With nail art making a comeback, Broadway Nails Nail Dress Stick-On Wraps are an at-home alternative to sleek yet pricey ($125 Minx nails, anyone?) high design nail art. These full nail decals are available in 5 patterns, and take just seconds to apply. I've been curious about this new trend in nails for a while, so I was thrilled to try them when they hit my mailbox. Since I'm a total n00b when it comes to nail wraps, I chose my least favorite pattern to try first (lest I botch the ones I really liked!). To my surprise, I liked the look of them on much more than I did in the box.
According to the package you can apply Broadway Nail Dress Wraps to either natural or artificial nails. Since I'd been testing out Kiss Everlasting French Nails, I decided to go ahead and apply the wraps over those- with one natural nail done as a control. The vinyl-like material takes no special prep aside from clean nails (wipe natural nails down with acetone first). Application was simple- the wrap material is sturdy enough not to bunch up on itself and if you do goof & need to reposition them, they peel off easily enough. However, this may not be a good thing, but more on that later.
Since each package comes with wraps in 14 different sizes, choosing the right size was fairly easy. I did learn to choose a decal that looks a size or two larger than what I thought I'd need so that the decal extended all the way to the edge of my nails. I actually think it would be more convenient for sizing if each wrap came separate instead of on 2 large sheets, so that you could hold them up to the nail prior to removing them from their backing. I suppose you *could* cut them up to make sizing easier but...
After sticking the decal to the nail, all that's left is smoothing out the wrap and filing the excess material off the tip. The pink side of the included mini-file did a great job of smoothing the wraps on the nail bed and around the cuticles, but for some reason on almost every nail, after I'd filed off the excess, a wrinkle would pop up right in the middle of the free edge. I do feel like I got a cleaner cut on the tip (and had no problem with the wrinkling) on my natural nail than on the thicker artificial tips.
The package states that for extended wear you can put a top-coat over the decal, but even with a coat of Seche Vite, this is what my nails looked like after only a day of wear (prepare yourself for...claw hand!)
As you can see, wear at the tips of my nails is significant. Though it's not as apparent in these pictures, the edges around my cuticles were beginning to peel up also, annoyingly catching on my clothes or in my hair. In the photo on the right, you can see how the wrinkling on the tips worsened from the initial single crease that I saw on most nails when I applied them.
Luckily, the decals were as easy to remove as they were to apply- they simply peeled right off, leaving little residue and no noticeable damage to my natural nail.
So would I buy these? With a suggested retail of $5.49, these are about half the price of other drug-store options, but with a wear time of only a day, I think I'll be testing other brands. I do have another set of Broadway wraps (a super-cute silver fishnet style) that I won't hesitate to slap on- I'll just make sure I apply them the day I want them seen!
The products featured in this post were submitted for review consideration by a representative of the company. What does this mean? I didn't pay for it. My commitment is to you- my readers- and to myself (it's called integrity, I like to have it). The opinions expressed in my product reviews are my own, based on my own research and experience; I am not paid in any way nor is the final outcome of the review influenced by the featured company.
