Glossy Box: Impress Press-On Nails by Broadway Nails

I recently posted a picture on Twitter of the contents of the August Glossy Box, my first Glossy Box.

The concept of Glossy Box is to allow consumers to test 5 high end products each month and to rate them. You pay £10 a month (+p&p) and your hand-picked products arrive mid month in a beautifully presented box. The products are selected for you according to the beauty profile that you provide them with.

If you want to find out more check out the website here.

So, I want to do a review on the imPRESS press-on nails (seen in the top right corner of the picture left). They are false nails which take minutes to apply and last a week. They come with adhesive already on the nail so no need to mess about with glue.

They were super easy to apply.

I ensured I had no left over nail varnish on, so quickly went over each nail with nail varnish remover. The kit came with a little cloth to clean your nails too, but I thought the nail varnish remover had cleaned my nails enough, so didn't use the cloth.

I emptied all 24 nails in front of me, selected the ones that would fit each nail and laid them out in order. I like colour and pattern on them. My skin tone can carry strong colours like this. They recommend that you should use a nail that is slightly smaller rather than slightly bigger if you can't find one that fits perfectly. I had to chop all of my natural nails off to ensure they weren't too long to show above the fake nails. (My thumb nails were, you can see how short the press-on nail is on my thumb in the photo below, and I have not filed that one down)

I started with my left hand, little finger, and peeled off the little sticker on the back of the nail. I put the cuticle end down first, ensuring it was lined up correctly, and firmly pressed down on it with my thumb. Simple.

I did the four fingers on each hand first, leaving the thumbs last, and here is the finished result. They are stuck down immediately, no waiting for the glue to dry. However, this does mean that is you position the nail incorrectly, you can't really remove it and try again. Once they are stuck they are stuck.

I did get one or two a little wonky, so I used my nail file to make sure the tip was straight, so no one would ever know.

My initial reaction was how unnatural they looked. I am not used to wearing fake nails, so all I could see was fake nails, and the pattern was nothing I had worn before. Every time I looked at my hands, I saw these dark fake nails. I was unsure.

I was in work that evening, and my friends were saying they looked really good, and thought they were the foils/papers that you cut to size and stick on your actual nail, not fake nails at all. The locals noticed them and also commented on how good they looked, however I was still unsure.

They have just been applied

That was Tuesday night, and it is Thursday now, and I have grown used to them. They don't look so strange to me any more or feel so unnatural. One nail of my right hand popped off last night, and the stickiness had gone, however there were many spare nails left in the pack and I found another one that fit. Apart from that one, they still feel really secure and no where near dropping off yet. 

The fact that the adhesive is already on the nail is a blessing, however a nuisance as well. On some the the nails, you can still see some of the glue underneath where the glue goes up further than the natural nail. This has attracted fluff and looks dirty underneath, however these nails are opaque so you can't see it through them. The opposite problem also occures where the glue isn't present far up enough the fake nail so it leaves a gap, no attaching itself to the whole nail. I understand that because the adhesive is out of the consumers control, it won't be perfect on every nail, but if I had a preference I would rather too little glue than too much. I'd rather a small gap, rather than fluff.

The pattern on the surface of the nail is starting to wear off around the tip, but only I can notice that really. It does not take away the effect the nail aims to give.

I don't know whether it is because I have applied them slightly incorrectly, but sometimes when I run my hand through my hair, hair can get caught underneath the cuticle end of the nail, which can be a bit annoying, but something I can deal with.

I do like how the nail is quite soft so bends to your natural nail. I have worn fake nails in the past where your natural nail aches because they are being forced to adopt the shape the of the fake nail that has been applied. These are really comfortable and don't ache at all. Some of my nails are quite flat and some a quite curved and neither feel under any pressure at all.

Overall, I really like this product, and I would purchase it if I wanted a quick long lasting manicure. I would like to try some of the different patterns and colours next time though.