A lovely goodie bag arrived in the mail yesterday containing AVON's newest addition to their product line; the Instant Manicure. I've been very curious about this product, as I can really never wear nail polish on my fingers for a variety of reasons; the inability to be patient while they dry, chipping by the end of the day, color peeling off, the scent associated with polish. Did I mention the inability to be patient while they dry? It seems that as soon as I polish my nails I always feel the need to wash dishes (lying), fold laundry (lying again) or do housework (hat trick). Kidding aside, I haven't worn nail polish on anywhere except my toes for so long because I hate how soon it wears off.
Upon opening my goodie bag, I was happy to see that the AVON rep. sent me a "tester" set of 2 instant manicure enamels to try out first in the lovely color of "Oh my pearl." I wondered how this AVON rep. knew that I was prone to clumsiness and would be likely to even mess up dry nail enamels. I was thankful for these testers and it was also great to see how a different color than the full pack she sent of Berry Fast looked on my fingers.
Berry Fast Nail color
The directions for applying the Instant Manicure are as follows:
Gently push back cuticles and make sure that nails are clean and dry. If you just removed your current polish, make sure there are no reminants of nail polish remover left on your nails, as remover will take the nail enamel right off. Be sure you have trimmed and filed your nails.
Peel off the clear protective film from the nail color and select a size that fits each nail. Instant Manicure comes with 16 dry nail enamel strips, so you are sure to find the right size for each nail.
Peel the strip off from the silver edge and place the rounded edge of the enamel strip as close to your cuticle as possible. Starting at the base, smooth out air bubbles to the tip.
Once the nail is completely adhered to your nail and smoothed out, bend the excess nail strip over the edge of your nail and rub back and forth with your thumb to create a smooth perforated edge. Then run your thumbnail under the edge of your fingernail to break off the excess nail strip. It's important to apply the nail enamel to your thumbs last, as you need your thumbs to apply the other strips.
Review:
Upon opening the set of dry enamel strips you know for sure that this is indeed real nail polish as they smell as if you just cracked open a bottle of your favorite polish. The scent is not overwhelming and doesn't remain for more than 1 minute. This is a true benefit in my household, as my husband hates the smell of nail polish.
I looked at the strips, which resembled "stickers" if you will. My first thought was wondering how a "sticker" would look like real polish on my nails. I then sized up the strips to my nails and went to work.
I was amazed at how easy it was to apply them and that if I placed the strip a little too high or too low, I could gently lift it and reapply. Then I smoothed it out and pulled away the excess with ease. Some of the strips did overlap onto my skin on the sides, however, I just had to push them and shape them along my nail line and then gently rub off the excess as you would typical wet polish. When my left hand was complete, I was amazed at how wonderful the polish looked.
Applying the strip to my right hand was a little more tricky since I am right handed, so I simply took my time applying them to ensure that I didn't mess up. I do like that you get 16 strips, so that if you do mess up, or if one (or more) of the nails doesn't last the 14 days, you can apply another strip to that nail.
It took me about 5 minutes from start to finish, but as a first timer, I didn't think that was so bad. Especially since once they were on, they were dry and I could do any variety of activities without fear of smudging my polish. I also did wash some dishes (seriously) a few hours later and my polish looked as good as new.
I found that removing them was super easy as well. I removed the tester nail strip with my e.l.f. Nail Polish Remover Pads and found that on the second rub, the nail came off as one complete "gel." That was it, it was off and I stood there amazed that I didn't have to keep rubbing and that removal was so simple. Also, be sure to only file your nails if need be and not trim them once the instant manicure is applied.
AVON's Instant Manicure combines the base, color and top coat into one strip. So it definitely saves you time in applying these dry strips. My nails are quite shiny and there is no evidence that I didn't apply wet polish. The package says the instant manicure lasts for up to 14 days, so I will give a further update as to how long they lasted on me.
In my goodie bag was also some samples of Mark's new Hook Up Lipgloss, which will get a review of their own in the upcoming days. All I can say is fab-u-lous!
Thank you to Meg Johnson, the AVON rep. who sent me this goodie bag for review.
AVON Instant Manicure: $8
To see my follow up to this review, click here.
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Tags: AVON, Instant Manicure, nail polish, dry polish, beauty, beauty reviews
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