Sephora Nail Patches

RRP: $5 for 20 patches
# of shades available: 5

--What does the promo say?--
"What it is:
Colorful, long-wearing stickers for the nails.

Sephora Brand Nail Patches make it easy to be glamorous. The colorful strips add shine and brilliance to nails, with zero drying time or smudging—so you can stop using brush applicators and worrying about polish that runs or spreads unevenly and takes a long time to dry."

--Packaging--
The patches are aligned on lines of sticky-backed paper and are easy to tear off. These are, in turn, encased in a shiny black plastic envelope which gives you all the essential product information on the front in silver, as well as a see-through window so that you can take a good look at the product before you buy it. You don't have to separate all the patches at once, and the envelope closes easily as well, to protect them until you want to use them again.

--Application--
"Just stick on the patches and go — it's that easy!" says the Sephora website. "Select the appropriate size for your nail, pull off the clear protective strip, and place the rounded side at the nail base. Smooth onto the nail surface, and remove the surplus by folding the nail sticker under the nail. The excess easily tears away. Remove the nail patch with traditional nail polish remover." Sadly it isn't quite as simple as they make out: it's VERY fiddly to a) get it perfectly aligned on the nail and b) to avoid creases and tears. Boooo. Orange sticks and a pair of nail scissors do help enormously though.

--Appearance--
Not great - creases and uneven edges, due to difficulty in applying and tearing respectively, are rife. However, the colours are brilliant, and compliments were received regarding the appearance of my nails.

--Texture/consistency--
None, since this isn't exactly a conventional nail polish, although with perseverance a smooth result can be achieved.

--Longevity--
The pack claims that the patches, once applied to your nails, will last for 10 days, which seems to be a valid claim. It's just a shame if you can't get it right in the first place, as all your mistakes will stay on your nails for ten days too, with no way of correcting them. It also does not/cannot adapt to your natural nail growth, meaning that gaps soon appear between the patch and the cuticle, and the patch and the top of the nail, which is probably the main reason why you need to re-apply the patches after 10 days. The colour does not suffer at all during this time.

--Removal--
Absolutely rubbish. You really have to scrub at them with your usual solvent/nail varnish remover in order to get this stuff off, and if you have one of those little dip-and-twist nail varnish remover pots, it actually won't work on this at all and you'll need to borrow some real remover off someone. Since I unfortunately have one of these stupid little pots (albeit quite an old one), I had to resort to just using the solvent to weaken the polish before scraping it off manually (and even then it took ages). Ugh. Simply not worth it.

--Value for money--
It's still a pretty expensive option for 2 applications of nail colour, even if you have small nails and can thus stretch the pack to cover 3 applications. It's also a fair amount to pay for something that's so far from perfect. If they can find a way to make it less fiddly to apply, less prone to creases, and easier to remove, then I'll be all ears.

perfect partners
Sephora Birchwood Sticks (set of 12), $2
Sephora Glass Nail File, $8
Sephora Cuticle Tool, $16