maniCURATIVE: Sally Hansen's Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips

I've been dying to do a maniCURATIVE posts for ages, and thought now would be the perfect time to do one on Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips, which I use at least once a month and love to pieces!!! So....... let's get started! Here's what I used:

Step One: Opi Ridge Filler Base Coat (I'm using this for the first time, since my favorite base coat, Essie Fill the Gap! seems to have dropped off the map!)

Step Two: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips (In  Haute and Naughty .. plus a surprise!)

Step Three:Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

The first thing I do is assemble everything I need on one surface. I lay the strips out for easy access, which makes it easy to grab and use when I'm ready to.

Haute and Naughty (pictured above) is not the only shade I ended up using, but since the second color was a last minute decision, I didn't have it ready on hand.

Anyway, I started with applying a single layer of the base coat, O.P.I's Ridge Filling Base Coat... I like so far. It dries very fast, which is always a plus!

Once the Base Coat is completely dried, I find the best sized strip to fit my nail bed. Once the best one has been selected, I peel the clear protective plastic cover.

Then I peel the nail polish strip itself from the backing paper.

I'm now ready to apply. So placing the strip against my cuticle line, I slowly press the strip to my nail, rubbing and smoothing the strip along my nail, to ensure it will bond to my nails.

Once the strip is secured to the nail beds, I gently run it across the tips of my nails and when I'm confident the strip is exactly the way I want it, I gently pull the excess strip away. If this is your first time using the strips and you're afraid of going overboard, feel free to use the handy file included with the kit to file away the excess.

Once the first nail is done, I repeat the process on the other nails. At this point, I decided it might be fun to try two different shades, so in addition to Haute and Naughty, I also used Mod About You on the ring fingers of my hands.

I thought that the pattern would be a nice pop of color in contrast with the dark and dramatic shade.

Once all the strips have been applied, this is what it looks liked...

Now, the last steps is to fill away any jagged pieces or excess to smooth and apply the top coat. I love Seche Vite because it is super fast drying, which means in a few minutes... I'm done!!

Have you tried Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips before? What has been your experience? What is your favorite shades?