Friday, July 29, 2011

Marta Experiments: Sally Hansen Nail Effects

Let it be known: I suck at doing my own nails. A long-time nail biter, I almost always had short nails until I got engaged and I was like, hey, I should probably have nice lookin' nails now that I have a nice lookin' ring to show off.

But I cannot master the art of left-handed nail painting, and I'm pretty unsteady. Being a neurosurgeon was never in the cards for me.

So the idea of Sally Hansen Nail Effects excited me. Foolproof nail color, right?

Well, sort of (for me anyway).

I am sort of a mess. You'll see from the photo.

I would ask for my money back if I left a salon looking like this.
My biggest issues were finding the exact right size for each nail then tailoring it perfectly to my nail. I also had a hard time getting the strip to stay put in the top corners of some of my nails. Finally I picked the color - Squeezed - thinking it was more of a yellow, but it turned out the front strip that showed at the store had been faded by the light! You can see in the picture below (lame iPhone pics) that it's a totally different color from the rest of the strips!
The middle strip is a pretty yellow - but the rest are orange. As you can tell, my fingers did not need the skinniest strips (or the fattest, thankfully).

What I'll do differently next time:
1. Line up the the bottom of the strip with the top of my cuticle more perfectly.
2. Do it in a slightly warmer room (it was pretty chilly, and made my hands cold. Sally Hansen advises warm hands for better pliability).

My other critique is that so far, they've already chipped quite a bit. Maybe if I do it better, this won't be as big of an issue?

However, even though I need some practice, I will definitely be trying these again. I'm eager to try the lattice-looking Misbehaved as well as some other neon colors!

Does anyone have any tips on how I can not suck at using these?

6 comments:

  1. I have tried these and loved them! I lined up the end to my cuticle and then pressed down for several seconds . When I filed the edge I did a downward motion to seal it. Some strips were big enough for the nail bed, but I thought it still looked pretty good. Mine lasted almost 2 weeks chip-free. I had to fight the urge to peel them off though. I hope they have some fun designs for halloween!

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  2. I've been wanting to try these since I've heard a lot of good things about them. Only problem is that they pretty much only come in "fun" prints/designs which wouldn't really fly at work =/

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  3. lol, kind of afraid that's what would happen to me. bought the lacey ones ages ago... still sitting in my cabinet. #beautydiyfailure

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  4. yes, def follow what melissa said. and use the cuticle stick to press down or remove the polish around your cuticle. *i also use clear on top (even tho its not necessary) ;)

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  5. Forgive me and I think the yellow can be the most bad color used on nails, so maybe you should choose the fashion high heels shoes and the Sexy Leopard Print Sandals at cwmalls.com instead of yours bad choice!

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