The design I chose, Silver Sparks, is the odd one out in that display, as it's the only one that doesn't have a reflective foil look to to it (it's also the only one that has some color to it, which is why I was drawn to it, I think). I wonder if the original plans had a different design in this slot, something more suited to the name, as these don't have hardly any silver in them at all.
When I posted the display photo originally, I remarked that Silver Sparks reminded me of the Essie textured strips. Opening the package only reinforced that idea, as the contents were the same as Essie: a set of 18 strips on a clear backing sheet, a small file, and a clear plastic cuticle stick. Like the Essie, the strips felt and smelled rubbery.
The thing I did not realize about Silver Sparks was that the strips are not opaque; maybe you can see what I mean in the in progress shot below. Application of these was same as the Essies, with the thicker strips making them easier to pick up off the sheet and set down on the nail but harder to manipulate when on the nail and removing the excess.
The design has so much going on that I didn't really notice the sheer base of them once they were on. The background is made up of a slightly warped grid of oval shapes that have a pastel oil slick look to them; they shift from golden green to teal and show glimpses of rainbows, too. Scattered over that, there's fine blue and green glitter that seems to do some shifting and color sparking, too. I found these quite fascinating to look at.
They also happened to coordinate quite well with a flowery summer top I have in my wardrobe.
What they didn't do was wear very well. Here's what my tips look like after only a day and a half:
Pity they didn't hold up better, as they looked great in the sunshine.
There were two type of wear going on, and I hope this next shot from day 3 shows that better. The design elements came off the clear base, and then the clear base itself started to wear down, which made it look like my nails themselves were peeling when for a change they were not.
By day 5, it looked like I had some weird reverse French tip thing going on, where my tips were bare and the rest of the nail was covered. Extreme Tipwear: Nail Sticker Edition, let's call it.
I'd intended to wear these a full week to give them a proper wear test, but at this point I couldn't stand to go around with my tips showing like that, so I added a funky French with Nina Ultra Pro Twinkle Twinkle, a slate blue glitter. I was so delighted by the effect that I barely noticed the places where the strip design had worn off in places farther up my nails.
This look coordinated quite nicely with another shirt, too—it's rare when my nails match my outfit, and here this mani managed that twice in one week.
When it came time to take this off, I had to use remover for the glitter, but the strips were pretty unimpressed by that so I peeled them off. My nails looked fine underneath.
The package for these says "up to 10 day wear". If you don't use your hands at all, maybe. Or perhaps the foil-looking ones last longer and they did the tests on those; I did grab a set to try but haven't yet gotten around to it (story of my life, I tell you).
I know some of you don't read blogs on weekends, so I wanted to make sure you knew I posted a giveaway on Saturday for three colors of Sally Hansen Sugar Coat.
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