Nail Art Style

I am so shocked I made it to day seven, and only lost one press-on. These are very well made, and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a durable press-on manicure.

My only grievances are with the leftover plastic tabs underneath the free-edges - Seriously, no one could have filed them down during manufacturing?-, the fact that the design decal began to wear away, revealing the white plastic underneath, only a few days into wearing them, and that the nails were so short I had to cut down my own nails to fit them.

Other than those issues, I was pleased with the look of the design - It's called Love Struck-, how glossy the nails looked, and stayed throughout, and the strength and durability.

Now for removal!

The instructions state:

I am way too lazy today to wait for the polish remover, so I just pulled them off by the sides. It actually was a challenge! I had to use my sad excuse for upper-body strength to remove them. 

Below are some pictures of my nails after removal. I was worried the adhesive, and tough removal, may have damaged my nails, but they look great. There is a bit of residue from the glue, but that is easily removable with some polish remover.

I think the Impress Press-on Manicure would be great for special occasions, no worries about chips or smudges. And great for people who are not the best at designs, and don't want to pay for expensive salon trips. I don't think I would wear these for as long as I did for the blog. Personally, I get bored easily, and usually change my polish at least a couple times a week. But it is amazing that they can last a whole week with just a thin layer of adhesive. Perfect for people who are not as impatient as myself, and prefer to wear a nail look for a longer period of time. If you see them at your local drugstore I would recommend giving them a try. The kit comes in many different colors and designs, and are inexpensive at around $7 or $8.

Thanks for reading my Impress Challenge! I am so glad it's done! It was fun, but I have a lot of designs I want to share, and this series has taken up my time, and nails. I will be testing out more products like this soon, but I want to focus on my designs for a bit. Look out Friday, as I am posting my first nail art tutorial! 

Thanks for reading!

To read the Impress Challenge in its entirety click here.

Lately the weather where I live has been gloomy, dark, and pouring. I love it! 

Anyway, yesterday I had a client for a haircut, and obviously that required extensive use of my hands. The nails were still strong, and there were no casualties - What is this adhesive made out of? Magic?-. Not to say the day didn't go without a hitch. After the haircut was done, I was cleaning my thinning shears, and somehow managed to drop them on my foot - Of course I was wearing sandals.-. So now I have a gash on my foot, but at least I didn't lose a press-on! While in school, I cut my hands a lot with my shears, but this was the first time I ever cut my foot!

Besides the surprising strength of these nails, I also noticed a third-party benefit to them. My cat, Jackson, has been obsessed with me scratching under his chin more than usual, and I believe this has less to do with any affection for me, and more to do with the plastic of the press-on nails. I think he's going to miss them when they're gone.

While I am impressed and surprised with the longevity of these nails, I can't wait for tomorrow to take them off! It's not that I don't like them, I'm just having nail polish withdrawal, and want to paint, design, and swatch again! I know it has only been a week, but I am bored. Though it was fun testing out a product I normally wouldn't have bought in a million years, thinking it would be terrible. I want to experiment with more nail products like this. Hopefully this challenge impressed someone else besides myself, and opened someones eyes to a cool product they wouldn't have bought otherwise.

Thanks for reading!

(To catch up on days 1-4 of my Impress Challenge click here)

(To catch up on my Impress Press-on Manicure Challenge click here.)

Day three was a pretty nondescript day, gloomy and dark just how I like it. It was a slow day, so I didn't get to test the nails strength too much. They still felt quite strong, but I noticed that the decal on the free-edges was starting to fade, revealing the white plastic. A bit of wear and tear is to be expected, but on day three it's a bit surprising. But they have already survived two sinks of dishes, three showers, and two shampoos, so that is pretty impressive based on past experience with press-ons. 

My right pinkie press-on nail has felt loose for a couple days now, it held out pretty well, but finally kicked the bucket this morning while I was getting dressed. While I am disappointed I lost any of them, I am still pleased with the quality. With past press-on's you were lucky if you made it past the application day before you lost a nail. Luckily, they gave me plenty of extra nails, so I was able to replace it. I am really hopeful that the rest of them will actually make it to day seven. Today is laundry day,- bleh- as well as floor-washing day, dusting/vacuuming day, and pet cage cleaning day, basically all that good stuff - bleh, again-. And after all this cleaning, the nails still feel strong. See you Monday for days five & six!

Thanks for reading!

(To catch up on day one of my Impress Press-on Manicure Challenge click here.)

Here are a few more pictures from day one.

Last night I took a shower and washed my hair. I was curious if the press-on nails would be able to survive water for an extended period of time, as well as contact with shampoo. They did! Well, sort of. After I dried my hair, I tested the nails. Most of them still felt strong and sturdy. But my right pinkie nail had lifted slightly on the side. It is still on, but I feel like it won't be for long. The bet around my house is that these nails won't make it to Saturday, and I think it might be spot on. I keep pressing on it, so again, time will tell.

I have been looking for a product to buy specifically to review for my blog. I kept seeing the Impress Press-On Manicure at my local CVS, and thought they were cute. But I have used press on nails in the past and have always had a bad experience. I remember combing through my hair with my fingers and getting a nail stuck to my hair, or washing my hands and having nails fall down the drain. So, I was not interested in trying these. But then I read a few reviews, and watched a Youtube review that raved about how well they worked. I was Shocked. I happened to have $3 in extra bucks, so I decided to give it a try. I am calling this the Impress Challenge, and will write about my results for the next week.

The kit is around $8, but with my $3 extra bucks I only paid $5. I picked a patterned kit because the solid colors were a bit boring. If I'm going to spend money on a nail kit, I want something I couldn't just do at home! This pattern is called Lovestruck. 

The instructions are as follows:

Pretty simple. The box states that they will last up to a week when applied properly. So I made sure I put them on exactly as the instructions said, so if they don't last I know it was the product and not my application skills.

The kit comes with the super cute nail case, a prep pad, and a mini file. The prep pad is just alcohol to remove excess oil off of your natural nail plate. The second you open it the surrounding area smells like a doctors office. The mini file is to file down your natural nails. I also had to use it on the press-on nails because they left a plastic tab on the free edge of each nail, which is very distracting and unappealing. I tried to file them down to no avail. The tab isn't really noticeable to other people, but I notice it!

I love the nail case! It's so cute. You open the top like a real nail polish bottle and the case opens from the bottom. Very useful for storing the extra nails. 

I was happy to see they numbered each nail, so when I found a nail that fit, I just looked for the matching numbered nail. It was difficult to find a match for my thumbs, all the thumb nails were too big. I ended up with two different sized nails, so apparently my thumb nails are mutants.

Here is a shot of my natural nails after I used the alcohol wipe. My nails are in a crises right now, so I figured this was a perfect product to use and hide them from my sight. I actually had to cut them down before applying the press-on nails. My nail beds are really long, so my free edge was showing through the bottom of the nail. I hated that I had to cut them, they were just starting to grow nice and long again! But I couldn't pass up trying these, so sorry nails!

After I found my nail matches, I peeled off the plastic underneath the nails to reveal the adhesive. Then I pressed them on my nails with all my might -Which isn't much, I'm afraid. But I used what little upper body strength I had.-.

I like them. They are definitely not subtle, up close you can tell they are not my natural nails. I wish they were more rounded. They are quite flat, which gives them a bit of a duck bill effect. I was acutely aware I was wearing them at first. I never wear "fake" nails, stick on or professional, so it took some getting used too. On they felt like when you were a kid and you would put those bugles chips on your fingers and pretend you had claws. -What? Just me? Come on! I know I'm not the only one who did that.- I still feel the thumb nails, since they are too big they touch my skin, and are a tad annoying.

So far so good though. After applying the nails I washed a sink of dishes, made my bed, ran my fingers trough my hair while I flat ironed it, went shopping, and cleaned my bathroom top to bottom. And after all that they still feel really strong and stuck on. One of my index finger nails lifted ever so slightly when I was taking off a necklace, so I'm not sure if it will make it. I keep pressing on it, and it feels fine, so time will tell.

I am so curious if they will really last for the whole week. The Vlog review I watched only showed the nails after day three, so I want to document the whole 7 days. Look out tomorrow for day two in my Impress Challenge.

Thanks for reading!

By the way, a fellow beauty blogger was sweet enough to nominate me for a Versatile Blogger award. Thank you so much! That was so nice, and awesome. Check out her blog Iyana Nikita here.