Do You Love Minx Nails? You'll Love These As Well!

Some of you may have noticed by now- I'm pretty frugal. I prefer the term frugal over cheap, because I like to think it's a positive thing. I mean, I'm disabled and don't have a job, so it's probably a good thing that I can make my money go far.

Unfortunately, this means when I see a trend like Minx, two things happen. First, I start thinking of how cool they are, and how much I want to have them myself. Then reality kicks in and I realize that 1- I have no where to wear them, and 2- even if I did, my nails are too short to look worth a darn with them, and 3- even if I had someplace to wear them and the nails to make them look good, I don't have the money to get them. Then I'm sad, because you know... no Minxy goodness!

You can imagine my excitement, then, when I found these Fashion Diva chrome nails from Broadway! Actually, when I first saw them I was a bit unsure... they seemed sort of cheesy to me, sort of fake. I assumed they would be silver all the way through and would look like you stuck plastic nails on your hands. I just wasn't really feeling them.

"Those are cute! Where can I buy those?"

Lots of places, actually! Major drugstores carry them- WalMart, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, CVS, and the like carry Broadway nails. Just look in the cosmetics section where the other artificial nails are!

I decided I needed to try them for myself. Instead of using the pink glue that came with the kit, I used Kiss Mega Hold Press-On Tabs, which are so convenient! They're a glue alternative for full-coverage artificial nails that are much more gentle, and they don't require filing your nail bed before application! Removal is super-easy as well: simply soak your nails in warm water for a few minutes, then gently lift the nails off starting from one edge.

The down side is that they only last one day, but I'll definitely take that for the ability to wear gorgeous artificial nails without damaging my natural nails! I was really impressed by not only how easy they were to apply, but also at just how strong they are. I haven't yet tried to wear these all day, but I don't think I'd have much problem, other than trying to get used to suddenly having long nails. :D

Speaking of nails, let's get back to those, shall we?

These nails are freakin' hot, people. I had problems photographing them because of just how shiny and chromey they are, but believe me when I say these are like having mirrors on your fingers. There's no way you could get a polish that's this shiny, it's just not possible. They look like Minx, except that instead of spending $40 for a set that can only be worn once, you're spending around $6 for a set of nails you can wear over and over again!

"But Laynie," you ask, "sure they're gorgeous on top, but what about underneath? Won't they look silver and stupid and cheap, like kiddy nails?"

 Please, like I'd not tell you if that were the case. No, the people at Broadway thought of everything with these, and thankfully they're a nice natural-looking creamy off-white underneath, just like a natural nail would be. Now, obviously they won't pass for your own if someone takes your hand and studies your nails mere inches from their own nose, but truthfully? Who does that?

"But Laynie, they have square tips! What if I don't like square tips? Or what if they're too long? I can't handle nails that are too long!"

What do you do if your own nails are too long? You file them down into any shape you like, and you can do that with these nails too! Ovals, square, or even stiletto nails (although they'd be really short stilettos!), it's entirely up to you. Honestly, I can't even begin to explain how much I love these!

And because these are simply too gorgeous, and because I had such a hard time photographing these, I had to take more photos than usual to share with you. I know, this blog is photo-heavy compared to my normal ones, but can you blame me? Look at them!! They're almost hypnotizingly beautiful... I couldn't stop looking at my nails! It was like they were calling to me. "Laynie... look at us... looooook at usssss.... we're so shiiiiiny... we're so beauuuuuuuutiful!"

For approximately $6 you get a pack of 24 nails in 12 sizes and 2 patterns (plain chrome and zebra print) and a small container of pink nail glue. Kiss Mega Hold Press-On Tabs are approximately $2 for 48 tabs in multiple sizes. That's enough for 4 manicure applications, which means you can wear these nails 5 times for $8: four temporary wears for 1-3 days and one semi-permanent wear for up to 7 days! You can't do that with Minx!

These were provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.

Simple Nail Art Using Stuff In My Purse

Have I ever mentioned that I have a short attention span? Not all the time... sometimes I can sit and focus on one thing for hours at a time. But I like to be doodling at the same time, either sketching on paper or sometimes on my jeans or my shoes. Last night it just happened to be my nails I was doodling on.

I'd gotten some nail art pens to play with, and so right before I was ready to walk out the door, I decided to throw on a coat of silver nail polish using my Sally Hansen Color Quick Chrome in Silver. These pens are sort of strange at first, but I quickly got the hang of it. It's important to get enough polish into the brush. Otherwise, you end up with lots of problems with the polish drying in the brush and smearing the polish on your nails. Not pretty, but easily enough avoided. When you first open your pen, be sure to shake the heck out of it while it's closed, then click the top 5-6 times, until the polish is flowing nicely. When things get dry, click again for more polish.

It's a very sweet system, and in less than 10 minutes my nails were polished and dry! I even added some gold polka dots on top using the Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in Gold. So, so easy, and kind of cute. I was very impressed, and ready to go in no time flat.

My family and I had gone to play cards, and I quickly felt like doodling. Before long I'd pulled out my Bic Wite-Out correction pen and started adding more dots to my nails. This was high-tech stuff, kids! It was interesting, but not enough... So then I grabbed my black Pilot G2 to add more dots and circles. This was it, and I absolutely loved the end result! I was scared it would smear, so I photo'd it without benefit of a topcoat. But surprise, surprise, it lasted just fine with the topcoat! Who knew?

This look could also be dressed up with some rhinestones or small flat-backed pearls. You could add one or two randomly to each nail or you could add several stones to one nail as an accent nail. You could even put chunky glitter on over this, although that might be a bit much!

So, today's lesson is that anything you find can be fair game for nail art. Don't be afraid to experiment with what you have on hand. You don't have to use fancy, expensive polishes and nail art tools. Sometimes the simplest things work too!

Nail art & polish pens were provided by PR for evaluation.
See my disclosure statement for more information.