A Jamberry Review

One of my dearest and most-loved friends, Holly,  recently became a Jamberry consultant. Have you heard of Jamberry? The nail wrap? It's like nail polish that you put on like a sticker, but don't be fooled, it's nothing like the stick-on nails you tried out at that birthday party when you were 8 years old. These are sophisticated, easy to use, and long lasting nail products. Holly was awesome enough to send me a set of wraps for free in exchange for an unbiased review of the product.

For starters, it took me FOREVER to pick out only one wrap design. It's an understatement to say they have tons of different designs. Plus, you can design your own nails making the possibilities absolutely endless. Not only does Jamberry make nail wraps (for kiddos also!), but they make nail polishes as well.

I ended up deciding on a nice fall-ish gray base with metallic gold accents called Urban Lights.  Personally, I'm not quite bold enough for some of the prints they offer, although I love the idea of combining a graphic print on an accent nail with a solid color wrap on the other nails (next time...). I was really pleased initially with the look of the wrap when I received it. Plus, a single sheet of wraps allows for 2 manicures and a pedicure! If I were going down the street to my usual nail place, that would cost me $80! FYI, each sheet of wraps will cost you about $15.

Applying the wraps well takes a little bit of practice, but after watching a few youTube videos and hearing from Holly what has worked for her, I chose to do the cold application with the assistance of a plastic bag. The claim is that they require zero drying time versus traditional nail polish, and while it's true that the wraps are obviously not the same as liquid, the time it took me to apply both hands was comparable to applying 3 layers of polish with drying time. I'm sure with additional practice, it would take less time to apply. It's really important to have an orange stick, a heat source, and a good nail file on hand when you're applying a wrap. Unfortunately I did not use an orange stick, nor did I have a good quality nail file (what kind of a girl am I?!) and I think it negatively affected my application. I learned later that the wraps with metallic accents are the thickest and most difficult wraps to apply. Regardless, here's some photos of my work:

Note: All photos with the exception of this one are Jamberry stock photos, provided to me by Holly.

Despite my less than perfect first timer application, the wraps lasted 14 days, with the exception of my left index fingernail wrap which came off on day 13 while I was trying to put Isaac's shoe on. With as much as I do with my hands on a day to day basis, it was pretty wild to see such a random task take down the wrap after nearly 2 weeks with no issues. I had to remove the remaining wraps on day 14, and it felt like they would've easily last several more days. There was minimal wear & tear around the tips of the fingers that I use the most, but that was always easily fixable with a nail file and some minor trimming.

Final verdict: I'd totally use these again! I love having color on my nails and this makes applying and maintenance really easy. I got tons of compliments on my nails while I was wearing the wraps. They lasted through several work days as well as washing dishes, folding clothes, playing in the dirt with my boy, yard work, and all the other everyday mom tasks. I feel like it's also important to mention that I painted my toenails with my wraps on and there was no interruption in the wrap while I was handling nail polish remover. I'll probably wait and use the remaining manicure's worth of wraps just before we go out of town next week so I have a fresh set of nails for our big trip and my first baby shower! Yay!

If this seems like something you'd like to try, visit Holly's Jamberry site! If you buy 3 wraps, you get the fourth wrap for free, which is great for mixing and matching OR great for stocking stuffers! Less than 2 months before Christmas folks!