Wraps are making a big name for themselves in nail art nowadays. I've gotten my hands on a few, including
Jamberry and
Scratch. I have another brand to show you today.
NCLA nail wraps offer in my opinion the widest variety of colors and choices of nail wraps. I'd also have to say that so far, the wraps have been the best in my experience with the three brands I've tried. But more on that in a bit.
In December, NCLA and Glamour partnered together with four designers to create awesome artistic nail wraps. The four designers were 10 Crosby Derek Lam, Bibhu Mohapatra, L'Wren Scott, and Peter Som. The four designers and the dynamic duo worked together to create truly unique nail wraps for a purpose: Fashion Gives Back.
Fashion Gives Back is a project that gives designers the chance to create special bags, shoes, tees, or in this case, nail wraps, to support causes they care about every year. The chosen cause was
Girls Who Code. This nonprofity helps young women in high school pursue careers in technology and engineering. This organization has helped to develop a new model for computer science edcation, pairing intensive instruction in robotics, web design, and mobile development with high-touch mentorship led by the industry's top female developers and entrepreneurs.
How does NCLA tie into this? Well, five dollars from every $16 kit sold goes directly to Girls Who Code, and these kits are all still available at Barneys Co-op stores and
shopncla.com.
It's a wonderful cause, and I think you'll agree that the designs are all stunning as well.
10 Crosby Derek Lam is the first design. I liked the design a bunch, but unfortunately, filing the edge of any dark pattern shows the white adhesive underneath, which makes it look like it's been on longer than it has. You can watch a video on exactly how to apply the wraps
here.
The next design is a colorful collaboration from
L'Wren Scott. If you haven't already, click the link to each designer's name to see the fashions the nail wraps were all inspired by.
The
Peter Som designs were different than the first two, in that the sheets each came with two different but complementary patterns. Here you can see there's a dark and light version of a very similar floral print.
My personal favorite is
Bibhu Mohapatra's designs. Like Peter Som's there were two patterns in one kit. I had a hard time deciding which one was my favorite of the two, and ultimately, I think it was a tie.
All the wraps behaved similarly, so there's no difference in the quality of application between the four. They adhere surprisingly well, which may be due to the fact that they first ask you to apply a base coat (though it could just be a clear top coat if you'd like). Once the base layer of clear polish dries, you simply pick the closest match to your size nail, and then stick it on, working from the cuticle to the tip of your nail removing air bubbles. To remove excess, fold the extra paper over your finger, so the excess is facing your palm. Then, file down if you're holding your fingers straight (from your fingers to your wrist). You'll see a little fold developing as you file, and then ripping at the seam is simple. File down the rest for evenness, and you're ready to go!
All the wraps had the same issue of a frayed edge. Though you can smooth it with a file, you can't get rid of the white edge. That's got to be a downside to all wraps though I imagine.
Besides that, the sizing was good, the designs were amazing, and the price isn't unheard of. Each set comes with two sheets, and each sheet has 22 wraps. So a complete set comes with 44 wraps and a nice sturdy cardboard nail file. That means you
could do about 4 manicures with the sheets, but you'd have to eventually start cutting the wraps to size your finger. The mondo-huge thumb wraps crack me up, and I can just picture myself trying to trim that to pinky-size.
Of course, you could just rock the Bugle fingernails look and leave them untrimmed.
Kidding.
Which of the designs is your favorite? I definitely recommend picking up at least one of these limited edition sets before they're gone. You can really stretch the length of the life of your wraps if you just use one or two as accents, and rock polish on the rest of your fingers (
a la Sarah and her Jamberries).
Remember that part of your purchase goes to an awesome cause!
These products were sent to me by NCLA. The review is based entirely on my experience with the products and was in no way influenced by anyone.
