Dashing Diva

I have tried a lot of press on nails in my nail journey, some terrible and some amazing. So when Dashing Diva came into my radar at last years Beauty Expo (and their stand tempts me every single time I walk into Priceline) I knew I had to give them a run!
First off, if you haven't seen my previous post on why I think press on nails are actually a great thing and have a time and place in the nail world, here's some abridged dot points:
*They're great when you have a kid/teen that wants amazing nails but you don't want to expose them to the chemicals in false nails
*You don't have any nails on and need to go somewhere where you want your nails to look fab - it really is a 5 minute fix
*You've never had false nails before and want to see how different lengths and styles suit you
*You do your own nails but suck at doing your non-dominant hand (aka me!)
*You are someone who nervously scratches or picks at them-self - they put that to a stop realllllly quick!

So what differentiates between an amazing set of press on nails and a terrible set?
There's a few factors, but it mainly comes down to how many sizes come in a pack, how flexible they are, and what the adhesive is. For instance the worst offender I have tried is the Kmart glue on ones - they don't have a great variety of sizes and are quite thick and rigid so they don't bend around the nail at all. This means they may look nice to begin with, but they are only going to stay on for a day maximum.
But these ones from Dashing Diva have to be up there as some of the best quality ones I have tried. Yes they are a bit more expensive, but as apposed to something you put on for a novelty then bin a day later, you'll actually get to wear these. I'll go through all the items in more details, but the main things that I love are that they have sticky pads in them rather than glue so there's no nail damage, they stick really well and you generally get a weeks wear from them, there is a lot of nails in a pack so you might not get 2 full sets but there are certainly enough to replace the off nail that does lift or look manky, and their designs are hands down the best on the market!

Some tips and tricks I have for you as a seasoned press-on wearer if you want to get maximum wear from these:
*Prep your nails! Push the cuticle back, lightly buff the top of your nails and then swipe over with a dehydrator. These nail kits come with both a cuticle pusher and dehydrator pad. 
*Keep pressing. Once you put the nail on, keep coming back to it and putting pressure on it for the next half hour or so. I sit in front of tv and just press one after another. It might not be totally nessacary but I just feel it helps make sure they're well and truely stuck. 
*Don't fret if you loose one the first day! Sometimes for whatever reason one might just not want to stay. It doesn't mean you're whole set is doomed, just apply a new nail. I find if they make it through the first 24hours, they're on for the long haul.
*If they pop off or you want to take them off, save them! If they're still in nice enough condition once they're removed you can gently pick off the sticky substance, and you can either then pick up some new sticky tabs from eBay or some nail glue. Might not be as good the second time around, but you'll still get some extra wear!

All together I got 5 items - 3 sets of nails, 1 toenail set and 1 gel strips. So lets take a look at each of them:

The first set I tried out was from their large gem series (not still available on their website, but they have lots of very similar designs). I wore these for an entire week, and I probably could have gone longer but the crystals had almost all popped off the thumb and the pretty coating on the middle fingers was rubbing off. I have found that the crystals do fall off these nails generally pretty easily, so I do suggest grabbing yourself some nail glue for quick fix ups if you plan to wear them for a chunk of time. You can see the state they were in below, but by the time I removed them they were still stuck on really tightly, I was just ready for the next set. 
The next set was from their short range, and they are marked as a slim fit. I have pretty fat fingers and am far from a slim fit so I couldn't be quite as creative about which style I wanted on which nail, but there was still more than enough to get a very adorable mani. These were a soft touch matte finish that held up nicely. 
I'm sorry for feet pictures (I hope I don't regret this!) but these were an absolute winner for me! A few days after I put these on Priceline had some of their toenails on sale so I went and stocked up for future! I wore these for THREE weeks! And once again I only took them off because they were growing out a little and I was getting over it. Like above some of the gems did fall off, but being toes it was far less noticeable. Also note that I have almost zero pinkie toe nail so they were mostly stuck onto the skin - and I did have to replace one of them a week in (but you get lots in a packet so it's not a problem) but they stuck on surprisingly well. Absolute 10/10 and will be wearing these babies every time I have an open-toed event!
I didn't actually know they made gel strips until I was going through their site with a fine tooth comb, but once again I always have to try everything! I did find that they were a little thicker than other brands of wraps, but they were very easy to apply and didn't require much tugging and stretching. The downside was that I found the tips on my natural nails didn't want to stay down (although some top coat or a heat gun might help). The gems actually were on their own little stickers so you could place them on whatever nail you liked - I actually wish they sold packs of just these as they would be such a quick and cute way to jazz up some nails! And I did love the  amount of glitter and holo bling in this set (and most of their sets seem to have). Not sure how well they would go for long term wear, but they would look amazing for an event!
My last set is a lot like the first, except no gems which at first glance is sad, but meant these held up really well! Once again I love all the different designs of nails to mix and match with depending on how extra you want to go. The gold edge on the index finger wore off fairly fast and the coating on the middle finger rubbed a bit off but other than that they still looked pretty great by the time I took them off.
Hooray if you made it through my whole essay on how much I love these nails! 
Go and check out their whole range for yourself or find a local stockist at https://dashingdiva.com.au/


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