Product review: Kiss Nail Dress

So, I'm slowly but surely getting back on track with blogging, and trying to finish off the last of the reviews from my Influenster Holiday VoxBox. One of the niftiest looking products in the box was the package of Kiss Nail Dress stickers, which I finally got a chance to test out this week. Want to find out if they turned out to be as cool as I hoped? Read on. (Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary of Influenster for testing purposes. However I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.)

The product: Kiss Nail Dress ($6.99); in 21 designs (I sampled "Chemise")

The claim: On in minutes and off in seconds without remover. No dry time. Built-in topcoat. Fits all nails and lasts up to ten days.

Source: Uploaded by user via Martha on Pinterest

I tried them: Upon opening the package, I noticed a very strong plastic smell. This smell faded in seconds but it was very harsh and unpleasant. (I'm guessing this was the adhesive.) The package contains an instruction booklet, 28 strips to fit a variety of nail sizes, and a small file.

Applying the strips couldn't be easier; just select the strip that fits your nail, press on and fold over the end of the nail, then use the file to file off the excess. You can do each nail in a matter of seconds. Once the strips are on, you're done; there's no need to apply a topcoat. If you move quickly, you can literally have your mani done and be ready to walk out the door in less than five minutes, which was my goal on Wednesday when I decided at the last minute I wanted a mani for movie night. I did choose to file and clean my nails with polish remover ahead of time, which added a minute or two, but even so it's a quick deal.

The wear with these strips is impressive. I kill, and by kill I mean demolish, my manicures. I'm tearing open packages all night at work, so my manis rarely last more than a day or two. These strips lasted through a solid four days of wear, including three nights at work, with no chipping and almost no tip wear. If you're not horribly hard on your nails (as I am), I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect these to last a full week without visible damage.

 

 

 

 

Honestly, though, I really didn't care for the design, which is why I took the strips off after only a few days. The 3D blingy black strips and gold fishnet design were just too much for me. I could see wearing these for a girls-only weekend in Vegas, but not for everyday activities. And they're obviously not work-appropriate! My other gripe was that there were fewer gold strips than black; I wound up doing an accent mani because of the imbalance.

Another thing: I didn't like the bumpy design. It just weirded me out, and between the bumps and the slightly rough ends of my nails after filing, I felt like I was constantly snagging things: cotton balls, my sweater, etc. I just can't get behind textured nails! I like my super-smooth nails!

However, design issues aside, things were still cool until I removed the strips. Kiss isn't lying when they say you can peel the stickers right off without using remover; mine came off just fine. They do leave some adhesive behind which is easily removed with polish remover. Afterward, however...

 

 

 

 

...my nails are TRASHED. They're dry, peeling, and splitting--and on my other hand (not shown in the photo), I have two nails that tore off completely at the tips. I know my nails are not at their healthiest in the winter, but they're not in such bad shape that they should be tearing off and peeling like this. I guess the adhesive was very damaging to the nail beds. I've trimmed them all down to nubbins now and applied a thick layer of repairing base coat to try to strengthen them.

My verdict: Meh. I'll give these strips points for lasting so long, since very rarely do nail products last as long on me as the package might claim. But the damage is a real turn-off and I'm just not enthralled enough with the design to consider repurchasing them.

Check out the Kiss website here or see what other Influensters have to say about this product on the Kiss Influenster product page here.