do not look as bad in person as they do in these macro shots on my camera. But still very disappointing.

I did like the pattern very much. I also liked the sizes of these. Seemed very easy to get the right width! So while there were things I enjoyed about these, between the insane thickness (maybe thickness is not the right word. toughness? very very strong vinyl/plastic that just would not cut away with the file) and the crazy high price of 14.99 for 1-2 days I am not sure I will ever try these again. It does however give me the confidence to try some of the other ones out there (though I think I will stick with real nail lacquer next time!!).