Been hearing a lot about the trend for semi-cured nail strips? Curious to find out more about them? If your looking for the best semi cured nail strips, this post is for you.
We’ll go over the different types of gel nail strips, and what brands to look out for, and I’ll share my list of the 8 best semi cured nail strips.
All the products I tested for this review were bought with my own money.
No sponsorships or anything like that.
Ready to get started?
Let’s dive into instant gel nail polish strips!
In a hurry?
Here’s my list of the 8 best semi-cured nail strips: (click below to check the prices on Amazon)
- Ohora semi-cured nail strips
- Nailog soft gel nail strips
- Danni & Toni Glaze gel nail strips
- Zinipin Gellight semi-cured gel stickers
- Edgeu Baked gel nails
- Nailjam gel nail wraps
- Kalolary semi-cured gel nail stickers
Now that you have the shortlist, let’s start the search and find the best nail polish strips for you.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
The benefits of using semi-cured nail strips
Semi-cured gel strips (aka gel nail stickers) are great!
These adhesive stickers are much easier to apply than traditional wet gel polish.
I’ve found that with these little strips you can definitely achieve salon-like results that last just as long.
They make them for both fingers and toes. Plus, they come in a huge variety of colors and designs.
In my experience, gel manicure strips like these can save you time and money.
Because gel nail stickers are already partly cured, there’s no waiting time in between coats like there is with a painted-on gel manicure.
I’ve also found that nail stickers work out much less expensive than having your nails done at a nail salon.
Not having to go to the nail salon also saves you even more time.
How easy are they to apply?
Applying gel nail stickers is super easy.
You don’t need any special skills to do your own gel sticker nails at home!
You also don’t need a base coat so you’re skipping that step (saving more time and money).
There are plenty of fun videos that show you how to enhance your nails with stickers, so there’s really no excuse!
Do I need a nail lamp?
Nail stickers are made from gel, which cures with UV light, so yes, you do need a UV lamp (or an led lamp).
You also need nail clippers or scissors to cut the excess strip away.
A nail file is needed to smooth out the edges and I find a wooden stick is handy to create a smooth seal so that the sticker doesn’t peel.
Be careful not to scratch the sticker though!
A wooden stick is also useful for removal in my experience.
Most packs come with everything you need (except the lamp) so you don’t need to worry too much about tools once you’ve made your purchase.
List of key benefits of semi-cured nails
So, to summarise, the key benefits of gel nail stickers are:
- They are long-lasting – last just as long as traditional gel polish
- Gel strips come in a huge variety of colors and designs
- They cut down on drying / curing time
- Gel strips are easy to apply
- They save you money
The different types of semi-cured nail strips available on the market
Gel polish strips are basically all the same. They are all made from real gel nail polish.
However, they do differ slightly in how much they have been cured.
What you need to know about curing
Some brands are 50% cured, others, 70%.
This can affect the length of time it takes to cure them fully.
In my experience, most brands of gel polish strips fall somewhere between the 50 % and 70 % cured range.
Obviously, you’re going to need a nail lamp if you want to use gel nail polish strips.
The curing time can vary depending on whether you are using UV light or led light to finish curing them.
Other things to think about when choosing nail stickers:
What will probably be your biggest factor in deciding which ones to go for will be the quality.
I’ve found that it’s better to go for a thicker gel sticker because the thin ones tend to wrinkle, and can also tear if you try to stretch them.
Obviously, how well they stick and how long they last will also be on your mind while you’re choosing.
Finally, the design has got to be cute!
You can get plain ones, patterns, effects, glitters, and even gems!
What brands of gel nail strips are there?
There are several brands that make semi-cured nail strips, but not all of them are created equal.
Semi-cured gel nail brand list
Here’s a list of all the brands I could find that make semi-cured or cured gel nail wraps.
- Ohora
- Dashing Diva
- Edgeu
- Zinipin
- Gelato Factory
- UUUUU
- Nailjam
- Nailog
- Kalolary
- Manime
- Diami
- Danni & Toni
- Drizzle
Of course, you don’t have to stick with one brand.
I haven’t tested every one of these brands, but I have tested the ones in my top 8 below.
If the brand isn’t in the top 8 list below, I’d recommend that you read some reviews first (some of them do have minor issues).
Best gel nail strips
Time for the moment your fingernails have been waiting for!
Here’s my roundup of the 8 best partially cured gel nail strips.
Ohora semi-cured nail strips (click to check price on amazon)
Ohora is emerging as one of the top Korean gel nail sticker brands for semi-cured gel strips.
They are all over Youtube and social media right now.
I love the quality, the packaging, and the designs.
I chose to try these out because of the great reviews they have online. I was not disappointed!
If you want long-lasting, salon-quality, nails that are easy to apply then I’d say this is the brand to go for.
Ohora makes 60% semi-cured gel nails for both fingernails and toenails.
Their pedi packs are super cute!
The best thing about Ohora nails in my opinion and the reason I love them so much is the designs.
They are gorgeous!
They have cutesy stuff like hearts, teddy bears, and characters if you’re into that.
Or if you like shiny things then you can grab nails covered in gems and glitter! (check out N Fairy Cake (click to check price on amazon) if you love glitter!)
They have tons of stunning designs from modern minimalist to polka dots to marble to ombre to floral, the list goes on…
I also really love that they have super cute gems that actually stayed on!
All the designs feel very current.
You can buy them on Amazon for the fastest delivery.
Warning – you will want them all!
Pro tip – use Ohora pro glossy top coat (click to check price on amazon) to make your Ohora nails last longer.
Alright, onto my second pick.
Nailog soft gel nail strips (click to check price on amazon)
Nailog makes soft gel nail strips that I found to be very affordable.
They don’t have as many cute designs as Ohora does, the brand seems to be aiming for a more mature audience.
But if you like sophisticated, abstract, and adult designs, nailog has some nice ones to choose from.
The reviews are good, and they were easy to apply and held up well.
You get 20 extra-long strips in a pack, so these are great if you have long nails, or if you want to re-use them on your short nails to get your money’s worth, which is what I did 😉
They are also cruelty-free and vegan.
Something I noticed was that both Ohora and Nailog are around the same price point.
However, you get 30 strips in a pack from Ohora and only 20 (but extra long) from Nailog.
Danni & Toni Glaze gel nail strips (click to check price on amazon)
Danni and Toni Glaze nail strips come in packs of 28.
Their designs range from delicately beautiful Japanese florals and lace to weird and quirky alien designs.
They have some really creative and out-there designs that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
I found these were easy to apply, fun to wear, and long-lasting.
So if you like to be ahead of the trends and have unique nails, Danni & Toni is definitely worth checking out.
Zinipin Gellight semi-cured gel stickers (click to check price on amazon)
Zinipin Gellight strips are very high quality in my opinion.
They cured rock-hard and lasted for 13 days.
The quality is definitely on par with Ohora (my favorite brand because of the quality and design choices).
As you’d expect, the reviews for this brand are overwhelmingly positive.
Zinipin wraps are 70% cured and come in packs of 36.
They cost pretty much the same as most other brands.
If you’re wondering why I’m not delving too much into price btw, it’s because i’ve found there really isn’t that much variation in the cost of semi-cured gel nails.
The difference may be a few dollars at the most.
Of course, the more stickers you get the better the value, and 36 stickers is a lot!
Zinipin has some amazing designs. Their vibe is mostly classy, elegant, and ultra-modern.
So if you like your nails to look chic and high fashion, Zinipin is probably the brand for you.
Edgeu Baked gel nail (click to check price on amazon)
Edge-U is also a Korean gel nail stickers brand. They are fast becoming popular because of their cool designs and quality products.
As soon as you open their box, you’ll see what I mean about the quality.
They came packed in a very nice box (just like Ohora) and the designs are lovely.
They came with 34 stickers in each box for two sets of nails.
The designs range from geometric patterns to delicate florals, colorful ombres, and graphic prints.
Their wraps are 60% cured and cure fully in 60 seconds under led light.
They also have great reviews praising the ease of use which having tried them I can agree with.
Nailjam gel nail wraps (click to check price on amazon)
Nailjam gel nail wraps are mostly sold on Amazon and Etsy.
You get 38 strips in total.
I wasn’t expecting this but they came with nails for both fingernails and toenails in one pack.
So one of the best things about this option is that you can do a mani-pedi at the same time!
The designs are awesome, with lots of geometrics, bright colors, and glitters.
They were a little more expensive than some of the other packs on this list, but when you consider that you’re getting enough to do a full set of fingers and toes it’s totally worth it!
I found that these were fine and didn’t have any issues with them.
However, I did notice that Nailog has mixed reviews online, scoring 3.8 out of 5 on average.
Kalolary semi-cured gel nail sticker (click to check price on amazon)
The last brand I’m going to talk about today is Kalolary.
Kalolary is mainly a beauty brand. But they have released their own brand of semi-cured gel nails and I have to say they’re pretty good!
I would say that this a budget brand.
You only get 20 stickers in a pack (so not much wiggle room if you make a mistake).
You can pick them up at Walmart or Amazon (I got mine from Amazon).
The design choice for me is very limited. It’s mainly solid colors, plain glitters, and ombre.
I was a bit disappointed that you don’t get any options for nail art or designs, but some packs like the pastel one, come with a few different colors.
So you can mix it up a little to create interesting designs.
Reviews for these strips average out at 4 out of 5.
In my opinion, they get a 3.5 because even though they are cute and have staying power, the lack of designs is a big drawback for me personally.
If you want basic gel nail stickers on a budget, these are great!
A quick note on the brands that didn’t make it.
That’s the end of list! There are a few brands that didn’t make it, like Dashing Diva for example.
I didn’t include them because I found that their strips don’t stretch very well at all.
They are also quite thin which means that they are more prone to wrinkling.
The Korean brand UUUUU also have some really cool nail strips.
However, when I tried them they lifted and kept getting caught in my hair, so they didn’t make the list.
Final thoughts on semi-cured nails
Semi-cured nails are a great way to get salon-quality nails without having to go to a salon.
They’re also really affordable, and the designs are trendy and chic.
They’re easy to apply and they save you time, money, and effort.
If you have used nail polish strips before, you’ll find that the gel manicure application process is basically the same (except for the cutting part).
I hope you enjoyed this article and that I’ve helped you find the best nail polish strips for you.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
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