PS… :Primark Press-Ons
They may be inexpensive but are they worth your time?
What’s in the Box?
Primark kept it simple and sweet — the box contained the nails, glue, and a little warnings flyer (about the glue).
The Nails
These nails are medium-length coffin nails and most have a dark red glossy finish. Accent nails include two styles of dark red gloss with gems and a dark red microglitter with a relatively matte finish.
The Numbers
While the box itself says it includes 24 nails, there were 30 in my box! From thumb to pinky, I wore sizes 0, 5.5, 5, 6, and 9. The middle nail was a bit small but it was close enough to work.
This set came with three accent designs in addition to the basic dark red nails. There were two accent designs with gems - 1 pair each in sizes 5.5 and 6. The other accent design was a brighter red nail with a red microglitter. These glitter nails had a surprisingly matte finish and came in sizes 5, 5.5, and 6.
Here’s a breakdown of the sizes that were included in my kit!
Size — Amount Included
0–2
1–2
2–2
3–2
4–2
5–4
5.5–4
6–4
6.5–2
7–2
8–2
9–2
Purchasing Experience
I bought these nails in a Primark store for $4.50. Primark is a gigantic, affordable, department store and if you get the chance to visit one, I highly recommend it. It’s the kind of store where you want to make sure you wear good walking shoes and bring water.
Primark also has a website so you can shop online!
Brand Details
When it comes to variety, boy does Primark have it. I remember their in-store variety being overwhelming but their online stock is a bit more pared back. Their site as of when I’m writing this has short, medium, and long length nails in squoval/square, coffin, and almond shapes. Most are solid color but a few have designs. None of the sets online have bling but I remember a few in-store sets having gems. Prices on their website range from $1.50 to $3.50.
The Wear Test
I applied these nails on the 18 and ended the wear test on the 22nd. The gem on my right pointer finger fell off on the 20th while I was peeling apples but no other gems came off.
When I first applied these nails, the corners were remarkably sharp. Over time, the corners wore down and wound up rounded. I generally like more rounded nails so I didn’t mind the wear but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re looking for a shape that stays.
This wearing of the corners could be in part due to how thin the nails were — they’re not so thin that they feel fragile or break but they’re noticeably thinner than other brands with more standard pricing.
These nails also seem to be made of a softer plastic than more standard priced nails — all of the red gloss nails got scuffed up and lightly scratched.
On the one big gem that stayed on my left pointer finger, I saw some scratching on the iridescent finish. The smaller gems didn’t show any noticeable wear.
After I took these photos, I wanted to get the pointer fingers off because the damage was bothering me. I painted my pointer fingers a relatively close red, added a gloss top coat to the glitter nail to give it more of a shine, and added a matte top coat to the rest of the scuffed-up nails. I love the way this edit turned out!
The Verdict
These nails are pretty great for the price but they’re not bulletproof and they did show notable wear damage. This being said, I think the ability to look at these nails in a physical store and see them before you buy them is incredibly valuable — I would absolutely purchase from Primark again.
