Incoco Dry Nail Applique- too good to be true?

I've been seeing the Incoco Dry Nail Applique packets at my local drugstore for a year or more, but I can't lie, the price was definitely an issue that kept me from trying it. But every so often, I would wander over and look at the various colors and wonder if they were any good.

Part of the problem for me was the display. The colors looked so dull, so boring. I'm not a creme polish sort of girl. I like glitter, I like shimmer, and I like colors that are deep and interesting. From what I could see, the Incoco selection seemed limited and bland. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $8 on a pack of nail polish stuff that I couldn't even really tell what kind of color and finish it was.

Then one day I was browsing through the Walgreens' clearance section. I don't know about you, but I adore finding things on sale. I'm not bad about buying things just because they're on sale, but if it's something I'm interested in? Oh, heck YES I'll jump! So, when I saw packs of Incoco stickers for one dollar, I couldn't resist. I pulled out my wallet and left with Sinderella feeling like I'd just made a super purchase!

The packet sat in my nail box for ages. I'm not even sure why, but I always seemed to have something else to do, or I was worried I didn't have enough time to figure them out, or I was just flat out intimidated. How on Earth would I be able to put nail polish stickers onto my right hand without making them look horrible?

Then I decided to try them. I sat down with the packet, opened everything up, read the instructions and decided to go for it. If I'd had any sense at all, I'd have looked on YouTube for instruction videos. Incoco has a channel with instructions for both plain and French tips, and the videos are very clear and informative. I'd have had much more luck if I'd watched them first!

Of course, if I'd been thinking ahead, I'd have photographed the whole process of applying them. I didn't, though, because I hadn't really gotten into this whole blog thing yet. I did take pictures of things five days after the application, though, because I'm weird like that. (I even have pictures of me in an ambulance, because my husband is as much of a photojournalist as I am. One of the pictures has me with the emesis bag over my mouth and my middle finger in the air, because it captured the spirit of the moment so well. But I digress...)

The first thing that surprised me was the color of the polish. This wasn't a creme after all! No, this was an absolutely amazing deep golden shimmer polish that was intensely beautiful. Still, getting it on was a bit intimidating, but I found that as long as I took my time, they came out beautiful. And amazingly enough, they were actually dry immediately, with no dinging or smearing at all!

As soon as I finished the polish, we left to go run errands, and it seemed like we didn't stop for days. This polish stayed on like a dream, though. Look at the tipwear, for pete's sake... that's insane for 5 days! All of my nails were like this. They stayed beautiful and glossy, and made me so incredibly happy every time I looked at them.

One thing, though. The Incoco instructions say that their one little packet of nail polish remover will clean the polish off all 10 nails. Maybe they're talking different people than me, because this stuff was on there. Their polish remover pad is made of felt, so that it really did work nicely, but I still only managed 5-6 fingers before needing my own remover. Still, if that's the worst I can say about the stuff? Not bad...

So let's look at the pros and cons. It's fast, it's easy, and it's incredibly neat. The product has no bad smell at all. You could use this on an airplane, in a hospital, wherever without any guilt at all.

As for the negative aspect, I'm not fond of the packaging. It's too hard to see what type of finish you'll have. I also find it pretty expensive, since you're getting one manicure for $8, as opposed to a bottle of China Glaze polish (or Orly, or OPI, or whatever your favorite brand is). Also, there's not as much flexibility with these as there is with a bottle of polish. You can't really layer them (I think?), and you can't do any frankening.

Still, these are sweet as heck if you need them in an emergency. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for sales, because these would be fabulous to keep on hand. What do you think- would you like to try Incoco Dry Nail Appliques? Do you think they're priced well, or over- or under-priced? Tell me what you're thinking...