Broadway Nails ImPRESS Manicure

I was lucky enough to get to try out the Broadway Nails ImPRESS Manicure through my status as a member of Influenster. I was provided with a free sample of the product in order to provide a review.

I have repulsively short nails. Really, it's embarrassing. I have an extremely hard time not biting the hell out of them. Sometimes I convince myself that I'm not going to do it, and I manage to grow them to normal people lengths and feel really, obnoxiously proud of myself for a few days. I paint them (I have a stupid big nailpolish collection, ask anyone) and file them... and then there's a particularly harrowing episode of Orphan Black or something, and I'm right back to where I started.

Enter Broadway Nails ImPRESS Manicure, the most realistic fake nails I've ever seen. They come in a perfectly adorable case shaped like a bottle of nailpolish, and each bottle contains 24 fake nails, so you're sure to find ones to fit each finger. They currently have over 40 different shades and patterns available, as well as 2 options for your toenails! I was given "Control Freak" and "Working Girl" to test out.

The nails could not be easier or quicker to apply. All you need to do is figure out which sizes you want to work with, pull the backings off, and press them firmly to your own nails. No glue, no trimming, no mess. I've never personally bothered with fake nails much in the past for two reasons: One, the mess, and two, the look. The ImPRESS manicure definitely eliminates reason one. If a few plastic backings are too much of a problem for you to handle, then I'd wager you've got bigger issues at hand. And reason number two is nicely taken care of as well: These babies look real.

Most store-bought fake nails are ridiculously long and strangely shaped. They scream plastic from a mile away. When I uploaded a photo of my ImPRESS manicure to my facebook, I had a friend say that she didn't even realize that they were fake nails until I explained it to her. They're not silly long, they look like nails that a real person could actually grow. They're natural looking and wouldn't give an onlooker a moment's pause as to their veracity. With those two conditions met, I am officially a fan.

Now another aspect that Broadway likes to talk about is the longevity of the nails. They claim that the nails can last up to a week without falling off, and I believe them! I do! That just wasn't my experience. As the busy mother of two ridiculously active kids under two, there was no way these things were staying on. No matter how hard I pressed, or how much I avoided physically intensive labour, it was simply not happenin'. Between changing some scary deuces and pushing that carseat unlatch button (why is it always that stupid button?), I was sporting several missing nails within a few hours. The theory was also floated that because I have such abysmally short real nails, the fake ones had less to grab onto and thus didn't adhere as efficiently. Regardless, they didn't last a fraction as long as I was hoping they would.

Tl;dr, these babies look great, are easy to manage, but don't necessarily stand up to the test of toddler. I would buy them, but only for use on very special, kid-free occasions.