‘I tried gel nail stickers and here are my honest thoughts’

The results I didn’t expect

Semi-cured gel nail stickers are all the rage right now, with seasonal patterns and fuss-free application set to change the manicure game for the better. But, do they live up to the hype? We put them through a rigorous wear test to find out.

After churning through one too many SNS manicures in the year leading up to the pandemic, my nails were left thinner and more brittle than they’d ever been. 

So, when salons across Australia were forced to shut up shop as we descended into the first of many lockdowns over east, I took the opportunity to give my nails a chance to breathe and reset. 

It’s now been five years, and I haven’t set foot in a salon ever since. 

After years of testing different polishes, all shapes and filing techniques, I’m proud to say I’ve nailed the at-home mani (for lack of a better word).

But while my Monday evening painting has become somewhat of a relaxing ritual for me, there are certainly times when sitting still for 45 minutes to allow three coats of polish to dry isn’t really ideal.  

Enter semi-cured gel nail stickers, the latest beauty trend designed to make at-home manicures more durable and less time-consuming than ever before.

By Me & Crew, Get Started Kit, $74.85 from By Me & Crew

By Me & Crew, Get Started Kit

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Having been let down by press-on nails in the past, both by their flimsy quality and incorrect fit, I was more than sceptical that I’d be able to keep these nails on for more than a few days before picking them off out of frustration. 

While I’m ordinarily a soft pink kind of girl, reapplying the same shade every time, the recent change in weather had me opting for a more sultry, seasonal shade. 

But unless someone has the precision of a practised manicurist, applying darker shades usually leaves a trail of accidental mistakes all around the nailbeds.

I was more than sceptical that I’d be able to keep these nails on for more than a few days before picking them off out of frustration.

So, after umming and ahhing over whether I could spare 45 minutes (and if folding the laundry could wait another night), I decided to finally try mess-free semi-cured nail stickers.

Kept inside a sleeve to protect them from light exposure (allowing the stickers to remain nice and flexible), By Me & Crew’s gel nail stickers are quite literally a manicure in a box. 

But, how did these semi-cured nails fare after a fortnight of wear and tear? Here are my honest thoughts.

The recent change in weather had me opting for a more sultry, seasonal shade. Image: Pinterest

Application

Salon-quality finish aside, the application of these semi-cured gel nails was easily the most impressive part. I’m no amateur when it comes to nails, but having never handled stickers like these, I was expecting a few mistakes and do-overs. 

Instead, I applied the entire set – left hand included, perfectly in under 15 minutes.

I simply applied the stickers onto each corresponding nail, trimmed off any excess with the kit’s supplied nail file, pressed down the edges with the supplied wooden stick, and cured under a UV lamp for 60 seconds. 

For an added layer of gloss, I added By Me and Crew’s top coat, repeating the process with the UV lamp for extra durability.

I applied the entire set – left hand included, perfectly in under 15 minutes.

Salon-quality finish

If there’s one compliment I’ll never tire of hearing, it’s, ‘Wow, your nails look amazing’. When you’re a keen home manicurist like me, having your hard work and years of practice mistaken for a $90 professional manicure by someone is the ultimate tick of approval. 

During the two weeks I wore my Burgundy set of semi-cured gel nail stickers, the compliments didn’t stop flooding in. The stickers, once cured under a UV lamp for 60 seconds, set perfectly, leaving a glossy finish across the entire nail.

Eliminating the possibility of messing up your brush strokes altogether, the only thing you have to worry about is selecting the correct sizes for your nails, and with 20 different stickers in each pack, there’s something for every nail shape. 

Plus, at just $24.95 a pop, each set of nail stickers is stupidly affordable compared to your standard manicure appointment. 

These nails survived all kinds of hard core activities without lifting or chipping.

Durability

At the first sign of a chip, crack or scratch, I’ll usually reach for the acetone or painfully peel off my polish in the shower, but with By Me & Crew’s semi-cured set, replacing the nails prematurely wasn’t at all necessary.

During the two weeks that I wore this set of gel nail stickers, they built a bunny hutch, endured countless Pilates classes, cooked all kinds of kitchen concoctions, and were dragged through the ordeal of me trying to scrub off the grime in our shower. 

They were submerged in water constantly and hit with all kinds of objects – two things one famously tries to avoid after splashing out on an expensive manicure. 

After two weeks, I manually removed them by applying some of the brand’s Cute-ticle Oil, and gently peeling the stickers off – not because they’d started to lift off or appeared worse for wear, but because I felt like switching up the colour. 

Also, my nails had grown so much during the two weeks of wear that every day tasks were beginning to become difficult. 

Overall, I was more than impressed by the quality of manicure the stickers left me with for over two weeks, and am already adding a few different options to my shopping cart to narrow down the perfect set for my wedding.

Originally published as ‘I tried gel nail stickers and here are my honest thoughts’