Review Detail
3.9 3 0.5
Overall rating
4.3
Price
3.0
Quality
5.0
Effectiveness
5.0
I recently received my March Rubybox and was so excited when I opened it to find a nail care product because I LOVE painting my nails. Upon further inspection I realised that I was a very lucky girl to received a full size product of Incoco Nail Appliqué strips. Incoco is the worlds first non-liquid nail polish that is made from 100% real nail polish. The appliqué is made up of 3 layers – a base coat, colour coat and top coat, which is applied in one step. Although there are other nail polish strip brands on the market, during my reading up online I have seen that the general consensus is that Incoco is the better.
I got a beautiful rich red colour – I couldn’t find the actual name of the colour on the packaging which I found to be a bit odd. When I looked online it seems that I received the “Rocket Red” shade although I can’t be 100% sure. But in any case, I was so excited to try it out that as soon as I got home I whipped them out and got to sticking. It’s actually not as tricky to apply as one would think. It’s a simple 5 step process whereby you remove the protective film and peel off the polish from the backing paper; Pull the tab off the appliqué; place on your nail and smooth the appliqué gently with your finger and lastly; remove the excess with the nail file provided. At first the placement of the appliqué is a little tricky but by the 3rd finger I had it sussed and could judge where to stick the base of my nail.
When first applied the appliqué is still pliable and one is able to remove it if placed incorrectly – however, once it starts drying you cannot move the appliqué. A great thing though is that you can patch up the areas that you missed (although you will notice a slight line). There is’nt really any drying time as such because it is an appliqué and not a lacquer but I would suggest being careful while it hardens to prevent any scratches or smudging of the product.
I wore it on my nails for 3 days and then unfortunately I had to remove it because the edges were chipped – but this was entirely my own fault because I did not file the edges correctly with the first few fingers and the appliqué didn’t stick well on the ends of my nails. You have to smooth the appliqué to the edge of the nail and almost wrap it around the edge in order to ensure that it’s a tight and firm bond to the nail. I got this right on my right hand and the nails still looked fantastic. Another thing that I think is important to mention is that they suggest you can pull and stretch the appliqué if you have placed it incorrectly, in order to cover spots – I would not recommend that you do that because when you pull it the appliqué becomes a sheer colour on the spot that you have stretched and you can definitely see that it has been stretched as the colour is not as rich, dark or as glossy. The appliqué is easily removed with normal nail polish.
A serious bonus discovery for me was that the length of the appliqués is long enough for 2 people to get their nails covered. I know one pack is meant for one application but because the strips are so long my Mom and I were able to share the pack and get 2 applications out of it. The size of our nails are not the same which easily allowed for this. One of us would apply the appliqué, remove the excess and pass on the excess to the other person. It became a fun bonding experience and was a nice bonus because at R135 for a pack which is only meant for a once off application is very expensive!
Due to the cost of this I wouldn’t think of this as a staple to my weekly nail polish routine (which is sometimes bi-weekly because I like changing my nail polish to suit my mood.) This product is something you’ll purchase for a specific event or occasion or simply for a once off spoil every now and then. Looking at their website I can see that they have an amazing selection of colours as well as beautiful nail art appliqués with incredibly detailed designs and patterns. For more information there is a wonderful video on youtube, I wish I had watched it before applying because it would’ve been a lot easier and I think I would’ve gotten a lot more wear out of the product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9P44PAGPV3c
PS. I attached an image of the process & end results.
I got a beautiful rich red colour – I couldn’t find the actual name of the colour on the packaging which I found to be a bit odd. When I looked online it seems that I received the “Rocket Red” shade although I can’t be 100% sure. But in any case, I was so excited to try it out that as soon as I got home I whipped them out and got to sticking. It’s actually not as tricky to apply as one would think. It’s a simple 5 step process whereby you remove the protective film and peel off the polish from the backing paper; Pull the tab off the appliqué; place on your nail and smooth the appliqué gently with your finger and lastly; remove the excess with the nail file provided. At first the placement of the appliqué is a little tricky but by the 3rd finger I had it sussed and could judge where to stick the base of my nail.
When first applied the appliqué is still pliable and one is able to remove it if placed incorrectly – however, once it starts drying you cannot move the appliqué. A great thing though is that you can patch up the areas that you missed (although you will notice a slight line). There is’nt really any drying time as such because it is an appliqué and not a lacquer but I would suggest being careful while it hardens to prevent any scratches or smudging of the product.
I wore it on my nails for 3 days and then unfortunately I had to remove it because the edges were chipped – but this was entirely my own fault because I did not file the edges correctly with the first few fingers and the appliqué didn’t stick well on the ends of my nails. You have to smooth the appliqué to the edge of the nail and almost wrap it around the edge in order to ensure that it’s a tight and firm bond to the nail. I got this right on my right hand and the nails still looked fantastic. Another thing that I think is important to mention is that they suggest you can pull and stretch the appliqué if you have placed it incorrectly, in order to cover spots – I would not recommend that you do that because when you pull it the appliqué becomes a sheer colour on the spot that you have stretched and you can definitely see that it has been stretched as the colour is not as rich, dark or as glossy. The appliqué is easily removed with normal nail polish.
A serious bonus discovery for me was that the length of the appliqués is long enough for 2 people to get their nails covered. I know one pack is meant for one application but because the strips are so long my Mom and I were able to share the pack and get 2 applications out of it. The size of our nails are not the same which easily allowed for this. One of us would apply the appliqué, remove the excess and pass on the excess to the other person. It became a fun bonding experience and was a nice bonus because at R135 for a pack which is only meant for a once off application is very expensive!
Due to the cost of this I wouldn’t think of this as a staple to my weekly nail polish routine (which is sometimes bi-weekly because I like changing my nail polish to suit my mood.) This product is something you’ll purchase for a specific event or occasion or simply for a once off spoil every now and then. Looking at their website I can see that they have an amazing selection of colours as well as beautiful nail art appliqués with incredibly detailed designs and patterns. For more information there is a wonderful video on youtube, I wish I had watched it before applying because it would’ve been a lot easier and I think I would’ve gotten a lot more wear out of the product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9P44PAGPV3c
PS. I attached an image of the process & end results.
S