After years of trying and trying, I finally managed to find the perfect solution to having amazing and glamorous nails, despite having extremely thin and brittle nails naturally – falsies of course! Now, not any type of faux nails will do though.. I’m sharing what I found out throughout the years!
My natural nails
When I said ‘after years of trying’, I was not exaggerating, okay? I’m pretty sure I have tried almost everything! I really have a love/hate relationship with nails. I love them because they’re beautiful and make you feel so fancy and polished, but I hate them because my natural nails won’t allow me to rock a nice color and shape on the tips of my fingers. They’re extremely thin and they break easily. Same with my hair, by the way.
I’ve tried false nails from a lot of different brands. I’ve tried gel nails (which were great! But getting them done every 5-6 weeks would be a bit pricey), nail hardeners, expensive polishes, etcetera. Nothing really worked (again, except for the gel nails).
Primark nails
A while back I went to Primark to look for some cute Disney clothes that I could possibly use in some Disney inspired outfits. I ran into the fake nails aisle and considered buying a set. Again. Yes, I’ve tried them before, several times. But they don’t last me longer than about two days. I was like ‘screw it’ and grabbed two packs. One of them was a metallic pink set and the other was a french manicure.
When I went to pay for my purchases, this lovely cashier told me ‘oh, those nails are great! I’m wearing them too and they’ve stayed on for four weeks so far!’ I obviously got curious and asked her how she managed to do that. She told me to throw away the glue that comes with the nails and buy nail glue from this Dutch store called ‘Kruidvat’. After I thanked her about a thousand times I went to Kruidvat and bought the glue she mentioned. And when I got home and tried the fake nails – a whole new world opened up to me! *Aladdin’s ‘A Whole New World’ music starts playing*
Frenchies versus color
One thing I did notice, was that the metallic pink nails started falling off after a few days. Bummer, I thought, this glue doesn’t work that well for me after all. Then, a week later, I tried the frenchies. Well, I am happy to inform you that they really did stay on for more than four weeks! I had to take them off myself eventually! When I compared the frenchies to the pink metallic ones, I noticed that the pink ones are thicker and seem to be made from a different material (I’m not sure about the latter). I think that’s why the french manicure nails stayed on for longer. And they also looked more natural. Oh, and just for the record – I painted them a different color after one day, because I’m not into french manicure that much.
Nail glue
Above, you can see the nail glue that saved my nails! I’m so glad the Primark cashier told me about it, because it really is a life changer. It comes with the same application brush as a regular nail polish bottle, so it’s really easy to apply. I just apply a thin coat to my own nails, wait for about 10 seconds and then press the fake nail on for about 20 seconds. After I’ve done all my nails I file the falsies to the desired length and paint them over (optional, of course!).
Designer… The Better!
I painted them over with one of my favorite nail polishes, that was actually my first OPI nail polish ever! I bought it for the holidays a few years back and the consistency is still great! It’s called ‘Designer… The Better!’ and it’s a lovely shade of champagne gold with a slight shimmer to it.
Do you sometimes wear fake nails? How long do they last?
Yvette says
Omg, ik heb dus dit weekend ook fake nails opgedaan met dezelfde lijm! I love it! Blijft echt supergoed zitten! Ik heb dan ook de nagels van de kruidvat van hetzelfde merk en ik ben echt super tevreden! Ik heb het eerder gedaan en ze blijven inderdaad weken zitten, niet meegeteld dat je misschien bij verkeerde bewegingen af en toe even een nagel opnieuw moet plakken, maar daar stoor ik me niet aan. Je verhaal is totally valid! :P
Denise Joanne says
Ja precies! Soms stoot je net onhandig ergens tegenaan en dan wil er nog wel eens loslaten, maar ik heb dat potje lijm gewoon standaard in mijn tas zitten samen met een vijltje om de oude lijm van mijn nagel af te vijlen en vervolgens weer op te plakken! Werkt top! :) Met de lijm die bij de nagels zit liggen alle nagels er bij mij altijd na twee dagen al vanaf en blijven ze ook niet meer zitten als ik ze terug plak..
Lilia | Lily Like says
Ik heb deze nagels ook van de Primark, ze zijn echt geweldig, zeke4r voor de prijs! xo
Denise Joanne says
Ja zeg dat wel! Voor 1,50 laat ik ze echt niet liggen haha
Kirsty says
Wat fijn dat ze zolang blijven zitten! Die cassière bij Primark heeft je wel echt een geweldige tip gegeven!
Denise Joanne says
Ja, ik ben haar echt super dankbaar! Vind het sowieso super leuk als een cassière gewoon lekker een praatje maakt in plaats van knorrig te kijken en niks te zeggen! Thumbs up for this woman!
Heather Lisa Noire says
This was a great post! I really like your blog. xx http://www.bauchlefashion.com
Denise Joanne says
Thank you, lovely to hear!
Charlotte says
This is such a good idea. Would be keen to know what kind of condition your real nails were in when you removed them!
Denise Joanne says
Great point! I can tell you that the condition of my nails is great after removing them! Just a little glue residue here and there, but that can be filed off easily. Also, my natural nails are so long when I take the falsies off! I will definitely share pictures of my natural nails in a future post, thanks for the idea! xx
Dani says
Woooaaaa! I need those <3
Denise Joanne says
Primark it is!
Meilani Loo says
My nails are pretty thick but the shape is weird. I want these!
ELLEN says
Don’t seem to be able to to buy Kruidvat nail glue in the uk
Tia says
Be sure to prep your nails first! My sister in law did this years ago and ended up with a nasty fungal infection. Sterilize with alcohol and use an anti-fungal primer.