Here's Proof Salon Manicures Are Totally Worth The Money
This manicure hack really is too good to be true. 😭
Painting your nails is a pain.
Every movie that features a gaggle of girls at a slumber party painting their nails shows them having the time of their lives. It's time to call bullshit on that fantasy. Painting your own nails is the opposite of what I would define as a good time. DIY manicures are time consuming, messy and frustrating. Getting a perfectly even, opaque coat of nail polish on your nails should be an Olympic sport. Recognizing this, a few companies recently released spray nail polishes that claim to eliminate all of those difficulties. Can this miracle in a can prevent my hands from looking like a war broke out across my fingertips? I decided to find out. 💅
The supplies required were simple enough.
I needed the can of spray polish, a clear top coat and water to rinse my hands off. The spray in question was China Glaze Nail Spray in Magenta Shimmer, which felt like the right choice. I was prepared for my nails to look pretty in pink.
Spraying on the polish is just as straightforward as it sounds.
I was already wearing a base coat, so I went to town with the spray bottle. Holding it a few inches away from the skin, I gave the bottle a squeeze like the world's lamest graffiti artist. Next thing I knew, my nails and fingers were covered in a deep, iridescent purple shade. I kind of felt like a mermaid or an alien.
Next up came the top coat, which proved to be a little tricky.
Painting your nails while your hands are covered in paint is actually quite hard. Even though I covered my work area with paper towels, paint still managed to get all over the place. Obviously, I purchased spray nail polish so I could avoid actually painting my nails—but a top coat counts as polish application! It's just as annoying and challenging as slapping on some Essie.
Next, it was time to wash away my mermaid fingers.
Trying to scrub the paint off proved difficult, so I just let my hands soak in there for a few minutes. I prayed I hadn't just given myself purple hands forever. After a while, the water took on a deep purple shade and my skin went back to its pale, ghostly color.
And the results were...underwhelming, to say the least.
So, from far away this looks decent. But, in reality, it wasn't great. The spray polish had found its way into my cuticles and under my nails like an uninvited guest. Rude. The color also washed over around the edges of my nails, so they looked half done. Overall, I was much more pleased with how my hands had looked when they were entirely coated in color, giving off major sea witch vibes. That says a lot.
Spray nail polish is advertised as the lazy girl's alternative to the full-on manicure. That's great in theory—but, in reality, it requires almost an equal number of steps and wait time for all the products to dry. If spray nail polish was truly spray-and-go, dried fast, and stayed on without a top or base coat, it'd be a real winner. But, for now, I won't break up with my manicurist.