Hello!! Today I spent a bit of time doing my nails with three decorative shield varieties to compare them. One of the most common questions I am asked when presenting Jamberry Nails at a vendor event is "how do they compare to XYZ Brand?" I've been giving the information that I've heard from others who have compared them, but figured it's about time I tried them on my own. I'll be using Jamberry Nails shields (pink), Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips (black & white), and Sassy Nails shields (purple & navy argyle).
Let's start with pricing:
Sally Hansen (SH) were $8.99 at a local drugstore, for a pack of 16 strips in varying widths/sizes.
Sassy Nails (SN) were $9.95 online with free shipping, for a sheet of 18 strips in varying sizes.
Jamberry Nails (JN) were $15.00 online with free shipping, for a sheet of 18 strips in 9 sizes.
So I got my nails prepped and decided which design would be going on which nails. I'm right-handed, so I applied the left hand first as usual.
Started with Sassy, which have application directions very much like Jamberry - clean nail, heat nail and Sassy shield, apply shield, press to seal, heat, trim, etc. The Sassys were a tad bit thicker than Jamberries, which seems like it's ok at first, but I found that made it tougher to stretch the shield the tiny bit I need to smooth it out over the curves of my nail length. There are little peaks on the tips of all of the four nails I did with Sassys, and no amount of heat, pressure, or smoothing will get them out. Even my kids noticed the ripples...and they are boys!
Another thing I noticed is that the cutting process isn't quite up to par - each shield that I pulled from the sheet had little "tails" hanging off them like the one pictured here. I used four half strips to apply to four fingernails, so there are 14 full strips and 4 half strips leftover.
On to the Jamberries! I feel like a pro now, having been doing this for over four months at this point. Buff nail, heat shield, lay shield on nail, smooth it down, heat again to smooth more, pressure pressure pressure. Allow nail to cool before doing any shaping with the buffer or file. This is a discontinued design, but one of my favorites, so I have a few hidden away here. I got one tiny ripple on the side of my middle fingernail that I can't seem to smooth out, but other than that this is a great application for me. I used four half-strips to do three fingers - one spare because I can never seem to remember that my pinky finger is wider than it looks because of the curve. So there are 14 full strips, and 4 half strips left.
On to the Sallys! These come in a package with a file/buffer and a cuticle stick, and I really like this feature, it's great that it provides the main supplies you need to apply the nails. I buy these things in bulk to provide them to my customers when they make a purchase as well. Inside the box were two sealed packages of nails. I knew from others to expect a waft of nail-polish-scent when I busted it open, and it certainly delivered! I'd also heard that the strips tend to dry out quickly, so I made sure I did these as swiftly as possible.
The nails themselves have a protective cover on them in the package, and a tab that you break off to apply to your nails - unfortunately because these strips are very thin and flimsy, I ruined two of them by tugging too much to get it to cover my own nail:
Ooops. Used the included cuticle stick to slowly scrape this one off and then tried again with more success. One thing I did like about the Sallys strips is that to shape them, you just sort of fold the excess of the strip under the end of your nail, and use the provided file to file it off. Simple, quick, and very effective! I used one of the packages and there were two or three strips left from it, which I threw away because they were the super-narrow and super-wide sizes that won't fit me anyway. So there's one package of 8 strips left now.
So here is a picture of my completed nails -
Quite eye-catching, isn't it?!? I rather like the pink-purple-black-white combo, actually! The thumb you can't see above is Sassy purple argyle.
I'll be taking a daily photo of my nails to document how they are holding up over the next...however long they last! For me, Jamberries last 10-12 days, and according to their packaging, Sally strips last up to 10 days, and Sassy Nails last 1-2 weeks.
~Jessica
Independent Jamberry Nails Consultant
Visit my website to shop or join the JB team!
