Showing posts with label holographic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holographic. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Broadway Nails imPress Press-on Manicure Review

A couple days ago, I showed you that I won these press-on nails in a contest, and I wanted to do a separate post to tell you more about my thoughts on those.

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The back of the package, and also the instructions:

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Pretty straightforward. One great thing about these is that they already have the adhesive on them, and so you just have to figure out what sizes fit your nails, pull off the plastic backings, and stick them on! Also included in the box is:

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This is basically just a little pad with alcohol to get any extra dirt or oil off your nails to make sure that the nail sticks properly. Just make sure to let your nails dry before you try to apply the press-ons, otherwise it’s not going to work.

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They also include this mini nail file, maybe for shaping either your nails or the false ones, or for smoothing out the top of your nails. I’m not sure, since it doesn’t say. I didn’t really use this, but I’m sure it could be useful for some people.

And here is the adorable packaging inside:

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I think it’s so cute that it looks like a big nail polish bottle!

And here’s what the nails look like:

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If you look really closely, you can see the plastic tab coming out from under one side of the nail. This is to show you which end points towards your cuticle, and also to make it easier to get the plastic off the adhesive.

And, here they are on:

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If you look too close, you’ll see a couple of my nails are a little crooked. This is something to watch out for, since, once they’re pressed in place it isn’t easy (read: next to impossible) to get them off again. The one that I did peel back off to set straighter never re-adhered properly, and ultimately was the first one to come off.

And here’s a look at the length compared to the length of my nails at the time:

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These were pretty long, but definitely still functional. My biggest issue with false nails is that my nails are very curved, and often falsies pinch or pull on my nail bed. For some reason—even though these weren’t the same shape, and often were either too wide or not wide enough for my nails—these didn’t do that. They were actually perfectly comfortable, and did last almost a whole week for me. The only irritating thing about these was that when I ran my fingers through my hair for any reason, hair would get caught under the edges close to the cuticles. This makes hair washing pretty annoying! It’s possible I didn’t get them close enough to the cuticle, but for the most part, I think they are, so I think it’s a fault in the nails, not in my application.

Overall, I would like to be able to say I would purchase these for another time. Before I realised they were usually very short, I thought they’d be great for nail-meltdowns, when I just seem to be breaking everywhere and need pretty nails. However, while sometimes I get some bad splits and breaks, I rarely loose so much of my nail that the regular imPress nails would cover my natural ones. Very disappointing! They need to make a longer version!

And, finally, I wanted to show off how I dressed up these simple black nails for New Year’s Eve:

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I did a holographic glitter gradient. A quarter of the way down, I did a coat of my holographic topcoat. Then I used my LA Colours holographic glitter for one coat from half-way down the nail, and then at three-quarters. I love the outcome; it’s like I dipped my nails in crystals or diamonds! I know I’ve done glitter gradients before, but somehow I’m always so astonished at how easy it is to do something so stunning!

Also, while I’m annoyed at the shortness of the regular nails from imPress, and will likely never repurchase them, I can see how they could be great for people who just can’t grow their nails long. If you wanted just a little extra length without it being so long that it’s hard to deal with, these would be great, and (if I remember correctly) they come in simple colours, French tips, and crazy patterns, so there are lots of options!

Let me know if you’ve tried these nails out, and what you thought of them. Thanks for reading!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Snow Nails (My entry for the first week of NailPolishCanada.com’s nail art contest)

In case you weren’t aware, NailPolishCanada is doing a themed nail art competition. This week’s theme is Snow. I know this is a bit of a half-hearted attempt, especially compared to some of the other entries, but I would appreciate it immensely if you voted for me! I promise my entry for next week will be better prepared! (Click here to go vote)

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The best nail:

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In case you’re wondering, the blue is Sephora by OPI’s Blue Grotto, under a holographic topcoat that is just basecoat and a bunch of holo microglitter. Then I used a white LA Colours striper for the snowflakes.

Thanks so much, and please vote!

My Current Nails (and some of my other latest manis)

My current mani is two coats of Wet N Wild Wild Shine in Caribbean Frost, and then two coats of Orly Mermaid Tale. The colours match surprisingly well:

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Another recent mani was using this adorable little bottle of polish:

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Which I made! My friend Brit and I did a meet-up with another redditor, who had polish-making supplies that she let us use. I made this pretty purple holographic polish, which I really like. Look how shiny! (I called it SparkleBerry)

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And, I recently re-found a bottle of Ardene nail polish—Cotton Candy Pink—that I’d forgotten I had. It’s a really soft, almost Barbie pink… Maybe Barbie princess? Without flash:

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With flash:

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And that’s all for now. What polishes have you been wearing? Thanks for reading!

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