Nail Fraud Review

About a week ago Nail Fraud posted on their facebook page that they were giving out one free kit to anyone who sent them an email with their name and address. I had seen Nail Fraud on a blog once and wanted to try them out, so I sent in my information. Yesterday I got them in the mail and decided to use them today. I was sent 1 kit which includes 20 nail 'stickers' and an emery board. The instructions say to clean your nails using acetone or polish remover (regardless of whether or not you have polish on) and fit the stickers on your nails. The set comes with different sizes and for the most part I didn't have trouble fitting them onto my nails. It was a bit difficult to line them up straight and get them on your nails smoothly. I did have a few bumps. These decals are stretchy though so you can pull them to conform to your nails. Pulling them can also help take out creases. Here is how mine turned out:

These reminded me a lot of Incoco nail appliques, except these come in fun patterns. I wanted to like these but there are many things that prevent these from becoming an A+ product for me. The sticker started to come up less than an hour in to wearing these, so I put top coat over them and so far they have stayed. (I've been wearing them for about 3 hours now.) Also, they are a bit difficult to apply and not all your nails will come out perfect. I'm not sure if you can see the imperfections in my nails in the picture. (click to enlarge the images) The packaging says they're fast to apply but this product isn't really any quicker than painting your nails. I will probably keep these on until I get bored with them or they start coming off. Without topcoat, these don't last at all. One thing that bothers me about the website is that the leopard pattern on there doesn't match the one I have, which makes me wonder how accurate their product pictures are.

Pros: Fun patterns, relatively easy to apply once you get the hang of it, comes with more than needed in case you mess up.
Cons: Only available on their website, $12 for one application, inaccurate pictures,  requires topcoat to last for more than an hour.

I'm not really sure if I recommend these or not. They are pricey and I wasn't impressed with the wear (before I applied topcoat) but they are kind of fun and the designs are cute. I'm curious how they compare to Incoco so I might test those out as well. The only reason I haven't yet is because their colour selection (in my local Walgreens) is really unimpressive. I will have a final verdict on the wear of these at the beginning of my next post.

I have been so busy lately with finals, research papers, the holidays, etc. I haven't been able to post two times a week as usual and I haven't been commenting on other blogs either. I will probably only post once a week until Winter Break starts. (December 17th) I can't wait to be off school again...these essays are killing me! >.<

Have you tried Nail Fraud or Incoco? What did you think of them? Do you think they're worth the money? Let me know what you think.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Fail Topcoat Review (Rush 60 Second High Speed Nail Lacquer)

At the very least all topcoats should give your nails shine and help protect them from wear. A good, basic top coat should also last on nails. This one can't even do that. There are only two positive things I can say about this topcoat: It is inexpensive ($4.99 at Sally's) and it does dry quickly. Other than those two things this topcoat was a complete failure for me. After using up Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, I went to Sally's and picked up this topcoat to try out. When I first used it I wasn't extremely impressed, nor was I disappointed. It dried quickly, left a shiny finish and wasn't too thick. I did notice it was unusually thin and it didn't give as much of a glassy finish as most topcoats I'm used to. I figured I had probably just got used to that from using Seche Vite and Insta Dri so I continued to use it. One thing I noticed about this topcoat is it doesn't last. I painted my nails around noon one day and by 6:00 PM the shine was noticeably diminished. My nails also had that feeling like they didn't have topcoat on them. I painted another coat on that night. At that point I wondered if I would get even halfway through the bottle.

As far as nail art goes, the first few times I used it my design smeared so I always took blog pictures before I used topcoat. Back when I did my Breast Cancer Awareness manicure I started to become fed up. The polish I used in that manicure didn't dry shiny, it had more of a suede finish. (Not completely matte, but slightly.) I noticed the topcoat wearing off with this manicure the most. I painted it on and my nails looked shiny, then 5 hours later they looked dull again. After my Hidden Treasure manicure I decided to get a new topcoat. Flaky polishes usually aren't too gritty but they do have a texture to them. This topcoat did not smooth out that texture.

Pros: Dries quickly, inexpensive
Cons: Topcoat wears off really quickly, defeating the purpose of applying topcoat. Smears nail art. Doesn't give as glassy of a finish as I would like. Not recommended for glitters at all, it wouldn't even make Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure feel smooth.

Have you tried this topcoat? I'm wondering if anyone else has had a bad experience or if it's just me.

EDIT: Just added a box under followers where you can like my facebook page without having to go to facebook. It took me way longer than it should have to figure it out, the code kept messing up. It still doesn't look quite like I wanted it to but it serves its purpose. Plus I'm tired of messing with it.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Topcoat Review: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Topcoat

Recently I have been using Sally Hansen Insta Dri top coat. Ever since my Seche Vite began to thicken and bubble I decided to start trying different less hyped topcoats. I went to Walgreens specifically to purchase a yellow polish and saw a display of Insta Dri colours. Each colour was packaged with a free Insta Dri topcoat so I picked the package that contained Lightening. I wasn't sure this topcoat would be as quick drying as Seche Vite, but I was pleasantly surprised. It dried just as fast and had a similar shiny, glass like finish. This topcoat isn't as good for nail art and konad; the big brush makes it easier to smear nail art no matter how hard you try to prevent it.

The biggest downside to this topcoat is it gets thick, stringy, and bubbles. I started noticing this when the topcoat got down to where the word "Dri" is on the bottle. Karen (Frazzle and Aniploish) told me that nail polish thinner can remedy this issue. I'll probably be purchasing some for not only my topcoats but a few bottles of polish I own that could use thinning. All things considered, this topcoat is pretty good. I bought this at Walgreens and it costs around 3-4 dollars.Walgreens has sales on these periodically so sometimes they can be found for cheaper. Walmart and other drugstores also sell this line. This topcoat works perfectly to use before nail art. I usually put a layer of topcoat on before doing nail art/konad to make sure the base colour is completely dry.

Pros: Dries quickly, inexpensive, can be found at Walmart and drugstores, gives a smooth, glassy finish.
Cons: Smears nail art and konad, thickens up towards the bottom of the bottle.

This would be a great topcoat for someone who didn't do nail art frequently, or for use before nail art. I wasn't expecting much out of this and was surprised at how well it worked. It also didn't thicken up as quickly as Seche Vite so you can get lots of use out of it before you need to add thinner. I have already picked out a new topcoat which I will review once I have used it for awhile. Before I review anything I will always use it for three weeks or use half the bottle, whichever comes first. I've already been using it for a week but its too soon to say anything yet.

If you have any ideas of a topcoat I could try out to review let me know! (Especially if you know or have heard that it is good for nail art.)

Have you tried this topcoat? What do you think of it?
Peace and Love,
Serena