I chose them because I thought they coordinated really nicely with the skirt I was planning to wear the next day, and they did (see below). Unfortunately, they clashed with pretty much everything I wanted to wear the week after that, so I took them off after only a couple days. Most of the time I don't care if my nails match my clothes but these had such a strong pattern it distracted me. I wear a lot of black and purple and blue and the brown/yellow nails with those colors just made my brain say "nope, that doesn't work".
The next set of strips I wore I put on not in a hotel room but in the car, sitting in the passenger seat as Mr. Karen was driving us on a little road trip to see a concert. The black guitars on bright purple motif of the Amp It Up Salon Effects strips from Sally Hansen were perfect for the event, so I'm glad I remembered I had them (they're from the Rock of Ages LE collection from 2012). Because they were purple, I kept them on a lot longer than the giraffe ones; they made it through the whole work week after the concert weekend.
Because they were purple, I kept them on a lot longer than the giraffe ones; they made it through the whole work week after the concert weekend. Here's what they looked like on day seven:
I thought it was about time I did a manicure with liquid polish, so after the guitar strips came off, I put on two coats of Kiko Sugar Mat in 645 Burgundy.
I did get a few more chips than I think I would have if I'd been able to use topcoat on the Kiko, but the beauty of textured glitter is it's so easy to touch up without the repairs showing at all. I could have done a "fill" on the gaps at the base of my nails and kept wearing this but it was time to swatch so it came off. Once I was done swatching, I just put on treatment, as Mr. Peelies has been giving me a really hard time lately. I am cautiously optimistic that I have found something to tip the scales in my favor in that battle, but I want to give it a couple more weeks to see if the initial positive signs are borne out longer term.
Those purple nail strips are awesome!
ReplyDeleteI never thought nail strips were so easy that you could do them in the car. I like the guitars on the purple. Cute as can be.
ReplyDeleteCin O, well, I have had a lot of practice with the strips, and we were on a freeway so the car wasn't starting and stopping. :)
DeleteIf you didn't state the first one was done with nail strips I would have never told! It looked like stamping to me!
ReplyDeleteHi Karen, I'm liking those nail strips. You applied them so well :)
ReplyDeleteLove the giraffe print. lol That is so cute!
ReplyDeleteI like all of these! My favorite is the guitars!
ReplyDeleteI thought you had stamped that giraffe pattern on....hope you had a great time at the concert....who did you see?
ReplyDeletemrsrexy, it was the 40th anniversary show of Kansas (of Dust in the Wind fame).
DeleteI like the strips, especially the purple. Also, I happen to be wearing Cinna-man Of My Dreams, and it looks almost exactly like the Kiko, as far as I can tell. Maybe we need comparisons, or has somebody already done that?
ReplyDeleteMel, those two are pretty darn close indeed. I think I did a tip to nail wheel comparison in the post where I did Skittles swatches of the Sugar Mats I got from the swaps I did. (I would search, but I am extra lazy right now.)
DeleteI though the giraffe pattern was a stamping, too! I agree on the fact that it was not easy to match to different clothes...
ReplyDeleteI love the black-purple combo, I would have kept it on for many days, too.
Any yay for the Italian Kiko, I love their textured and am frankly surprise that they aren't releasing more.
Hahah, I was convinced the giraffe was a stamping mani :)
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the guitar strips! Too cute! :D
ReplyDeleteLove that Kiko! :)
ReplyDeletelove that giraffe wraps, they look awesome... but at first i thought it's stamping ;)
ReplyDelete