We tested out press-on nails to see if they’ve gotten any better since the olde days

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We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better
Attempting a nail glamour shot

Other than keeping my nails shaped and oiled-up, I don’t do much to them. Nail polish tends to make them peel so I avoid it, despite loving how it looks, especially this one matte black color I loved back in the day. I also don’t want to spend a ton on my nails since I feel like I get more bang for my buck channeling my limited money towards my hair.

I recently saw an Instagram story where a non-beauty guru was telling us how easy it is for normal types like me to use press-on nails and have them last for more than a minute. This was news to me as the last time I wore DIY fake nails was for a wedding way back in 2004 when they lasted all of two hours, max. Plus, Etsy has introduced me to a ton of really gorgeous styles. Surely they’ve gotten better since then, right? I decided to put them to the test. I nabbed a set of Kiss nails that came with its own glue and claimed to last a week. They even had matte black, though not at my local Target. Oh well.

Day 1

We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better

We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better

Despite getting the “really short” style, they were still a little long for me. They do have those awesome-looking pointy nails that look so rad. I don’t know how y’all wear those, but they look amazing. But even these short ones were kinda long for my taste. But hey, they look alright and made me want to take silly Snapchat selfies growling and “making it fashion.”

We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better

We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better

Day 3

We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better

So far so good on day three. Only one of the nails is slightly peeling up at the cuticle and I’m pretty sure that’s down to my inept job at applying the glue.

Day 7

We tested out press-on nails to see if they've gotten any better

All is well in the land of nails. I did end up manually removing one of them for utility reasons, but the others have remained mostly intact. I haven’t tried actual “press-on” (as in, not using a tube of glue but rather pre-glued nails), but these glue-on types are solid.

Verdict

While I totally enjoyed the “make it fashion” feeling of wearing these, I doubt I’d use them in any regular basis, despite them having solid staying power. I’m just more into the au naturel look, I guess. But if you want something cheap and cheerful for a special occasion or want to rock some dark and matte pointed nails, these are a win.

Plus, it totally opens up the world of fancy nails on Etsy! There’s a whole world to explore.

Comments on We tested out press-on nails to see if they’ve gotten any better since the olde days

  1. I had no idea press-on nails are still a thing! Will try them out for sure, as I don’t have a time for proper manicure more than twice a year, and yet still sometimes crave to look a bit fancy.

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