I’m taking a break from angry to review these nail wraps the Geek Girlfriend What Rules got me for my birthday from Espionage Cosmetics.

First, the ease of application:  A it didn’t take me any longer to apply them than it does to paint my nails with nail polish.  In fact, probably less time because afterward I didn’t have to take a q-tip soaked in remover and clean up splotches on my fingers, legs, and possibly a cat.  The only snag was that they tell you to remove the protective plastic, and there is a big piece of protective plastic over them when you first open them, this made me nearly miss the fact that there’s another piece cut to fit the wrap, that is way more difficult to spot, and a little difficult to peel up until you get that first corner.

I think that little sheet of plastic is what messed up a friend of mine who said she couldn’t get them to stay on her nails or lay flat.  I think the person she had put them on didn’t realize about the second piece of plastic and left it on.  Because until I figured that out, I had the same problem.

Second, the look:   A+ several people asked me if I did them myself or had someone else paint them for me.  They really do mimic the look of painted nails.  And lots of people liked them.  These are pretty not subtle.  Plus they even looked good on my very short fingernails.  I type a lot and am trying to learn the bass, so my nails rarely pass the tips of my fingers.   A lot of nail decals don’t look so good on them for that reason.  But these have enough design low enough that it wasn’t a problem.

Third, wearability:  A+ I am the person who is congenitally incapable of making it into my car after a professional manicure without chipping a nail. Also, the second they chip, I’m chipping the rest of the polish off.  Honestly, I can usually keep a professional manicure looking OK for about 2-3 days before the temptation to start chipping it off strikes.

I managed an entire week.

I did have to replace a couple with the spares, but there’s not enough fade or weathering to make them stand out, so no one knows.  And the only reason I took them off was that my nails had grown out enough that I could see nail between the bottom of the decal and my cuticle, which is an irresistible signal to start chipping away at it.  To short circuit that I just took them off the day that gap got to be too large to ignore.

Fourth, cost and variety:  A+  At anywhere from $5 – $12 they are MUCH cheaper than a professional manicure, easy enough to do on your own, and come in a wide variety of patterns and colors.  I have plans for some of the Bitch Planet and Sex Criminals wraps, as well as Most Ardently and Batty.  The selection represents many different fandoms beyond what I listed here, including Borderlands, War Machine, and many, many others both representative of geek fandoms or just geek culture in general.

I got a lot of comments on my shark nail wraps.  I highly recommend the Espionage Nail Wraps, and will be purchasing more in the near future.