Mani...Wednesday! Blingy Pink Leopard Kiss Nail Dress Strips

 I haven't posted a manicure in quite some time, but I finally got off my butt to do a proper manicure. I really like the Sally Hansen nail strips and while I was at Walmart picking up some cough medicine (because I am STILL sick) I got distracted by the Kiss Nail Dress strips, specifically in Nouvea aka Cocktail. No surprise, since as as I get older I find myself turning into my grandmother: No sparkly object is safe.

Kiss Nail Dress in Nouveau aka Cocktail

I thought that the strips were hot pink strips on a light pink background, so I tried to find a polish that would coordinate. I didn't have any at home so I picked up Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Hard-Core Party #160 because 1). it kind of matched and 2). it was really cheap. Well it turns out that the nail strips theselves were actually clear...so my plan for coordination didn't really work, but I do like the color.

So here's my opinion on both:

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails in Hard-Core Party - A pretty light pink that would work really well for a french manicure. However, it's a sheer, streaky polish and I needed to use 3 coats for it to be opaque. Even then, it wasn't perfectly streak free. However, for a few dollars, does it really matter?

Kiss Nail Dress Strips (in Nouveau) - No where near as good as the Sally Hansen nail strips. They are very thick and rather unmanageable. I also had trouble getting them to stick to my nail bed even though I very thoroughly cleaned my nails with acetone. Even though I spent quite a bit of time smoothing and filing, I still had wrinkles that wouldn't be smoothed and I had a lot of difficulty in filing off the excess - it did not want to separate and the edges were rather rough when they finally tour away. In the end, I wouldn't purchase this brand again unless it was for an accent. I imagine they won't last long on my nails, whereas the Sally Hansen strips were easy to apply and lasted well over a week, and, in my opinion, definitely worth the extra $2.