Nail Polish Review: Sally Hansen Salon Effects

A few days ago I decided to purchase some of the much-discussed-and-reviewed Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail polish strips. They are essentially nail polish stickers than you apply to clean, buffed nails; file off the excess from the ends and you have (or are supposed to have) nicely polished nails for "up to 10 days".

I applied them on Friday night after a jaunt to Target with the hubs. They were $8.50 which I think is cheaper than what I was expecting? For some reason I had $10 in my head. I asked him which pattern he liked and he picked out 'Girl Flower', a very floral very retro looking pattern - fun for Spring. I had my eye on 'Misbehaved' or 'Check It Out' but ... there's always next time (check out the link above to see all the available colors and patterns).

The application was simple enough. I prepped my nails (aka, trimmed and filed) and cleaned up my cuticles with the orange stick that was included in the package. Then I buffed the surface of my nails with the tiny file (also included), applied a bit of polish remover which was recommended in the instructions (apparently this helps the polish adhere better and stay put longer).

I held the strips up to my nails to pick out which sizes were best ... there are a bunch of sizes so pretty much every nail will have a (nearly) perfectly-matched strip of nail polish. Then you just pull off the protective cover, then the backing and carefully stick the polish onto your nail. From how I understood the instructions, you are supposed to use a new strip for every nail. But the length of the strips was enough for me to use one strip for two nails: one for both index fingers, another for both middle fingers and so on. I have pretty short nailbeds. ;) For someone with longer nailbeds or who likes to grow their nails out, one strip per nail would work.

Here is a photo of my nails on Friday night and then a couple from this morning ... they look just about the same, huh?



just ignore my sad, dry skin. hah! ;))



The polish has stayed on without chipping or scratching after I've showered, washed dishes and even deadheaded my plants in the backyard. I decided on Sunday to apply a layer of regular top coat just to give it some extra strength. This is not necessary though since the polish already has a sheen to it.

Overall I'm pleased with this product - but I still have 7 days to go!

We'll see how it holds up.

Let me know:

Have you used Salon Effects?

What are your thoughts?

 

PS - Here is my new favorite color of nail polish. It's called 'Moss' by SpaRitual and I found it at Aveda this weekend when I went for my haircut. I have it on my toes right now - awesome for Spring! Plus all these pastel colors seem to be 'in' right now so there is a nice selection of colors like this one as well as light pinks, blues, yellows and lavendars.