Easy Valentine’s Day nail art thanks to OMG Nail Strips!

Hi everyone!

How is your weekend going? Mine’s been pretty busy but fun – yesterday I attended a blogging event with the lovely people from #ABBM (Adelaide Beauty Bloggers’ Meetups). We went to a workshop hosted by Media Makeup and got to learn all about Make Up For Ever (MUFE). MUFE is a very impressive makeup range all the way from Paris! I will be sure to write a post about that event and include lots of photos (though I used my point n shoot that day!) soon.

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Valentine’s Day is coming up! I don’t know about you but I have noticed a lot of Valentine’s inspired beauty and nail looks popping up on the net, just in time for this special occasion! If you’re like me and a nail art novice, patterned nail polish strips can be a much easier (and durable!) way to go.

Nail polish/foil strips are very expensive here in Australia. Usually $10 AUD and up! So I am very pleased to hear that a new online company, OMG Nail Strips, provide a more affordable option. All designs are under $5 – yep, bargain!!!!! – and shipping is currently FREE.

I received two designs* from OMG Nail Strips HQ – a silver base with black foil skulls design, and a red kisses design. The latter would be perfect for Valentine’s Day!

So far I have tried the red kisses out, just in time for February 14th. I’m going to save the skulls for Halloween!

To apply the nail strips you need the following tools:

Nail file, clear top coat, your polish strips or foils, and scissors. I LOVE essence’s gel look top coat.

And here are some photos of the process a la moi, for most steps (sorry I can’t hold a dryer and my camera at the same time when doing nails LOL! Still no tripod…):

Shaped my nails how I like them prior to starting. If you file the nail AFTER, you run the risk of weakening the seal between your natural nail and the strip, which means they’ll come off faster.

Find the right sticker for your nail size (trim if need be) and apply. Trim off most of overhang, then gently file the rest of the overhang off. You do NOT want to file the nail itself at this step, for reasons explained earlier.

One down, 9 to go!

End result! Do you like them?

OMG Nail Strips provide you with detailed instructions for application. To their steps I added heat (before top coat), as I’ve heard from another blogger (whose opinion I trust) that this helps the strip adhere and last.

I found them to be very easy to apply. The only thing I would do differently in the future is put them under a little heat (hairdryer on low heat for around 20 seconds – but be careful, don’t burn your hands!) BEFORE filing them down to size. What I noticed later during the day of application is that when I washed some dishes (with gloves on) in hot water, the polish strips shrank on my L hand by a millimetre or two.

OMG say that their strips last for up to 7 days. In my case they lasted for 4 days before the tips started to chip/lift, and I had put 1x coat of clear top coat on them after application (and a bit of heat from the hairdryer) to help seal them. I wore them to work (where I do a lot of typing), doing dishes (with gloves on), and showering, washing my hair, cleansing my face, etc. I was quite happy with their lasting power given how much I use my hands and expose them to water!

All in all I think these are excellent value, especially for those of you who are in Australia like me and are having to pay very high prices for similar products in store. OMG have many designs to suit everyone and any occasion!

Beautiful rating 9/10 – quality 4/5 (I was not expecting the shrinking on the first day!), value 5/5.

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What are your tips for helping nail polish/foil strips last?

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*These products were kindly provided to me by OMG Nail Strips for review. Views are my own.
I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.