I love exploring nail art looks on Pinterest, but trying them on my own nails is a completely different story. It takes me long enough as it is to do a one color mani, not to mention I lack both the patience and skills to do anything past simple dotting or stripes. Fortunately, there are lots of artificial nail sets that let us nail art newbies enjoy glitzy, decked out nails without having to take a trip to the salon.
Being more of a nail care minimalist (short nails and one color mani are my thing), I’ve actually never tried acrylic nails or artificial nails before. When Salon Perfect sent me some of their sets to try out, to be honest, I left them sitting in a corner for a few weeks. But their sparkling glitter and chrome kept catching my eye, until I finally caved and decided to give them a go.
Salon Perfect Artificial Nails
Just last month, Salon Perfect released 8 new artificial nail sets. They feature luxe, chrome, and design fingernail styles, and also one toe nail style, including:
- LUXE Black nails with large jewel accents
- LUXE Hot pink nails with jewel accents
- LUXE Black with blue glitter nails with iridescent teal and blue accents
- LUXE Light teal and nude nails with glitter and jewel accents
- LUXE Nude nails with gold glitter and jewel accents
- CHROME Oil slick chrome french tips
- DESIGN Rainbow leopard french with full leopard accent
- TOE NAILS Blue and pink chevron toe nails
Each set comes with 24 nails total, which boils down to 12 pairs of different sized nails so that you can find the perfect fit. The sets also come with 5-second, super fast drying nail glue.
Here are 7 of the 8 sets (all the fingernail sets):
Salon Perfect Chrome Nail Set – Blue Chrome French
Salon Perfect Luxe Nail Set – Pink & Jewel Accents
Salon Perfect Luxe Nail Set – Black & Jewel Accents
Salon Perfect Luxe Nail Set – Teal & Nude Glitter
Salon Perfect Luxe Nail Set – Black & Blue Glitter
Salon Perfect Luxe Nail Set – Nude & Gold Glitter
Salon Perfect Design Nail Set – Rainbow Leopard French
Salon Perfect Artificial Nail Review
For my first attempt, I decided to go with the Salon Perfect Luxe Nail Set in black & blue glitter – one of the more modern designs featuring almond-shaped tips. I was happy to find a match for each of my natural nail shapes, however, I was left with only one design option per nail – blue glitter, iridescent, or black – and had no flexibility when it came to the final look. (I wish they offered a few more glitter nails in the same sizes as the black ones, so I could mix it up a bit more.) Here’s the final look I was able to create:
Applying the Artificial Nails
The nails were easy enough to apply. I started off by cleaning my nails with some polish remover, then I cut open the glue and got to work. I applied a pretty generous, even layer of glue over 3/4 of the artificial nail (all but the very tip, which I used to grab onto while placing it onto my natural nail). Then I pressed and held each nail down for about 5-10 seconds while it dried. The glue that comes with the kit is surprisingly strong and dries super fast – within 1-2 seconds – so you don’t have any time to really ‘re-situate’ them once they come in contact with your natural nails.
I did have one little mishap where I glued my left thumb and pointer finger to my left pinky….eeee. At first I panicked and tried to pull my skin apart and it hurt like crazy. Thankfully, I was able to maneuver around just enough to get some polish remover in a bowl. I let my fingers soak for a few seconds, and to my relief, they slowly peeled apart.
The nails themselves are very comfortable to wear – they conform naturally around the nail curve and cuticle, and feel very durable yet lightweight. They’re also super easy to file down (take less time than natural nails), which is great if you aren’t a huge fan of long nails.
Removing the Artificial Nails
For a complete removal of all the nails, I followed these steps:
- First, I mixed dish detergent and warm water in a bowl.
- Then I let my nails soak for about 30-60 seconds.
- After soaking, I carefully ran my nail along the edge of each artificial nail until each one gradually lifts off.
- To remove all the nail glue, I used a 100% acetone nail polish remover (regular nail polish unfortunately didn’t cut it).
The whole removal process took me about 5-10 minutes.
Since soap/dish detergent removes the nails, that begs the question, can you do the dishes and wash your hands without loosing a nail? Yes, but in very small degrees. Without thinking about it, I hand-washed dishes for about 5 minutes and lost two nails in the process. Gluing them back on was easy enough, but lesson learned – it’s time to invest in some cleaning gloves!
Here’s the second set I tried out (the Chrome Nail Set with oil slick french tips):
Wrap-Up
Overall, my first experience with artificial nails was easy, (relatively) painless, not to mention much quicker than doing a 2-coat mani. Will I be wearing artificial nails more often? Possibly. Out of all the Salon Perfect nails, I’d definitely grab another Chrome set (the other designs were just a tad too glitz for my taste).
The only downside I noticed after wearing artificial nails for a week is that they make my natural nails very dry and brittle (thanks in large part to the super glue and strong acetone remover). My nails have been in a short ‘recovery’ period since I removed the Chrome set (meaning lots and lots of cuticle oil and lotion)!
Salon Perfect’s artificial nails are sold exclusively at select Walmart stores for around $5-$7 each.
Have you tried artificial nails by Salon Perfect or any other brand?
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