The pros and cons of press-on nails: A dissertation
Do you like painted nails but find manicures to be a chore? Or have you ever wanted to try having long nails, but couldn’t commit to growing them out? You should check out press-on nails!
Nine and I were supposed to try press-on nails with Den before, but chickened out at the last minute. So when Girlstuff’s Press-On Gel Nails arrived at the PV HQ, we volunteered to test them for the special events we were attending that weekend!
Girlstuff Press-On Gel Nails are currently available at their kiosks, with prices ranging from P375 to P550 depending on the design. We got two minimalist and elegant floral styles in black and greige - each nail features a unique hand-painted design! The box contains around 20 stick-on nail pieces, so you can get up to two applications or split with a friend.
I chose the greige ones as they seemed to fit my small nails better, while Nine got the black ones which seemed to fit her nails despite being slightly bigger. Compared to Den’s experience with imPRESS, Nine and I had it better when matching up the right nail sizes.
To prep our nails, we cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol to get rid of excess oils that can interfere with the adhesive. Application was a breeze as we were both done in under 10 minutes!
But after that, things started to get interesting. I initially wanted to maintain the nails' original length, which was around 2 inches. Nine did the same to maintain the full nail design, and breezed through the weekend with all her press-ons intact. She happily reports that the nails stayed put even though she had to wash the dishes.
Unfortunately, my experience was vastly different. 6 out of 10 press-ons just popped off when I went about my usual routine of commuting to the office and working on my laptop. These aren’t life-proof, I complained to Den and Nine.
I replaced the missing nails with new ones but instead of keeping the original length, I trimmed them down to better match my actual nails so that they would have support and a more comfortable fit. I also (reluctantly) skipped applying hand cream in case the oils weakened the nail sticker. I thought I finally figured out press-on nails!
However, Nine and I soon learned that while our nails looked like a classy mani on the outside, the inside was anything but. The nail adhesive attracted all kinds of dust and dirt even though we make sure to keep our hands clean, and it honestly looked gross! But we both agreed that the worst part of stick-on nails is getting hair strands caught in between the stick-ons and our real nails whenever we raked through our hair. Ouch!
The nails began to wear down after five days of our normal activities. One nail had a small tear on the side that caused the area to lift up. Some had gotten chipped, and most felt loose. So we removed them on the sixth day using an oil-based cleanser to loosen the adhesive, and then soaked our nails in water with soap to remove all traces.
I recommend using stick-on nails for special events because they look elegant and are efficient. They're so fast and easy to apply, you can even do it in the car on your way to the venue! Just note that they aren't really designed for regular everyday wear.
What do you think about press-on nails? Would you try these? What nail things should we try next?
Photography by Nicole Quindara
