As a girl who will smear even the quickest drying nail polish before it sets and chip it right after that, I’m always testing new nail polishes that promise quick-drying and long-lasting wear.

So, I was very excited to learn about the new Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. These aren’t the like the nail stickers of childhood, i.e. stick-ons of flowers or stars. Sally Hansen strips are made with real nail polish, and are supposed to look like they were painted onto your nails.

The nail strips come in 24 different styles ranging from bright solids like orange and yellow to a multitude of patterns including animal prints, glitters, camo, and denim. I chose the Collide-o-Scope pattern, a bright rainbow of colors in a funky print. Want to see what I thought of them? Read on for my experience with the Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips.

Table of Contents

The Application Process:

Step 1:  Prep

Photo Credit

The kit, as pictured above top, includes 16 nail polish strips, a mini nail file/buffer, and a cuticle stick. It also includes basic, illustrated instructions. First, it’s necessary to prep your nails for application which includes pushing back cuticles, shaping the nails with the file, and smoothing the nail surface with the buffer. The instructions also suggest giving your nails a final swipe of polish remover to clean off any remaining polish or residue.

Step 2: Apply the polish strips

After prepping my nails, I was ready to begin applying the polish strips. The instructions included in the kit explains the process very well, so application wasn’t too challenging. When I first counted the 16 strips included with the kit I was confused, but I soon learned the extra strips include a wide variety of sizes to fit everyone’s nails. I had no problem finding correctly sized strips for my nails.