Fancy Fingernails - Revlon's Runway Collection

Revlon has introduced its Runway Collection of glue-on nails, designed to lend you the look of salon French nails without the salon price. Reading recently that Beyonce and other celebrities were "into" these types of nails, six Best Things in Beauty testers put them to the "regular gal" test. The result? As advertised, French nails without the salon price!

The Runway collection, with multiple designs from daring to demure, is a kit that costs $7.99 at drugstores. The nails are available at CVS, Walmart, Rite Aid, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Ulta. I liked the demure Sequins, shown in the photo above, second from left. My testers - all ages and skin colors - tested the rest.

What did we find? First, they do stay on. All testers but one, who didn't use enough of the glue and didn't follow the directions well (duh!), found that they stayed on through all kinds of activities - for days. They look incredibly "real" - you wouldn't finger them for fake. Each package has 24 nails of various sizes, so there's no problem getting enough nails to do both hands and have them fit well. The package comes with the glue; a "bond-enhancing buffer," which is a nice buffing nail file even if you aren't using the nails; and a mini-manicure (or orange) stick to remove any excess glue. The reason I know the one tester didn't use enough glue? She alone didn't have the glue squirt out a bit on the sides when she applied the nails.

How do you get them off? Don't try to pull them off! Simply soak for 1-2 minutes in fingernail polish remover, and they melt off or dissolve. Our testers found that the length of soaking varied, but in all cases, it worked. Revlon cautions not to wear them for more than seven days (10 max), but I'm not sure why.

So...do they look good? Yes. For me, the lighter colors look great. Do they work? Yes. Do they stay on? Yes, if you follow the directions. Do they offer a do-it-yourself alternative that is comparable to pricey salon treatments? Yes. If you are into fancy fingernails, look for them. For some of us, they are special occasion nails. For others who pride themselves on manicured hands, but have a hard time maintaining their nails, they are everyday necessities. These Revlon nails are keepers.

Photo and nails courtesy of Pacific World for Revlon.