Press Sample

Iona from Sticky Nails approached me to see if I was interested in reviewing her product and I was instantly intrigued. Now that I have used her product, I am in love!

This product is similar to those “french tip” nail guides you can buy at your local drug store — except really the only similarity is that they are both stickers. Sticky Nails has taken nail stickers to a whole other level with their handmade nail art stencil stickers. These are super easy to use and much better than using plain-old tape, the design selection is awesome, shipping is super fast and the owner is really nice!

Here are the two sheets I was sent for review, which is exactly what I received in the mail plus some extra large hearts.

Sticky Nails Stencil Stickers Review

• Price – $7.00 – $10.00 on Sticky Nails on Etsy
• Description – Handmade white vinyl sticker half-sheets with perfectly cut out nail art designs.
• Best Use – Nail art stencils
• Size – About 6″ x 5″ single sheet with various sized stickers. Each sheet contains 22-193 stickers depending on the design type.
• Packaging – Comes in a simple plastic pouch with a cute chevron nail polish bottle logo sticker. The mailer is a stiff, very thick cardboard that kept the sheets safe from bending and other damage.
• Shipping – Shipping was SUPER fast but we are both in California. However, Sticky Nails is known for fast shipping and friendly service.
• Ingredients – Vinyl (latex free)
• Cruelty Free – I would imagine so!
• Uniformity – The stickers of the same size are perfectly uniform and fully cut. Sometimes they may even be cut a bit too deep, at times making the stickers difficult to remove from their backing. The designs they produce are also perfectly uniform. Thanks to the sticky-ness of the adhesive there is seriously zero bleed.
• Durability – These stickers are extremely durable, they are even flexible and stretchy so you can get a perfect fit and seal around your nail. If you don’t glob on a bunch of polish like I do, you could re-use each sticker a couple times.
• Removal – These are some really sticky stickers. The directions recommend sticking them to your palm before using to remove some of the tact and I agree. Not just to make sure you don’t ruin your basecoat, but also to make sure you can pull it off in one smooth easy motion to keep those perfect lines.
• Ease of Use – As easy as it gets, these are a great way to look like a nail pro instantly, without the hours of practice! The more complicated designs do take a bit of patience to remove the little pieces you don’t need (negative spaces) — for example the spiderweb took me a few minutes to get ready, but the result was more than worth it!
• Recommend It – Yes! These are going to be great to have on hand and make more complicated manicures SUPER fast.

Like most items available on Etsy, these are handmade vinyl half-sheets filled with enough stickers for at least 2-3 full manicures for the sheets I received, maybe more if you are handy at re-using them. You can probably get tons of manicures with the Accent Nails, Chevron Nails, and Nail Tip stencil sheets, depending on how you use them (see the full product line below). This probably justifies the cost alone, but I think I would feel more bang for the buck for a full sheet at the same pricing IF you are nail art inclined like me. If not, I would think these are very much worth the price!

Overall I think these are an awesome product that completely cuts out the frustration of a normal tape manicure. I am looking forward to using them again and I cannot wait to try out all the other designs available! This is one of those product line where I just have to have them ALL.

Sticky Nails Stencil Nail Sticker Line

• Accent Nail Stencils – Instantly create mustaches, hearts, lightning bolts and ampersands (&). $7.00 for 30 total stickers.
• Chevron Nail Stencils – Use these square chevron stickers to quickly create a whole nail of chevrons. $9.50 for 26 total stickers.
• Explosive Nail Stencils – Save tons of frustrating taping time using these stickers to create cartoon explosions, word bubbles and whatever else you can imagine. $8.50 for 47 total stickers.
• Nail Tip Stencils – Add just a little something with oval tips, chevron tips, or a zip zag edge. $10.00 for 193 total stickers.
• Radiant Nail Stencils – Easily create a radial “sun ray” effect. $9.00 for 22 total stickers.
• Spiderweb & Bat Nail Stencils – My personal favorite, create perfect spiderwebs, bats and spiders with this pack of Halloween themed stickers. $9.50 for 27 total stickers.

Sticky Nails Stencil Sticker Directions

In your mailer you will find a cute little slip with these easy to follow directions. I was so grateful she included these because I am notorious for not knowing “there were instructions” (doh!).

Sticky Nails Directions:

1. Let base color dry completely.
2. Seriously, make sure it’s really, really dry. Peel sticker from sheet, remove any inside pieces with an orange stick or tweezers.
3. Gently stretch the sticker over your nail; use an orange stick to seal down the edges and corners of the design.
4. Apply a coat of polish, being sure to get polish in all the edged and nooks of the design.
5. Wait 5-10 seconds; the polish should be wet but not too sticky or too fluid.
6. Pull tape away from your nail.
7. Admire your nail, repeat! The sticky material is super strong but with careful application, you can sometimes stencil two nails with one sticker.

More detailed directions and tips are available on the Sticky Nails Blog.

Sticky Nails Stencil Sticker Tips

• Allow for proper drying time – at least 25 minutes, up to 60 depending on the type of nail polish you use and how thick your coats are. I would also recommend using fast drying polishes or a fast dry topcoat on your colored base to minimize drying time.
• Make sure that at all steps your nails are free from moisture or anything oily.
• Use a tiny sized dotting tool to remove the negative spaces. The orange stick was too big for the cobweb design.
• Pull the stencil up and away from your nail at a slight angle to make sure your design stays intact.
• Try texture! I tested these on TOP of textured nail polish and they work brilliantly, the lines were still perfect! I also tested them using texture polish for the stencil part — this also worked but required a little filling in after lifting the stencil (see my 3-D Sparkly Spider Halloween mani below).
• Use the negative areas, such as the cut out bats, hearts, etc. To do this just make sure the design overlaps to the skin a bit or hangs off your nail tip so you can still remove the sticker after you paint.
• Use the left over sheet once all the stickers are gone to cut up strips for perfectly uniform lines, better than plain old tape. You can even use shaped punches or scissors to create your own custom stencils!

Sticky Nails Stencil Nail Art & Designs

3-D Sparkly Spider Halloween Nail Art

It is no big secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday, so these stencils really float my boat. To be honest I was concerned about how well the spider web stencil was going to work for me personally, but I was encouraged by the example picture. This manicure only took me about 20-30 minutes without drying time, which I think is incredibly fast for what is now my absolute favorite mani ever. I cannot wait to use the bats!

Since I was using a textured polish I did have to fill this manicure in a little bit. But in all fairness, I do not think the stencils were intended to be used with textured polishes and it still kept the negative areas about 98% clean! Not too shabby considering I NEVER would have gotten anything that looked this good freehand. Sorry this is the best picture I could get, this is one SHINY manicure!

3-D Sparkly Spider Halloween – Get The Look

For this look I used:

• Orly – Dazzle (silver base)
• Zoya – Dahlia (pixie dust)
• Zoya – London (pixie dust, spider’s hanging string)
• Zoya – Chyna (pixie dust, spider’s belly)
• Sticky Nails – Spiderwebs & Bats (stencils)
• No Brand – Tiny, pointed brush

Falling Leaves Nail Art

This Fall look was created using the Explosive stencil stickers. I think that on this muted Fall background they look more like the tips of leaves. Adding these took only about 5 minutes a hand, unbelievably fast! I am sure I will be using these stencils again soon, they spark so many fun design ideas.

Falling Leaves – Get The Look

For this look I used:

• NYX – Dark Gray (base color)
• Wet n Wild – Sunny Side Up (wild shine)
• Sally Hansen – Mellow Yellow (xtreme wear)
• Kleancolor – Neon Yellow (nail art)
• Pure Ice – Drive Me Crazy (nail art)
• Sticky Nails – Explosive stencil

More nail art created with Sticky Nails stencils:

• Neon, Holo, Zig-zags, Half Moons and Studs in the One Mani, Yay! by Polish All the Nails
• Review – Sticky Nails Nail Stencils by Wondrously Polished

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Press Sample