US nail brand imPRESS hits UK shores with imPRESS press on nails - the 'revolutionary' press on manicure.

These IMPRESS press-on-manicure nails (*) come in a nail varnish bottle style packaging which I believe to make a lot more sense than the usual false nails packaging (whereby you open the packet and all of the nails proceed to instantly fall out and go everywhere) plus it's cute and quirky. You just pull off the lid and then you pop open the case. It's perfect for keeping the unused falsies (you get 24 nails in 12 sizes per bottle) in (you could even add other falsies in there too) and is teeny enough to fit into your handbag or on your vanity table etc.

Application is incredibly simple, as illustrated in the above photos (or watch the video below) you simply grab the tab at the top of each falsie and remove it. Each nail has the adhesive attached and so you just place the falsie over your nail and press down hard for about a minute - et voila. Each bottle has a sachet containing an alcohol prep wipe which you use on each nail to ensure the adhesive will stick.

What I love about these nails is the fact that they are completely chip-free, reminiscent of a gelish polish, and come in an amazing range of colours and styles. For me, nail art is not something I have the skill, time or patience for and I absolutely adore the fact that this range contains both simple colour shades and unique patterned designs. The nails are also incredibly flexible which allows for ease of application and wear.

Application takes about five minutes in total and I was over the moon when I first applied these as I thought I had found the answer to all my prayers. My fingers weren't covered with hard, dried glue and I hadn't had to continuously prise them apart as I do when using nail glues, it was incredibly quick and I was absolutely head over heels in love with the design.

Unfortunately things went downhill after about an hour. After taking off my makeup and washing my face I walked back into my bedroom and noticed two nails were missing. Two. In an hour. When my activities has consisted of washing my face and brushing my teeth. These nails are not reusable. Impress explains on their website:
'Impress nails are not reusable. They are made to be very flexible to provide for a comfortable fit, when removed they become distorted and cannot be reused.'

Not only that but obviously the glue isn't sticky any more! I really bloody loved the design so I was determined I wasn't about to give up on them - so I whacked out some trusty nail glue and reapplied the nails. Perfect!

During the course of packing my suitcase another four nails fell off. That's six in total that I had to reapply with nail glue. So much for the 'press on nail - no glue!' element of these falsies...

If you look closely at the photos below you can see that some of the nails have retained their shape well and not chipped whereas others have quite clearly fared as well (major example being the blue and yellow patterned nail on my middle finger). You can also see that my own nail is just visible 'poking out' at the tip. The photo above shows this most clearly - the nails literally just sit on top of the nail and it's pretty goshdarn obvious. You absolutely could not wear these if you had long nails.

You may ask why my index finger is painted (craply) with glitter - after going through about four falsies on this finger I eventually gave up and accepted that it just was not going to stay on so I had no choice but to paint it as I didn't want to remove all the other nine nails.

Removal is actually incredibly simple - you just peel them off. Because they are basically like stickers they bend and become misshapen (as Impress states - they're not reusable as they become distorted) but they don't damage your nails in the same way false nails or acrylics do and removal is much less time consuming.

I really wanted to love these nails and actually in essence I still do. I genuinely had people commenting on my nails (I always think people lie about this - but it really did happen!) so it's clearly not just me who found the designs appealing and eye-catching.

I feel like it's a fantastic concept which they so nearly-almost-got-right-but-just-didn't-quite. I imagine that this idea will take off and pretty soon there will be one which ticks all the boxes. The adhesive needs to be stronger and reach to the very tip of the nail to avoid the natural nail showing underneath. I would almost suggest buying these nails and using with false nail glue that you already own as the colour range is fantastic. I have found them to be the perfect size for my nails and they do not impact on typing or texting etc (BBM'ing in normal falsies is a herculean effort) and you can completely forget you're wearing them.

They're definitely not perfect - but they're definitely cute.

The full range is available at Boots and boots.com; plain colours are priced at £7.99 and patterns retail for £8.99.

(*)