My Vacation Mani - Nail Bliss Chrome Metallic Nails

I can't wait to show you these... I *just* finished editing the pictures. They're soooo cooooooool!!!


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

Removal is easy if you get one of those scrubby-bristle acetone jars from Target. One thing to note- the chrome won't dissolve. You have to file off the shininess to remove the nails.

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.

More Nail Designs from Fing'rs EDGE!

Halloween is this weekend! I know that a lot of people are using fake nails as part of their costumes, and I recently received some new styles of press-on artificial nails from Fing'rs to try. Some of these styles would be great for Halloween (or just every day)!

Here's the 31388 style and the 31194 style.

31388 is a sheer nude base with a hot pink french tip and a black diagonal grid design. They're inspired by International Recording Artist Mylin, who I'll admit I've never heard of, but she looks kinda like Jackie Warner. I think these would go great with an 80's/90's Prom Queen costume!

The 31194 style is a sheer nude base with white french tip and black polka dots. Very retro-50's looking, maybe these would go well with a retro glamour girl costume. I really wanted to wear these. Boo. They're so cute.

As much as I was looking forward to putting these on to review, I couldn't. To be completely honest, these are too short for me to even wear. As I was sizing the tips and getting ready to apply, I realized that these nails only covered about 3/4 of my nail bed. I would literally have to cut off my fingertips to wear these... so, sadly, I can't show pictures of these on my nails. When they say short, THEY MEAN IT! Hahahaha. I have long nail beds with fairly 'skinny' nails so many press-on nails don't fit me exactly right. I think these are better suited for someone with naturally shorter nail beds and wider nails.

However, one of the styles just barely fit my fingers!

Style 31269. A sheer nude base with deep blue metallic tips. Really cool looking. The tip is kinda glowy and reflective. Would make a good polish color. I wonder if I have a polish that matches this color? Hmm.

Here's how they look on me:


Pretend that you don't see my middle and pinkie nails sticking up over the top of the fakes. I had to file my nails down as far as they would go without bleeding to wear these, but my pinkie and middle were still just a bit too long.

I think they look pretty good, if not a little too wide for my nail beds. I can handle a french manicure when the tip is a fun color, and this blue is really fun. You can see in the flash picture that it's very reflective. It always has a section where the light is hitting the tip and there's a lighter stripe. It moves as you move your hands. Really fascinating!

I used the included glue to apply these, but they also come with stick-on tabs. The tabs are great if you only want to wear these for the night, as they remove *very* easily with warm water. The glue will give you a week of wear if you wanted to keep them on for a while.

For some tips on application, check out my older press-on nail reviews! But really, the two things you really need to know are:

Don't use too much glue. Just a little on the center of your natural nail. Otherwise the glue will get EVERYWHERE and you'll glue your hands to things unintentionally. Not like I'd know... *cough cough*

Press down hard! If you release the nail before the glue is dry or your pressure is uneven, this can cause air bubbles. Air bubbles not only look obvious with a sheer base nail like this, but they can collect moisture and condensation which can lead to some nasty things growing under your nail.

Other than that, these are fun and easy to use. A quick way to change your nails for an event. Best suited for people with shorter nail beds. I myself prefer a much longer nail, but I've heard from many people when I do my fake nail reviews that a short length is preferred for them. So, your mileage may vary!

Revlon Runway Collection Studio Artificial Nails

I'm really digging these Revlon Runway Collection press-on nails. They have a bunch of really cool designs that I would actually wear. One of the recent ones I tried were the 'Studio' style nails. Here's how they look on me:


The Studio style nails are a silver metallic french tip with a grid-stripe chevron design of black stripes laid on top of the silver. The base color is a semi-sheer milky neutral pink. Sort of futuristic-modern looking! Very cool.

For more detailed information on applying press-on nails, please see my previous posts:
Revlon Artificial Nails
Revlon Runway Collection 'Stella' Artificial Nails
Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict Pink Houndstooth Artificial Nails


These press-on nails are really easy to apply. All you do is find a nail that matches closely to your natural nail, apply a little glue to your nail, press the fake nail onto the glue and you're done. The glue bonds and dries within seconds. Sometimes I do get glue on my fingers, but it comes off after a little hand lotion.

The Studio style nails are a really nice length. While they are still a little too short to be completely comfortable for me, they're more of a medium length than the super-short length of some of the other nails I've tried. They come up just past my fingertip. I still had to file my natural nails short so that they didn't hang over the edge of the artificial nails, but I was covering a broken nail so it worked out fine for me.

The Studio style in particular is an example of an inexpensive way to get a salon nail art look without paying an arm and a leg at a dirty nail salon. It would be very challenging to get this look at home- my shaky hands would never let me do lines that thin and straight. I don't have the patience to play with those little strips of nail art foils and stickers, either, so the Studio nail takes care of that. What would take at least an hour at a salon takes me five minutes at home.

The manufacturer recommends to replace the set of nails after ten days of wear. Removal is as easy as application- file them down and soak them in 100% acetone. It only takes me a few minutes to remove these, I've got it down to a science now, haha! Once they're off, there is virtually no damage to my natural nail. The only 'damage' to speak of is the dryness I experience after having my fingers in acetone. This is fixed instantly by applying a good cuticle oil like CND Solar Oil. The important thing to remember when removing these nails is not to pull, pry, pick or peel them off. Not even a little. Even if the nail is mostly dissolved in acetone already, any prying of the nail will take parts of your natural nail with it and leave you with rough, uneven nails. Resist the urge to peel. You can do it.

I still have more fun nail art styles of Revlon Runway Collection (and a few other brands I recently tested out) nails to review, plus a few plain french-manicured ones as well.

A little bit of everything! Hard Candy, Revlon and some MAC

Last night I asked on Twitter what you'd like to see me post today- nail polish, makeup or fake nails. The overwhelming response was nail polish, but my buddy Mazoo had a fantastic idea- post an awesome discontinued color, like a Hard Candy!

Hard Candy Hick. This is long gone, so don't even ask me where to find it because I have NO idea. Anyway, this is one of my favorites. It's a sky blue shimmer base with lots of silvery glitter and a slight pink sheen. It is on the sheer and thin side, but it's SO worth it. Old formula polish filled with chemical goodness. I miss the Big Three.

Why don't people make colors like this anymore?! And furthermore, why did Hard Candy stop making all their AWESOME colors and start making crap colors (and then just discontinue everything)?? They went from having the best, most unique and unusual shades in the universe to making nothing but four crappy sheer pastels. Yeah, Hard Candy... pastel pink shimmer is REALLY edgy... *insert eye-roll here*


Let's move on to a little makeup...


I did this last year and I don't think I ever posted it. I don't remember exactly what I used... Definitely MAC, but I can't remember which shades! Lucky Green and Purple Shower perhaps? My hair looks really black here, but it was purple when I took these pictures. It always looks black the first week.

And, for the fake nails...

Here's a little preview of one of the Revlon Runway Collection nails I got to try. I love this style! I want to do a full review of it, so it will be a mystery until then!


That was fun and refreshing. Maybe I should do this more often!

Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict 31120 Black French Manicure Nails

The black-tipped french manicure seems to be extremely popular these days. I can deal with that. Personally, I like the look and I have worn it in the past. French manicures can be tricky to do yourself, so if you need a little help, Fing'rs EDGE has something you might like.



These are the Fing'rs EDGE black french manicure artificial/press-on/glue-on nails. The style number is 31120. It includes 24 short-length (and they do mean short!) nails, a small tube of nail glue and a sheet of stick-on tabs.

Application of these is the same as with any press-on nail, and you can read about the application process in more detail in these posts I've done about them:

Revlon Color Allure Vintage Velvet
Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict Pink Houndstooth French
Revlon Runway Collection Stella

Anyway, here's what they look like on me:




As you can see, these nails are extremely short. This is an uncomfortable length for me as I had to file my nails down as far as they could go to apply these. If they were just a few millimeters longer, they would be much more suitable for me. However, I know that a lot of people prefer very short nails and don't have the same problem as I do. As always, with any product, your mileage may vary. These were too short for me, but might be the perfect length for someone else.

The design itself is great. It's a flawless black french tip that's perfectly even across all five fingers. The line is not too thick and it looks nice and neat. I would be hard pressed to do a black french this good on my own.

The base color of the nails is a semi-opaque milky nude pink. It's not a perfect match with my natural skintone, but it does mimic the look of a lot of salon french nails that I see on people. I think I prefer a more clear look on the nail bed, but these are especially good at covering damage or stains because they're not too sheer.

One thing I really like about the Fing'rs EDGE Hardcore Nail Addict line of artificial nails is that they all come with a sheet of adhesive tabs with enough tabs to do at least three full manicures. A lot of people wear these type of nails for a temporary look, and using the adhesive tabs instead of the glue makes these not only temporary, but also reusable. Alternately, I can see these being a first fake nail experiment or a dress-up type product for a very young girl and the adhesive tabs would be safer to use than the nail glue, but also allows the nails to be removed with hot water instead of soaking off in acetone.

The other thing I love about Fing'rs EDGE is that they have the best designs. I'm not the type of girl who wants a traditional french manicure or who wants frilly-frou-frou pretty pink princess nails... Fing'rs EDGE acknowledges that another type of girl exists (FINALLY!!) and provides products and designs that fit my personal style. I honestly love every single Fing'rs EDGE product I've ever tried. Repeating themes within the line seem to be skulls, stars and 'Rock Star' designs and that makes me very happy.

These nails are available at pretty much every drugstore I've ever been to, and I've never seen them for more than $6.