Nails are Jewels, not Tools

Every nail salon I have ever been has a sign somewhere that bears the statement above. It makes me smile, because the odds that I will even be able to emerge from the salon without mangling my manicure are slim. Before both boys were born I went to have a pedicure. Both times I looked down on the day after they were born to see a hunk of polish missing from my big toe. Both times were a result having my foot hooked under a hospital bed, but that's another story entirely. The point is that my life is a full-contact sport. All of the mortal enemies of a good manicure are every-day occurrences around here.

All of this is why I was so excited when I saw the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. No drying time was a huge seller. So I went to Target to check them out. I thought the $8.99 price tag for 16 strips was a little high, but I don't already have a line item for a nail salon in my budget. My next problem is that the color selection is a little wild. They have a wide selection of styles, but I really struggled to find something that didn't make me feel 14 again. I finally decided on Bling It On, a pink sparkle pattern. Since they were so bright, I waited until our beach vacation to put them on. They were a little more work to put on than I was expecting - more than an hour compared to 15 minutes, and I never did get the hang of rolling them over my nail to create complete coverage and optimal wear. The box also calls out that these are odor-free, but it smelled like nail polish to me. The packaging promises 10 days of wear. I'm at that point now and I think that they are about to go. I have some chipping on all of the nails and some growth away from the cuticles. Pretty good compared to a regular polish. But most of all, they are still too bright for me. Sad to say, I get distracted by my own nails.

BOTTOM LINE: I'm still delighted by the no-paint nail color concept, but I don't think that I can break away from my 1 shade wonder. I think Incoco has some colors that will work better for me.

Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this review.