These Nail Stickers Got Me 7 Compliments in One Damn Day

From Cosmopolitan

Big confession time: My fingernails are…*deep breath*…totally average. On a scale of one to Shakesepearen-sonnet worthy, they’re about a zero (a negative two? A Nickelback song?). It’s not that I have the haggard talons of a bald eagle—it’s just that I rarely have time/$$ to get a mani, and I’m not exactly buffing and polishing my nails during my commute. So when a little pack of nail stickers from Olive & June slid across my desk, promising to give me the lewk of a v fancy manicure with the ease of a postage stamp, I was…not sold. WHOA, HONESTY.

I’m sorry, but nail stickers?! Had ‘em when I was 12, and left them where they belonged—in the 2000s. The last kind I used were chunky stars and flowers that lifted at the edges, caught in my hair, and ripped off after a day. But, in the name of beauty, I decided to try out these new, ~adult~ stickers, pressing them over my bare nails, then painting on a top coat to seal them on. From start to finish, the whole thing took maybe five minutes for both hands. And yet, by the end, I was completely freaking obsessed.

It sounds dramatic, but trust me: These stickers are, like, magic. First of all, they’re hella affordable—$7.50 for a pack of 36 stickers, which, per DIY mani, comes out to some number that basically equals free. Second, they kinda melt into your nail once you paint over them, and they’re so sticky right off the sheet that the edges adhere to your nails and refuse to let go (so, you know, maybe don’t do them a two gins in like I did, or you’re gonna have some precision issues).

But even in my ~TiPsY~ state, they required zero skill or thought. I gently peeled off the sticker with my nails, positioned them over my nail beds, pressed down for a few seconds, then haphazardly layered on a quick-dry top coat and went to bed.

The next day, I kid you not, I got seven damn compliments on my nails. My boring, blah, Nickelback talons suddenly looked polished and elevated, to the point where three people asked where I had gotten them done, and how long the nail art took. UHHH, yup! These Olive & June stickers were so different than the cheesy stickers of my childhood—the colors were soft and minimal, the shapes beautiful and graphic, and the overall quality just...better. Way, way better.

And, very unlike any sticker (or even polish) I’ve slapped on my nails before, these lasted a full nine days without peeling or flaking—all of my nail polish chipped off before the stickers did. Which, actually, is their only minor downside: These suckers don’t just peel off when you’re done with them. I had to press a cotton ball saturated with acetone to each nail for a few seconds before I could scrape the sticker off. Not a huge deal, and it definitely didn’t damage my nails, but, you know, not as quick as a normal polish removal would be.

I’ve used these stickers weekly for the last two months—sometimes over a colored polish, but usually over a clear, dries-in-60-seconds topcoat, cuz I’m lazy—and, without fail, I get at least a few compliments on them. I now have a legitimate fear of them ever getting discontinued (hi, please don’t?), because I can’t go back to my old, ragged-ass-nail ways. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go back to waving my fingers around wildly until someone comments on them.

('You Might Also Like',)

• 16 Unexpected Fashion Rules That the Royal Family Follows

• The 8 Best Clarifying Shampoos for Getting Rid of Product Buildup

• Here's How to Flawlessly Conceal Your Acne