The Gadgets Page

I bought Nutranail Gel Perfect at my local grocery store last month and was thoroughly unimpressed with it. It only lasted two days on my fingernails before it chipped. The Nutra Nail people thought that adding nail glue to the polish process would make it last as long as a “real” gel manicure, but instead, it just makes the polish brittle and chip as soon as your nail bends under pressure.

I don’t usually do bad reviews, but this product was so expensive and so worthless that I planned on at least mentioning here that it was a problem, but then I promptly forgot. Luckily, YaYaLifestyle on YouTube mentioned it on her recent regrettable purchases. You can see her review here. I agree with everything she said and feel lucky that my polish lasted a day longer than hers.

On a more positive note, I’m extremely happy with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects polish strips. I tried them in this Are You Single? style because they were on sale at my grocery store (ironically on the EXACT same shelf where the Nutra Nail Gel Perfect had been displayed). They looked like a fun thing for Valentine’s Day, so I thought I’d try them, fully expecting them to fail me just as others had in the past. I applied them on Saturday 01-28-12 and they are still going strong a week and a half later. This picture was taken today and as you can see, I will end up having to remove them because my nails have grown out, not because of chipping or wear.

There has been some wear on the tips. It’s about the same wear as I would have when I had artificial nails and my manicure would last two weeks (or more). I used to get artificial nails just so I wouldn’t have to keep polishing my nails every three days. Now, Sally Hansen Salon Effects is my new saving grace for great nails.

I suspect that if I had a more uniformly colored design, the wear at the tip might be more noticeable, but keep in mind that some of that wear came from me filing off the edge of the sticker. I wasn’t quite as skilled at application as I will be after a few more tries. For detailed directions, here is a video from BellaSugar:

One note, I followed the instructions to the tee, right down to using nail polish remover on my nails right before applying the strips. I really think that removing every trace of oil from my fingernails has helped them stay on as long as they have.

If you are looking for a manicure to last you as long one you might get at the salon, go with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects and leave the Nutra Nail Gel Perfect on the shelf.

I have found that many free game apps have very little content, and if they have multiple games they tend to all be boring. I noticed AddictingGames by Nickelodeon in the app store for free, and having been to their website I thought I would try the app. Upon trying it, I was surprised at how many games were on it and began to try each one.

There are 33 games currently and more seem to be coming on a regular basis. As I began to write this review one new game was added, and it seems that one is added every week. My favorite games are Feed the Panda and World Wars.

In Feed the Panda your goal is to, well, feed the panda by cutting various ropes holding cookies.

In World Wars your goal is to take over the map. The game simulates dice rolling for your number of soldiers, and the computer opponent’s soldiers, and the winner either takes or defends their area depending who got the highest roll.

There are also games like solitaire and even a game to help you memorize the states and their location.

I really like this app and didn’t even mention many of the games. The games range from card games to “Zombie Burger.” Most of the games could be their own apps and still be fun, but there are a few that aren’t as fun and seem pointless like Potty Copter.

In Potty Copter you fly foreword and try not to crash. Thats about it…

This app is safe to put on your child’s iPod because, as far as I can tell, there are no In-App Purchases. There are a few games in this app that I haven’t tried yet. But from most of the games I have played they are fun and creative. I really enjoy the AddictingGames app and you should try it.