Brattlesnake: Sally Hansen Salon Effects Review

I have been wanting to try Sally Hansen Salon Effects ever since they came out and I have wanted a reptilian manicure since I saw the python manicure in Vogue magazine last spring. I have NOT wanted to spend $300 for a python manicure and have been hoping instead to find a way to get the same effect at home.
Introducing Brattlesnake: reptile nails for a DIY price.

When I found these in CVS, I knew it was time to give Salon Effects a chance. There was only this ONE box of Brattlesnake available or I would have bought more.

I was rather nervous about this process as I had never tried it and I really wanted it to work. I heard that they are really easy to apply but one woman's easy is another woman's nightmare.
I took the plunge last Sunday afternoon and began to apply them after lurking several nail polish blogs and YouTube how-to videos. I was indeed surprised at how easily they applied. I took a photo of the first two applied:

The first was my pinky and I can see where maybe I should have gotten the strip closer to my cuticle. I was still pleased it applied easily and actually stayed on my nail. I had read some stories of the strip not sticking and worried, needlessly.

I completed my left hand with pleasing results. The right hand proved to be just as simple. I did not use a top coat over the nail strips as I wanted to see the results on their own as a standalone manicure.
Now for the test: how long would they last? would they chip? what would it look like over a coat of color polish?

I really wanted to know what these would be like if applied over a coat of colored polish. I wanted to follow the instructions and try on bare nails before attempting my own modification. Once I had them on my fingers, I decided to use the large strip for my big toe over a navy polish:

The polish strip applied quite easily on top of a coat of Sally Hansen Navy Baby polish. One large strip covered the big toenail of both feet. I like it!

Over the course of the week, I have showered, washed my hair, my face twice a day, done some dishes, and typed for hours at my computer every day at work. I've managed to bang my nails a couple times accidentally. How did the polish strips hold up?
Here are photos taken eight days after initial application:

My nails must grow pretty fast because you can already see around the cuticles where the nail is exposed. You can also see there is some wear at the very tip of the nail. That normally happens to me with regular polish anyway so no complaints.

I have decided to leave them on for another week to determine how they hold up. Regular polish would have been chip crazy by now.

Here are the nails on my right hand. This is the hand I use primarily and usually suffer from broken nails and polish chips fastest on this hand. Again, you can see Salon Effects stood up to the Yvonne Effect with no chips but some slight wear at the edge of the nail.

The box says the polish strips last up to 10 days and at this point I am ready to believe it. Unlike the NutraNail Gel polish which barely lasted a day, Salon Effects actually performs as advertised.

If you have been wondering if Salon Effects is worth the $10 purchase price and the effort to apply, my vote is YES. I still have another package left from the initial purchase to get a second manicure. So I will get two manicures for $10 without smudges, chips, polish on my skin and with relative ease. I didn't have to sit still for 30 minutes to prevent messing up my nails and that for me is a huge plus.

Next time I am thinking I want to apply the Brattlesnake strips over Chanel Peridot varnish.