KISS Nail Dress

On the weekend, I decided to try KISS Nail Dress nail strips for the first time, to prepare for my apartment complex’s Halloween gathering, which I never actually ended up going to. This pack, which I completely forgot to take pictures of, contains 32 strips in 8 sizes with cats and stars and moons on them, in alternating colours of orange and black. There are 16 full nail strips and 16 french tip strips. See what I thought of my first nail strip experience after the break.

KISS claims that these strips go on within minutes and last up to a week. I didn’t think that it was a lot quicker than putting a couple coats of polish on due to my inexperience, but they are certainly more complex in design than I would have gotten in the half hour or so that it took to apply them. Additionally, I didn’t have to go around being careful not to dent my polish for the next hour or so. However, I couldn’t stand wearing them for more than about 16 hours, since even in the freshly applied photos you can see little bits of cat fur and dust starting to cling to my tips. By the time I took them off, putting my hands into my pockets felt like running my nails down a chalkboard since the tips had loosened enough to have tiny flaps lifting up. The sides and cuticle held on pretty well, for what it’s worth.

I found the alternating colours on the strips to be somewhat annoying, as with the sizes of my nails, I didn’t get to alternate them on my nails. I ended up with orange on my thumb, ring, and little fingers, and black on the index and middle fingers. While it looks kind of neat, I am not often one for an accent nail, so it felt a little strange to me.

I also found that there was a lack of information on applying them. The basic steps were outlined well, and KISS has a video on their youtube channel explaining it in fuller detail, but what I really wanted to know was whether I could wear the strips over nail polish. There are stars and cats that are negative space with shimmer on these strips, and with my swatch hand having nail beds that are a lovely shade of red-violet, I would have liked to cover them with something appropriately Halloween-coloured like green or something. The shimmer does adequately cover the nailbeds, but I had no idea of that when I first started applying. I also have a bunch of french tip strips that came in the package, and the same question goes for them.

There were enough sizes to fit my nails, and conveniently, I have nails close enough to the same size to make both hands match colours. My thumbnail was just the right size for the smallest “square cuticle” strip, so I don’t have a bizarre round design on my very square thumb. I was actually impressed at how well the base of the strip fit my thumb.

I did have a little trouble with wrinkling, but nothing too bad considering my inexperience. I felt like these stickers didn’t give my nails the same protective strength that actual nail polish does, so I needed to be careful with them to avoid a break. Considering I took them off in less than a day, I didn’t need to be too worried, and my nails were fine after adding some nice cuticle balm to them. I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to use these again, as I did have some problems with them, but I will definitely try out the french tips before the end of the week. I’ve got them now, so I may as well try them.

Have you ever used KISS Nail Dress stickers before? Do you know how they compare to other nail strips? I certainly have no clue, and I’m interested to try the essie strips I got from the dollar store to see the difference. Do you have any tips for me to keep nail strips on the tips longer? Educate me in the comments.