Review: I Wore Press On Nails for 1 Week – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hey Friends!

I know the seasons have changed, but this Tropic Like It’s Hot collection definitely caught my eye! Okay rewinddd. In planning for my birthday, I wanted to go all out; nothing too extreme but a step out of my comfort zone. Everything on my list didn’t come to fruition, but one thing that did were these press-on nails. I got these nails from Press-Ons by Shad, which is a black, female-owned, small business based in Antigua. I was so happy when I saw the new Instacrylix line drop, and more so when I saw the Tropic Like It’s Hot collection. All the colours stood out for me, but Papaya was my choice; it just screamed HOT GIRL (jk) but I was aware of the outfits I had planned for the weekend

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Tropic like it’s HOT! Press on nails application. @pressonsbyshad x @profile268 Nails: Papaya Ring set: Neema #pressonnails #ringjewelry #profile268 #pressonsbyshad #instacrylix #pressonnailset #manimonday #blackgirlswhoblog #caribbeanblogger

A post shared by Aaliyah • Content Creator 🇦🇬 (@astoldbyali) on Oct 23, 2020 at 10:41am PDT

THE PACKAGE

The nails came adhered to a card with the instructions printed on the back. There was also a small bottle of nail glue and adhesive stickers for application, as well as a wipe for cleaning your nails. Given my inability to measure my nails correctly, I was gifted a few extras in case that some didn’t fit. The choice was given to either use a tape measure to measure your nails or purchase a sizing kit. Initially I used a tape measure, did it 3 times and got different results each time.

MY EXPERIENCE

This was my first time wearing press-on nails or any type of nails. Yep, that’s right. I’ve never had acrylics or any other type of nails in my life. I never saw the need for them or wasn’t interested in the activity. If I wanted my nails done at any point in time, I’d usually paint them myself. Over the years, I simply rocked my natural nails as is. Given my birthday celebrations this year and the growing popularity of press-on nails, I decided to give them a try.

I followed the instructions as outlined on the package and the application process was pretty simple and straightforward. The only thing I was unsure of was how much glue to apply. In the end, I think I may have overdone it because glue dried up under my natural nails. Another mistake I would have made when reapplying nails which popped off during the week, was not cleaning my nail prior to reapplying.

Given it was my first time, I had to get accustomed to quite a few things like bathing, using my phone, typing on my laptop, using the toilet, scratching my skin plus I can’t crack my knuckles (bad habit). My sister also had to help me get dressed on the first day and my boyfriend helped me quite a bit over the weekend with different stuff. Not sure how people do this on a daily, but I guess you get accustomed to it with time and also find your desired length.

After reapplying on Saturday, I’ve been in the pool and sea water a lot over the weekend. I thought so much water would loosen the hold, but surprisingly it didn’t. The instructions do mention avoiding water for 30 mins after application.

The Good

• Affordable
• Reusable
• Quick application
• No chipping
• Can be adjusted (clipped and filed)
• Can get a custom set
• The colour 🔥
• They looked amazing

The Bad

• Getting used to them, multiple popped off within hours of me doing them. I was unsure about how much glue to use so that could have been a factor, and I was also rushing to leave home.
• Nails getting caught on my towel, sheet, or hair

The Ugly

• How do you clean these?! Lol. Had an ugly experience when I decided to use my hands to eat SAUCY BBQ wings. Sauce got so far under and idk why it wasn’t moving lol

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TIMELINE

F  Day 1: Several popped off during different activities i.e. collecting packages, scratching an itch, showering, tugging at the comforter

S  Day 2: Thumb popped off 

S  Day 3: Ring finger popped off (didn’t put it back on right away 😭)

M Day 4: All good!

T Day 5: when I noticed the glue under my nails 😯, none popped off though.

W Day 6: All good!

T Day 7: First day back to the office and I couldn’t type 💀

F Day 8: Two popped off when I pulled up the hand brake; one came off later in the day due to scratching 😭 Also trimmed them a bit shorter and these worked well!

Funny enough, none of these accidents actually happened around people thus saving me the embarrassment. The situation with the package happened while in the car and I didn’t even notice till after. Despite the above, I still enjoyed wearing the nails and can see myself doing so again. However, next time will definitely be shorter. I did eventually cut them down overtime but the original length screamed HOT GIRL and you know that’s what I wanted to be.

Now how do I get them off? Haha
*no, seriously…👀*