#ImpressManicure Salon Quality for Busy Moms

Can I let you in on a little secret? Come closer, I don't want everyone to know this because it's kind of embarrassing. But the truth is...

...I've never had a salon manicure.

I know, right? I may be the only woman on the planet who has never had her nails professionally done.

Since gel nails are all the rage now, I've been tempted a few times...but simply couldn't justify the expense. When you're a retired Baby Boomer on a fixed income, you have to be careful about where your money goes. And salon manicures just aren't a priority for me.

That doesn't mean I don't love my nails! I'm lucky that my nails grow really fast. Since I do a lot of work on my computer, I must keep my nails fairly short for the keyboard, but now and then I'll let them grow out and polish and buff and they look like a million bucks. :)

But I still am envious of those with perfect gel manicures.

That's why I was so excited to try new Impress Salon Quality temporary nails.

These nails are absolutely awesome!! Not only do the nails themselves look superb, but the glue that holds them to your fingernails is outstanding. It really makes a tight bond that lasts for days and days.

When they said these nails will last up to a week, I said "no way".

Well, guess what? Way.

I've had mine on for five days as of today and they are just now starting to show signs of weakening. The bond is so strong you can literally trim, file, and shape the artificial nails after you've applied them. I'm bad about using my fingernails as tools. I didn't think about the chance of breaking one off until after I'd opened a couple of cans of cat food. You know, the ones with the ring pull thingie. I just shoved my nail right under it like always, and pulled the lid off. And then I remembered my false nails. But what do you know...it didn't seem to faze them a bit.

Which is just a testimonial to how strong Impress nails are, and how well they bond to your natural nails. Impress-ive, to be sure!

- Simply peel backing and press on
- No drying time and no mess
- Safe on natural nails
- Mega gel shine
- UltraHold Technology keeps nails on
- $7.99 / Walgreens
- www.imPRESSmanicure.com

They come in a variety of sizes and styles and colors. I was lucky to get the French manicure set (which I love!). You can't tell from the photo, but the white tips are quite large and very squared-off. I'm not a fan of squared-off nails, so after applying them, I trimmed them about half, and gave the edges a soft rounding. Perfect! They don't interfere with my keyboard computer work at all, and the smaller white tip looks so much more natural than the larger white tip. Round instead of square looks more feminine, too, in my opinion.

I would suggest trimming the nails to your desired length before applying them, though. I didn't have any trouble doing it after the fact, but it does take about thirty minutes for the glue to completely set, so you risk damaging the bond if you're not careful. And should you accidentally mess one up, there are extras in each set. Twenty-four pieces in all, which means you're likely to find just the right size for your nails.

They do come in different sizes, so be careful what size you purchase. For teens and women with tiny hands, the small size works fine. For "mature" women with average hands, medium is better. And for large hands/nails, there's a large size as well. At first I tried the small size and found only three or four nails that actually fit me. So I moved up to medium size and was able to find eight that fit perfectly. The other two left just a bit of my natural nail showing on the edge--not noticeable with French manicure, but possibly noticeable if you're wearing colored nails.

But at $7.99 retail, you could easily buy two or three sets, in each size, and then you're sure to find ten that fit your nails perfectly. Since these are temporary and only last about a week, they won't replace salon gel manicures. But at $7.99--about one-fifth the cost of a salon job--it's definitely a bargain. Got an important date or engagement coming up, and no time to get to the salon? Grab a set of Impress Salon Quality nails and you'll have gorgeous nails in about thirty minutes!


{Disclosure: I received samples gratis courtesy of Impress and BrandBacker to facilitate my review, but my opinions are my own.}