REVIEW: imPRESS Press On Manicures

My nails and I have had a rocky relationship my entire life. For 13 years (ages 3-16) I bit them nonstop and kept them at nubs. In the interim, I had tried various methods to keep them long and pretty— mostly, I’d get acrylics applied, which are too hard to bite. If you’ve ever had acrylic nails, though, you know how thin and brittle the process makes your actual nails. So as soon as they came off, they’d break and I’d bite. I also tried drugstore press on nails, but at the time (late 90s, early 00s) the drugstore beauty scene was just not up to par. Although press on nails would last a decent amount of time, they were terribly uncomfortable and thin… not to mention just gaudy looking.

Eventually, I stopped biting my nails and learned to look after them. Except now that I’m in my twenties and juggle work, school, a social life and my blog, when I do find time to do my nails, they are usually ruined within 10 minutes because it’s on to the next task.

I was curious to see how press on nails have evolved over the years, as they seem to be the easiest solution to getting glam nails in the shortest amount of time. My eyes were particularly drawn to the new imPRESS line, which has a variety of trendy nail art to choose from.

I first tried the nails in Bells & Whistles, which contain turquoise nails and accent nails with leafy patterns in pink and navy. I wore this to Generation Beauty by ipsy at the end of May, where I sipped on a matching bottle of coconut water from Vitacoco. Yum!

Last weekend, I wore their Night Fever nails, which are a bright summer coral with black and white geometric patterns as the accent nails. The pattern on the ring finger nail was a bit off center, but I still really enjoyed this design.

The first thing that I notice about the imPRESS nails was the flexibility. The nails conformed to the shape of my nail bed well, and stayed comfortable once set. Most of the time, I forgot I was wearing them throughout the day. While they are very comfortable, it’s a given that they aren’t as strong as actual acrylics— I still felt that I had to be cautious when using them to open makeup compacts and such.

They are definitely longer than I keep my natural nails (although not talon-long), but I was too nervous to cut them. The box does come with a gentle file to help smooth the edges and shape them, though. Because of the nice fit, I think they look pretty realistic. If anything, they look like acrylic nails from the salon.

The imPRESS nails claim to be the only waterproof press ons, and can last up to a week. When wearing the Bells & Whistles nails, two of them had come loose by the end of the day. Luckily, the box comes with enough for about two applications so I just stuck new ones on those fingers. I’m not sure if the casualties were because I was out in the heat all day (perhaps loosening the stickiness?), or I just hadn’t gotten the hang of application. I cut down my nails a little shorter when applying Night Fever, and they felt a lot sturdier. By the morning of day 3 though, two of them were really loose so I ended up just popping them all off.

Overall, I think these are an awesome and affordable option for special events. I would apply them the morning you want to wear them, and at least trust them to last a couple days, maybe longer if you aren’t as hard on your hands as I am. Either way, they are definitely the most comfortable and trendiest press ons I’ve worn!

You can find them ranging from $6-$10 in drugstores.