Color Street Product Review

I was chatting with a friend, Tricia, about her new endeavor with another brand that's new to market in the DS world. A company called Color Street.

I had been telling her that I'm a chronic nail biter, trying to break the habit- but have to wear false nails until I get to a point that I don't bite them. (Once they get to my fingertip, I don't bite them...until one chips and I end up gnawing them all off!) I am always painting my nails, doing my manicure, changing colors, etc, in spite of my nails being false. I do almost all of it myself- I'm skilled with gel application and acrylics are a no-brainer and super easy for me to slap on in a pinch. In a way, doing my nails is somewhat therapeutic for me, demanding that I take time for myself to do something FOR MYSELF and no one else, for just that amount of time. Maybe that's why I'm always fixing them up lately. Side note: Another of my close personal friends sells Jamberry- and I really tried to like them. I did. But the Jamberry "Jams" weren't really a match for my real nails when they do get long. I think I have oily nail beds or something- because it didn't matter what I did, how much nail prepping I did, the damn things wouldn't stick. It was sad because they had a LOT of really cute designs and I wanted to love them, I really did. And this isn't going to be a comparison blog at all- BUT I don't want the influx of "But did you try Jamberry" emails the moment I share this. Jamberry- you're super cute and your formula doesn't work on my nails. Call me when it changes. End statement. I had told this Color Street friend about my issue with Jamberry and she asked gently if I wanted to try Color Street's manicure strips. They were her gift to me- she was not expecting a review. Surprise, Tricia! (Tricia's link to shop is HERE) She sent me the pattern I had oohed over- a silvery white pearl and lavender snowflake print that was released for the holidays. They arrived right before Christmas, and I was able to get them on before we went out for the holidays. (You can see them on my hands in the FabFitFun box review I posted on YouTube) Here are some thoughts. It could be love. Could be. There's room for it to happen. BUT I had a couple of issues that may be shared by other women, so I'm going to discuss them here. The first problem I have is sizing. Maybe my nails are crazy and freakishly sized, but in both CS and Jamberry- the thumbnail sizes were not wide enough for my nail. That's not the BIGGEST issue for me in the long run because I'm not so much the matchy-matchy person with my nails. I don't want all my nails to be whimsical all the time. I also don't like the traditional uniform colors on every nail, either. So can I get by without the thumbnail matching? Sure. I truly see myself using maybe two of the whimsical patterned strips on each hand at a time, and I'm set. I like the cute accents, not busy nails. My second issue is the bases of my thumb and index fingernails are very squared. Many women have a rounded nail bed or one with an oval shape. Color Street's strips actually reflect both of those women in every one of their strips. One side is rounded, and one side is oval. But there is no rounded-edge square shape. For my middle finger to my pinkie- no biggie- they fit with no issue. But I needed to use the middle finger strip on my index finger, and trim the edges for it to work for me. In spite of that, I felt the benefit outweighed the issues. Only using a few pieces at a time actually stretches the number of uses I can get out of each pack. (But Color Street, if you're reading- please make the bigger nail for bigger thumbnails a reality. Thanks!)

Another point to discuss is Color Street is actual nail polish strips- not vinyl or plastic. You peel off the backing and stick. AND THEY STICK- even on my wonky nails. Now, there's a tradeoff here. Where the vinyl brand would peel up if the color is scratched, these colors will scratch off... because it's polish, not plastic. This aspect makes it less durable, but that's a given- this is thin polish on your nail versus a much thicker piece of plastic. I think that's acceptable to expect from this product. So that brings me to the next point- how did it wear? Just like nail polish. It stuck, stayed stuck, and you know how your polish fades off the tips of your nails first? That was what happened here. The polish lasted as long as a normal manicure or paint job would. I got over a week of wear out of them without a major cosmetic issue. I did scratch them a bit- but to be fair, I'm pretty active. I work out, I craft, I wrestle my kids and dogs, and I cook and clean. There's a hell of a beating that my nails take and I was pretty impressed with the longevity of this product- especially having only put a top coat on one ripped nail stripped finger. There's a real trick to applying these, so if you're clumber fingered or a brute, you might tear one while trying to stretch it to smooth it out over your nail. They stretch a LITTLE. But make no mistake, they will rip if you pull too hard. I learned that with the first one I put on. Sigh... I might also be clumber fingered. It's not unsalvageable though. I was able to stick the torn portion to my nail and I sealed it in place with a coat of clear topcoat. It was saved. Something I'd buy? Hell yes. It's cute, it's cool, and it's trendy. In spite of the sizing issue and my own user error, I was pretty impressed with the product overall. I kinda want to sell this, to be honest. I liked it that much. I'm a little cranky that this product is in the MLM/DS channel because I think in this case, it may do the brand a disservice, and I'd much rather buy a shit ton of inventory and throw it up in my shop to sell. Yeah- I liked it a lot, so much, in fact- that I kitnapped today. I figured it would give me more experience with the product and more insight to the company- because I'm intrigued. I'm not going to discuss the opportunity in depth because I've not evaluated it fully yet BUT I did notice there's a larger focus on sales than many other companies- and reps don't have to carry stock. So I'll be evaluating the plan shortly and putting the review up on the MommyMLM MommyScore pages. When the kit arrives, I'll take a look at it and let you know if the kit is worth the steal, and if the plan is worth the risk.

#colorstreet #jamberry #nailpolishstrips