How to get an instant manicure or pedicure without the smell (fragrance-free) or waiting time!

I dislike the smell of nailpolish, gel polish, the waiting time, the UV rays device thing, and the cost, but I very much enjoy the look of a polished pedicure (more than a manicure in my case).

When I discovered these semi-cured gel nail stickers, I was blown away.

PROS:

1. No smell
2. No waiting time to dry or cure the nails in dingy salon basements
3. No appointments required
4. No application or removal issues (like when you smudge or ruin a perfect manicure / pedicure before it is dry)
5. Easy removal
6. Cheaper than a pedicure with tip and tax included

CONS:

1. Some can get pricey depending on where you live (shipping, etc)
2. A little bit of a learning curve of how to apply, trim, and then remove them – really not difficult, but please read below for my tips!!

Why have not I researched into this before?

WHERE HAVE I BEEN LIVING ALL THIS TIME?

Under a rock apparently.

The two best brands are: Mylee and Ohora.

You can find super cheap nail stickers too, but trust me when I say they are not worth the pennies they cost. They are in many cases too transparent, too thin, and very tricky to apply nicely to stay on (plus the glue is awful on them).

Just go for the best brands – Mylee and Ohora and ignore their application instructions.

Do this instead, and avoid ruining your nails like I did (I am currently waiting for them to grow out.. *sigh*)

Remember – I only do my toes, so this may not be as long lasting if you were to do it as a manicure, if you follow these instructions, but at least your nail bed won’t be ruined.

The application

• Prep your nails – I suggest just plain warm water + soap to remove grease and dirt, wipe dry with a cloth & start sticking
• Measure the nail stickers onto each nail to see which one would match the best in terms of fit
• Cut the nail stickers down to the length of your nail (I can get 4 pedicures out of a single set of nail strips, because I cut the smaller ones in half and use less than a strip for a single pedicure)
• Apply the sticker, and press firmly down onto the nail all the way around
• (OPTIONAL) Let it cure in the sun for at least 20 minutes (I sit inside by a sunny window and scroll on my phone, if I am being honest)
• Trim the excess sticker down with nail clippers (you can also use nail scissors); I find nail clippers clip the best to really get the curvature of the nails right
• File them down

Notes on Step #1

I made my first mistake in following their directions with my first pair, and sanding down or roughing up my nail bed, when it was wholly unnecessary and it damaged my nail bed for no good reason, especially when I went to peel it off (I made another mistake there too).

Notes on Step #3

The best, mess-free and accident-free way is to place the sticker on your nail to measure it, but make sure you assume the top of the nail by your cuticles is NOT going to be the side that is snipped.

Use nail scissors to line up to the edge of your nail under the sticker, make a little nick of where it should be chopped, then use the nail scissors to roughly cut off the excess. You can also try to shape it a little before placing it on your nail, but it isn’t necessary.

Don’t worry about getting to the very edge of your nail either, leave a few millimetres if you want to make sure you don’t make them too short.

The removal

This one is where I made my second huge mistake in just dry peeling the sticker off my nails (the first mistake was prepping the nail bed – you don’t need to do this, from my experience). I ripped off the damaged layer of my nail bed because I screwed up in “prepping” my nails by following their instructions.

The best way to remove them without damaging the nail, is to soak your feet in super warm, as-hot-as-you-can-take-it water, and then gently ease the sticker off the nail bed underwater.

If you do it dry, you could potentially rip up some of the top layer of your nails as well…. Like I did.

That is about it.

You can try so many colours, patterns.. all without waiting for the nail specialist to do the work on your nails. I’ll bet you can even paint on top of them if you wanted to add more flare.

Personally, I stick to only pinks, reds and neutrals. I don’t really like the look of anything else, so I am not sure why I kept trying to push myself out of my very comfortable comfort zone.