Well, I had a good run with my first set of nail lacquer strips, so I decided to keep the train moving along by having a go at the second batch that I had squirreled away in my stash. This particular offering from Sephora/OPI proved to be quite the handful as things seemed to go awry early on. But after an intervention of sorts, the end result turned out better than expected! So, let me cut right to the chase and give you all the deets on my latest romp with polish strips...
With the lessons learned from my first lacquer strip encounter still fresh in my mind, I painted ALL of my digits in my polish of choice: China Glaze's Ingrid. Then I grabbed the strips.
Lacquer strips are peel off strips of nail polish that adhere to your nails. They come in many colors, finishes and designs, have exceptional wear time, and can be removed with nail polish remover. Convenience is the key with these bad boys as you just peel them off, stick 'em on and go. Laced in a graphic, black and cream art deco design, my Sephora/OPI strips came in a pack of sixteen (two strips for each of the eight nail sizes provided).
Now when I opened the pack, I immediately noticed that the cream portion of the design had transferred/melted onto the top part of the package. Not sure whether this was due to the summer weather or perhaps the age of the product, but it had me concerned. Hoping that the integrity of the lacquer would remain unaffected, I pushed on.
Once again, I designated my ring finger as the bearer of the ornate nail decal and - after removing it from its paper backing and clear overlay - placed the strip on my nail and tried to finagle it into place. However, tackier than usual due to its breakdown in the packaging (I believe), it ripped apart as soon as I touched it! There was no salvaging it now (or so I thought), so I took a cotton ball full of polish remover and vigorously rubbed...
... only to have the cream portion of the design be erased while the stubborn black portion remained. And that's when the hamster in my noggin started to work overtime. Perhaps my initial efforts wouldn't be for naught and my nail design could be saved. I mean, the residual black pattern looked pretty dope to me, but could use some slight editing.
And that's when I decided to recruit LA Colors' Art Deco nail polish in Ice Breaker to fill-in and save my design from disaster. I splashed a little of it here and there just to polish it up and cover some of the flaws left behind and voilà! Art Deco saved my art deco and I must say that I L.O.V.E. the way it turned out.
Needless to say, I did my other hand the very same way and plan on wearing this design sans the cream portion every time I rock this decal. In fact, I prefer it this way; I think it looks better!
Don't you just love happy mistakes? And right when things seem to fall apart, ain't it cool when everything ends up falling into place? I'm stoked that my latest nail-scapade ended the way that it did. A potential #FAIL turned into a huge #WIN; I got a whole new nail design out of the process, leaving me excited to see what other nail-oriented shenanigans I can get my fingers into.
Nail lacquer strips are available at various drugstores and outlets, including Sephora and Target, and range in retail from $7 - $30.
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