Review: Fing'rs Artificial Nails

Who doesn't want the perfect French manicure, right? The problem is, it's difficult to rock a French manicure on natural nails since keeping the white parts clean and chip-free means you have to essentially do nothing with your hands for the entire length of the manicure. Since this is virtually impossible, I've found that my best option is to use artificial nails that are already in the style of a perfect, flawless French manicure.

Thanks to the folks at Fing'rs, I was able to test some different sets of artificial nails recently and by far, my favorite is #31086, "Natural Fit" for medium nail beds:

This kit comes with 36 nails and two methods of application: Press-on Tabs (adhesive stickers) and a tube of nail glue:

The first time I applied these nails I used the Press-on Tabs method, which was a little tricky but easy to apply once you get the hang of it. Using the stickers gave me pretty nails for about a day and a half. This would be a good method to choose if you only want to wear your nails for a wedding or something like that and you want to easily remove them. I found that I had a few nails pop off the second time I immersed my hands in water, so just be careful if you're wearing these to a wedding--don't subject your hands to water for prolonged periods and you should be fine.

Next I used the traditional nail glue method. This was so simple and definitely my favorite method of the two. The trick here is to apply the nail glue very evenly on your nail bed so that you don't see patches of areas without glue showing through the nail itself. But don't worry if you do see any patches because, to me, it looks no worse than when you wear acrylic nails. I wore "pink and whites" for years and when I got my nails filled I could see little inconsistencies on my nail bed and, to me, the inconsistencies on the artificial nails are about the same--barely noticeable to the untrained eye.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am extremely hard on my nails. So in order to truly test these artificial nails, I did nothing differently. The old saying, "My nails are jewels, not tools" SOOOO does not apply to me. I used these suckers to help open cans, peel stickers, scrape pesky food off plates while I was washing dishes, you name it. And let me tell you: These nails did not budge! I subjected my nails to so much water during the testing and nothing made them weak. After five full days, my nails still looked like this:

(picture taken on day five)

They still had plenty of shine, no chips on the tips or discoloration, and the only visible change after five days occurred on my index finger where I experience a little bit of lift at the base of my nail:

Final Anaylsis: If you are on a budget but still want the look of freshly manicured acrylic nails, Fing'rs Nails are a great alternative. For around $6 at your local drugstore, you can get a professional-looking manicure that lasts at least 5 days (if you're more gentle on your nails than I am, you can probably get a lot more time out of them). They are easy to apply, come in a great variety of sizes to fit your nail beds and are easy to remove--simple soak your nails in acetone for a little while and they'll slide right off. An all-around great product for my fellow recessionistas out there.

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and gratis samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.