Friday, July 10, 2015

A Cure for Nail Ennui: Glossique Deco Nail Wraps*

I've been so bored with my nails lately that I've been going a couple weeks before redoing my manicure. I don't know if that's a side effect of not buying any nail polishes (but I don't even want any new shades - I like what I have!) or just being very lazy, but here it is: a nail ennui, weltschmerz, lassitude, whatever you want to call it, has officially settled in.
Which is why I was doubly excited to be shaken out of my blahs by an email from a reader and a fellow Polish expat in the US (Hi Magda!), who recently started a nail wrap company called Glossique. I'm sure what I experience must be common to most bloggers and writers at large, but whenever I hear from a reader I get this fluttery feeling, equal parts joy and surprise. Yeah, after six years of beauty blogging, I'm still quite surprised that actual living breathing humans read my blog, and that sometimes they are kind enough to drop me a line to say they enjoy my writing, or to ask for advice. You guys, please write me more often - it's the ultimate blogging reward.
Glossique Cotton Candy* (left) and Purr-fect* (right) Nail Wraps in Regular

ANYWAY. Magda very generously offered to send me a couple of Glossique's wrap designs to try out, and review for you if I cared enough to share. I do care - it's very important for me personally to support the Polish community, and I think most of us like to support small businesses and women entrepreneurs. Glossique's site bursts with over 150 different patterns ranging from simple to whimsical, neutral to bright, abstract or designed around a theme. One sheet of Glossique Nail Wraps contains 19 stickers, which equals 3 manicures or pedicures, and retails for $13 on their website (free shipping on orders $50+). I chose four that I liked (although it was VERY difficult to make a decision, they are all so cute!), and Magda sent them to me in two sizes: petite to fit my fingernails, and regular to fit the toes.
Glossique Fly Away Nail Wrap in Petite*
For my first time application, I decided to go for Cherry Dots* - it just seems like the perfect summer mani, and I like that it comes with an accent in a different color. I'll be honest with you, despite clear instructions, it wasn't easy for me to apply the wraps evenly. It even says on the instruction card: 'As with anything new, there is a learning curve'. Like, no kidding. I more or less got the hang of it by the fourth nail, and my right hand, which I did after the left, turned out much better - which is why it's the one in the close-up shots :)
What I struggled with the most was getting the right size for each nail (I really dislike having gaps on the sides), and then getting the sticker to apply smoothly - I got lots of little air bubbles/ ridges on the sides and at the tip. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and that annoyed me enough to want to reapply the especially uneven nails. One of my nails is especially ridged because of eczema, and on that one, the sticker just wouldn't lay nicely - I tried three times, and it still looked like, well, a badly applied sticker. I also had some trouble filing away the excess; these wraps are much thicker than another brand I've tried in the past, and my crystal nail file wouldn't cut through these easily. I was also provided with the Glossique Nail Scissors for trimming the wraps (in the photo), which are very sharp and worked great, but I still found it necessary to file for a more seamless edge.
The application difficulties aside, I think Cherry Dots look beautiful on the nails. I wish the accent sticker was a bit wider as to fit my ring finger, but even on the pinky it looks rather cute, if I may say so myself. I found that the wear on the Glossique wraps really depended on how well I applied them to each nail in the first place; if I had a bit of an uneven edge at the cuticle, it would just get bigger as the days went on, resulting in the sticker lifting slightly from the nail. None of these came off completely though when I wore them for 6 days - I actually found them a bit challenging to remove. After taking the stickers off, my nails unfortunately seemed a bit worse for wear with some nails peeling slightly, but it was nothing a good buff and base coat couldn't fix.
I think these wraps are a really fun option to wear once in a while, but I don't believe they can completely replace nail polish for me. I'm sure that if I had more practice with the wraps, they would be quicker to apply than polish, but I will say that I found the first application to be a bit of a challenge, and my nails were a bit damaged by wear, making them more of a 'once in a while' treat.  Do you enjoy wearing nail wraps, or are you a nail polish-only type of gal?

Disclaimer: Products marked with an asterix (*) are  press samples I received from the brand's PR for review consideration. All links are non-affiliate. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided as free press samples. Thank you for reading, and thank you to Magda for kindly sending these to me to try!

8 comments:

  1. I've tried nail wraps but they didnt work on me because my nail is too curved. The second problem was removing those wraps. I've destroyed my nails because they lost their layers like pastry >.<

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  2. OOO these are cute! I've only tried nail wraps once (from ncLA) and I do love them, but they aren't very cost-effective and my nails are way too fragile for enemel board, so it's something I haven't really done again!

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  3. These are uber cute, for sure!!! I tried nail wraps from Sally Hansen once, I agree w/ you, application can be a bit finicky (esp since I have small nails :-/) but I remember doing it with a co-worker (during lunch time, mind you :-D) and it was a two-women job. Nevertheless, I think I may try these since the prints are soooo cute!

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  4. These are SO adorable! I love the little cherry print. I have tiny nails, so I also find the application very difficult. But the applied look is just too cute!

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  5. Ooh cute - I love the idea of nail wraps for special occasions, an easier way to get a fancy mani that people will comment on without having to hike into the city and pay top dollar

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  6. Have you tried Jamberry? I tried a few and Jamberry seems the easiest. Plus the have polish you can use under their clear wraps and are coming out with a new product in September! I cant wait to see what it is. My nails are in great shape when I remove them!

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  7. Yea I gotta pop in and throw a pro-Jamberry comment as well! Glossique wraps are almost exactly like Jamberry, except they don't seem to work quite as well with the application. Thicker material, on white background instead of clear (Makes sizing difficult), and the removal method seems harmful to nail beds. But of course, I'm biased, because I'm the enjoyingjams.com blogger and have built my business around this product.

    Thanks for the well-written review of a competitor I've been curious about!

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  8. I love Jamberry, but I'm going to try these. The designs are too gorgeous not to!

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