Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips - Review

I used to get regular biweekly manicures when I had my first real job.  In college, my friend K and I discovered the wonders of the LA nail salon where you could get a manicure for less than $10. 

Prior to that, in high school, I liked to paint my nails all sorts of "weird" colors.  My very chic French teacher was appalled by my "flamingo French" manicure that was opaque baby pink with black tips.  Granted, it was also very messy, because I *suck* at applying my own nail polish.

I feel justified now that OPI and other top respectable cosmetics brands (not just Wet N Wild, y'all) have a rainbow of colors available, and not just the usual pinks and reds.

I don't get regular manicures anymore because there's rarely time for me to go every 2 weeks as needed, and with all the crafty stuff I do, my nails get wrecked pretty quick.

When I saw the Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish "stickers" at Target, I was smitten.  They came in *patterns*!  I don't do fake nails so elaborate nail art is not an option for me.  I bought a super cute package of black and white houndstooth and promptly forgot about them.

Today at Target I found a bunch of the Salon Effects patterns on clearance for $4.48 - they're probably discontinued as they were all bright, spring-y colors.  There was a super-cute plaid pattern called Mad for Plaid, so I figured I'd give it a shot (for real this time!)

They're made of real nail polish so they're a bit smelly, but they're also flexible and easy to stick.  They come in a pack of 16, with different sizes so you can match them to your nail width.  The instructions are clear and not that complicated for cosmetically incompetent folks like me.

They came out looking better than I expected, though it took a LONG time to apply them - probably about an hour for me to do all 10 fingers.  I might get faster with practice, but I can get a manicure in 30 minutes or less, so I'm not sure how many times I'll invest in these.  But again, the cute patterns might win me over.

i'm not a hand model, thank goodness.

Tips: 

• Wider is better so if you're between sizes, pick the larger one and use the included pointy stick to peel off the excess once you've applied it (carefully!)

• A manicurist told me once that these last longer if you add some top coat after applying.  Not exactly mess-free or instantly dry, but clear topcoat is easy to deal with and dries pretty fast.

• If you have a multicolored pattern like a plaid and very short nails, you might need to do some creative placement to make sure your nails all look similar.  I have one nail that didn't get any of the hot pink lines from the plaid and it looks a little odd. 

Have you tried these?  What did you think?