In my imagination, I’m one of those people with beautify painted nails. However, in reality… I never really bother with making them pretty. My toenails are painted year-round, but my fingernails are typically just trimmed short without polish.
I got a gel manicure in September for my brother’s wedding and it looked fantastic, which made me want to be one of those pretty nail girls again. A long, long time ago I tried Jamberry. I liked them fine, but found the removal process tedious. Which brings us to Color Street.
Color Street nail polish strips are actually made out of 100% real nail polish, just in thin strip form. You apply them to your nails much like I did the Jamberry strips, but when it comes time to remove them you just use normal old nail polish.
SOLD!
They were running a buy 3, get 1 free special, so I ordered: Penny Lane, El Dorado, Only in Vegas and Rio Red. They cost $12 per pack for 16 strips. Penny Lane not included in the photo, because I ripped that one open to try.
Once they arrived, I googled around and found this application video. I wiped each nail with the provided alcohol wipe, lined up the polish strip and applied it just like the video. I was able to get two nails out of each strip. So, since there are 16 strips in the pack I can get 2 full manicures and also use the leftovers for accent nails. Which brings the cost per use down to less than $6 for a manicure… not too shabby.
I found that the strips go on quite easy and look A LOT nicer than when I attempt to paint my own nails. Here is it after my very first try of doing a full set:
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By the way, it is REALLY hard to take a good fingernail photo. I even looked up a couple nail polish hashtags to figure out how those ladies do it. This is the Penny Lane color, and I actually really like how it’s kind of subtle with a little shimmer.
Here are my nails exactly one week later:
I totally copied this ‘fingernails on a phone case’ pose from Instagram people… Anyways, as you can see, there was some wear on the tips but no huge chipping issues. Many people say they get 2 – 3 weeks out of their set, but I went ahead and removed them after a 1 ½ weeks. The removal process was just like removing normal nail polish and my cheapo no-name polish remover did a great job.
I was planning to use these before my sister’s wedding on the cruise, but when I went in for a pedicure I splurged and did a gel manicure as well. However, once I rip the gel manicure off (no, I don’t pay to get it removed and yes, I know it ruins your nails to rip it off) I’ll stick some Color Street on my nails until they look pretty again.
Have you tried Color Street nail polish strips? What do you think of them?
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored review. I was not compensated in any way and all opinions are my own.
How do you get the gel polish off? I got it off of my nails, but still have some on my toenails from a pedi in May! I know, I should go have them done. I just never have time. I tried some method, but it didn’t work. I think this is a nail conspiracy!
Ugh, I know! And that’s why I hate gel polish… it stays on TOO well! You’re supposed to get it taken off at the salon. But after a couple weeks when they start to lift, I peel them off on my own. This RUINS your nails. So I don’t recommend it. Right now I’m almost at week two with regrowth, so I’m going to try and add some glitter polish by the base to hide it…
I used to have acrylic nails on my hands, they were pretty. When you’d start to get that base nail grow out, you could get a fill in for eight dollars. Those things lasted! I wonder if they have fill ins for gel nails? That would help.
Those nail strips ? you used really help for those of us who can’t paint nails. I am lousy at it! You did a good job. Pretty color, too. Just enough glamour!
Thank you! Once I rip my current gel nails off I plan on using the Color Street strips to hide the damage while they grow out! =)
I have two sets I’m waiting to try, just waiting for my base nails to be a little less of a mess. I tried the sample before I ordered and it seems pretty cool, but I was really inclined to pick at the edges of those. I didn’t apply them as nicely as I intend to apply the full set, so hopefully I can resist that urge with these. They’re so fancy and pretty, but kinda pricy.
I tried a couple sample nails before I did a full set too. I didn’t follow all the instructions when I did the sample nails and did resort to ripping them off. For the full set, I made sure to use the included alcohol wipe and it made a world of difference. I didn’t peel any of them and removed them all with regular polish remover. Good luck!!
I have been recently introduced to these and I’m sold! I get pretty nails! I love the 2 tone glitters, can’t see the chipped tips (blend in) so they look nicer longer.
That’s fantastic!
The last time I got a gel manicure, I was able to remove the gel on my own by soaking cotton balls in remover, and putting one cotton ball on each finger and wrapping them in tin foil to hold the remover on and keep it wet. In about 15 minutes, the gel had started to dissolve, and the remaining gel came off with some elbow grease. It took longer than just ripping them off, but my nails didn’t get as messed up from it.
Do you store the unused set any special way? I read somewhere that they start to dry out right away, which made me wonder why they don’t sent each set of 8 in separate clear plastic packaging.
I reseal the bag using a big piece of mailing tape and try to squeeze out as much air as possible. That has worked for me if reusing the set within a month or two. If I wait longer than that, it gets dried out.