So, I was in Sally renewing my beauty club card and also checking to see if there were any new releases when I spotted these in the far corner of the store. You know the one, with all the nail tips and fake fingers and disembodied featureless heads? Where no one ever looks? Yeah! These were there. They came in three or four styles, the display was a bit of a mess so it was hard to tell how many there were.
There was a zebra print like the Broadway metallic nails (which I plan on reviewing, I just haven't worn them yet), what seemed to be a lighter silver chrome, and the ones I picked, a darker purple-toned chrome:
Super shiny... Nail Bliss Metallic Press-On Nails, style number seems to be 158800- no other identifying markings?And then these, which I haven't worn, but holy crap, look at them:
They are beveled... textured... what do you call this style? I know there's a name for it but I can't remember what. They do it to metal jewelry to make it more shiny or something like that.Another angle to show you that they are actually three-dimensional:
So crazy.
Each set comes with 24 nails- not enough, really. Mostly large thumbnail/toenail sized nails and very few small enough for my hands. One thing to note- these do not come with glue. They come with adhesive tabs and if you want to wear these for more than a few hours you'll need to supply your own glue. I used a bottle of Revlon NailStay nail glue I had floating around in my junk drawer.
You apply them as you would any press-on nail and this is what you end up with:
Dude. How freakin' amazing are these?! I can't get over how much I love them. Though, I did find them a little too flash at that length so I filed them down to match my natural nails:
I got a bit of glue on the pinkie and I scratched the other slightly while filing... oops. You can see some of the downsides of these nails in this picture. One, they're thick. Two, they're so flat they don't conform to the shape of your nail bed leaving you with a gap at the fingertip where dirt and bacteria can get trapped. And three, the shiny surface isn't that durable. You can see that they look a little wide and flat and not quite real compared to my natural nails.Some more shots of post-filing metallic nails:
Flash brings out the darker base color of these chrome nails. It's not a pure light silver, it looks a bit like marcasite.I wore them for five days. Truthfully, I couldn't stand having them on my fingers after the first two hours, but they looked so amazing I didn't want to take them off for a month! Fake nails feel weird. They're too blunt, you can't scratch with them.
This is with five days of wear. Note the index finger- a stripe of the chrome finish has worn off entirely! Partially due to a filing accident, partially because of wear. There's a bit of tipwear and quite a few scratches. They still looked good enough at arm's length for me to keep them on, but I just had to take them off! Despite the package claims they are NOT thin and flexible or best fitting, but damn, do they ever look cool.Here's my evaluation:
- PRO:
- Cheap - $6 a box
- Easy application- can be done at home in 10 minutes
- Your nails become mirrors. Finish can't be achieved with polish
- No chipping
- Available locally, don't need to order online
- Gives you the Minx look without visiting a salon or paying a professional to apply
- Can be painted over without damaging the finish
- Comes in a length long enough for my nail beds- most press-ons are too short
- SHINY!!
- CON:
- Doesn't come with glue
- Shiny mirror surface is easily damaged
- Feels funny, can't scratch
- Not enough small sizes
- Slightly unnatural shape and curvature- very flat and wide
- Surface must be filed off for removal
Anyone who has been wanting to try Minx but can't find a salon who does it may be interested in trying these. A lot less expensive and you can do it at home.
I'd totally wear these again. I loved them so much I think I could wear them for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. The mirror finish is just SO AMAZING. I couldn't stop looking at my hands. Neither could anyone else- everyone who saw my nails commented in amazement. If you're looking for compliments, these will do the trick. Seriously, I was so infatuated with these that I was thinking of ways to have metal permanently fused to my nails.