The new manicure?

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with manicures. I love the filed squoval shape and perfectly-polished finish. I hate putting my coat on and immediately smudging. And despite 20 painstaking minutes of buffing, snipping, filing, base coat, polish and top coat, I'm guaranteed to notice a chip the following day. By day 3, my nails look such a state that I have to remove the polish altogether.



Day 1

So the news of a new stick-on nail colour that claims to last up to 10 days was welcome indeed. Now, as regular Best Tressers will know, I recently trialled a set of leopard print nail wraps. But unlike said Nail Rock strips, which have to be blow-dried to adhere (very faffy and time-consuming), new Nailease, £5.99, simply stick on to the nail, no heat required. The strips are made from real nail polish and top coat, which is then dried, ready to stick on. 

Day 4

This week, I put the black strips to the test. I've filmed a how-to video below but to apply start by buffing the nail to remove any natural oil. Next, peel off the plastic from both sides of the nail strip, holding the silver tab. Place the rounded edge at the base of the nail and gently press down to iron out creases. Finish by filing the excess off. All in all, I found the application process quite easy. It's a little fiddily but you soon get the hang of it. My one criticism is the nail sizes. The middle and index finger strips were too wide for me, albeit I do have quite small fingers, but it wasn't clear whether you should trim them to fit first. I ended up applying as they were then attempted to file off the excess at the sides, which wasn't ideal.


Day 7

The whole thing probably took me half an hour, which I can easily spend manicuring my nails, plus you don't have to worry about drying time, which is a huge plus. My set lasted 7 days before I decided to remove, and I really put them through the mill...hammering on my keyboard every day, glossing furniture, soaking my hands in white spirit, swimming in a chlorine-heavy pool, the list goes on. The final straw was catching my nail with a knife when cooking, which caused a big chip - totally my fault. I was really impressed with the longevity of the strips. Rather than chip, they seem to retreat very slightly, a problem easily solved by a quick nail trim.

To remove, treat like regular nail polish and wipe with a cotton wool pad and nail varnish remover. This works really well and there was no trace of stickiness left on my nails. With 25 single shades, as well as high fashion patterns like leopard print and stripes, each pack comes with 20 nail strips, a nail buffer and cuticle stick, and at £5.99, they're much, MUCH cheaper than a salon manicure. The range launches at Boots on 28th February and I cannot recommend enough. Next on my list? These super-cute pink and grey striped strips, Sx