product review: sally hansen salon effects

Confession time: I can't paint my own nails. Yes, I've done it, but rarely and poorly. My hands are just too wobbly; I make a mess even when I'm painting with my right hand, you don't even want to see what happens when I've got the nail brush in my left! With practice, I'm sure I could get better, but usually I just pressgang whoever happens to be around (a friend or my sister, usually) into painting them for me. It's always been depressing that the beautiful nail art I admire could not be mine...until now!


Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips; they come in a variety of patterns, little stickers that harden into a polish-like coat with no dry time or spills or effort!

The polish strips are pretty easy to apply; there was a little bit of fumbling, but I think that had more to do with my own low dexterity (obviously I need to get some safety scissors and work on my "small motor skills" like I made the toddlers do in play group) than actual difficulty. They looked pretty great once they were on! From close up, it's pretty clear that they're stickers, but from the normal distance that you view someone's hand, I don't think you'd be able to tell, especially if you didn't know it's not a fancy manicure.

Unfortunately, there were already a few small chips by the time I woke up the next morning. This pattern doesn't show chips too badly, but a different one would make it very obvious. The inital chips may have been related to poor application, but they continued to chip throughout the weekend, and I really wasn't doing anything particularly rough on my hands (as if!) - just some sleeping and shopping. Weirdly, most of the chips are on my non-dominant hand...mysterious! The other major downside? The sticker adheres at your cuticle but it isn't really ON your nail, so when it sets, it forms a hard ridge that's just slightly separate from your nail. Just big enough for, say, a few strands of hair? Yep, these things snagged my hair while I was trying to wash it in the shower:  not very pleasant.

Basically, these are really cool, but probably aren't a great long-term choice and definitely won't replace actually painting your nails. I think they'd be a terrific option for a special event, when you could apply them the morning of (or even later - no drying time!) and then not care if they chipped afterward. I have another set waiting for me (they were on a two for one sale) so I'll give another pattern a go and let you know if a (theoretically) superior application helps any of these issues.

Hooray, a terrible webcam photo! The nails, after two weeks. Impressive, huh?

So, I sat on this post for two weeks (as I do) and have revised my opinion somewhat. These little buggers have held on, for real! The chipping is definitely getting more significant, but they are really solidly on there and most are fine. The non-dominant chipping has continued...my right hand is almost perfect still. So, I'll upgrade these to a solid 4 out of 5. Try 'em out if you get a chance!