StyleBox by Jamberry Nails - August 2014: pics, review

Hello, Beautiful!

Jamberry Nails have recently launched their brand new monthly subscription service called StyleBox by Jamberry Nails. The August 2014 box is their very first box and I was sent a preview to try out and share with you all. I'll give you all the details on the box, as well as show you what the August box included, and give you my thoughts on the subscription service and the nail wrap application process.

StyleBox by Jamberry Nails is a monthly subscription service that delivers $30 worth of Jamberry products to your doorstep every month. The cost is $25 a month which includes shipping, and you do need to sign up for a minimum of 3 months (all billed up front - so a $75 investment). Each month you'll get a minimum of $30 worth of Jamberry nail products - one being an exclusive nail wrap design that you can't buy from their normal catalog of nail wraps and the other item could be another nail wrap or a polish -  plus you'll get a nail file, orange stick, and a monthly style guide. Click here to learn more or to sign up.

You'll take a quiz to find your signature style (you'll fall into either Classic, Trendy, or Feminine), then register which plan you want. Although what your signature style is - mine is Trendy - doesn't affect what you receive in your box. Each box will be the same but you'll get style tips on how to use your nail wraps and pair them to make either a Trendy, Classic, or Feminine look.

If you're interested in signing up for the Stylebox by Jamberry Nails CLICK HERE to go to their website.

August 2014 Stylebox by Jamberry Nails

My Thoughts On The Entire Box...

Seeing as how this is their very first box, I don't have anything to compare it by so it's a completely fresh opinion on the service as a whole. I will say it is a bit pricey for the service... at $25 a month you get $30 worth of Jamberry products, and I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like an amazing value. Sure you get your money's worth, but with other subscription services you typically pay a lower price and get a higher value in return - such as Ipsy being $10 a month and my boxes are typically in the $40 to $50 value range. With Stylebox you basically save $5 and get free shipping. That's still a deal though, and if you're a fan of Jamberry Nails - or nail wraps in general - then this may be well worth it to you. 

I had never tried Jamberry Nails nail wraps before, and they do require a bit more work to apply. You need to warm them up with a heat source - I used a blow dryer, but I've seen videos of people using a flat iron or a regular iron. A blow dryer worked just fine for me, but I could see how the other options would be better if you don't want to be loud with a blow dryer. 

To apply this wraps like I said you need to warm them up and then place them on your nail, smooth them out, and then you need to apply a heat source again to kind of make sure they stick on. They're a bit more difficult to remove the excess compared to the Sally Hansen Salon Effects (I'm comparing these to the Sally Hansen ones since I think a lot of people have experience with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects). The Sally Hansen Salon Effects are easier to use - no heating up required and they stick really easily and you can just pull and break them off, gently filing off the excess. I find with the Jamberry Nails nail wraps it's easier to file off the excess if you have nails that extend past your actual finger. It's difficult to get a clean even edge if you have stubs. 

I used the floral print on my toe nails and while I was able to get it done eventually, it did take a lot longer than I'm used to when applying this type of product. The Sally Hansen Salon Effects are so easy that I've even done them while driving (I know... that's terrible to say - but I was on a long stretch of highway with no traffic and I was in cruise control). I hardly need to even look with the Sally Hansen Salon Effects because they're so easy for me to apply. The Jamberry ones certainly take a bit more patience and practice. 

I haven't used the chevron pattern yet - which is the exclusive nail wrap print for this Stylebox. I love that pattern but I want to use them on my fingers when my nails are a bit longer. Right now my nails are torn up from moving boxes and furniture around, and I didn't want to waste these wraps on little stubs. 

I will say that these do stay on for a long time. You're supposed to get 10 to 14 days of wear, if not longer. On my toes I got more wear than my fingers. I forgot to mention I did use some of the floral pattern on my fingernails to test the wear on them. They lasted me a good week and a half before I just got tired of them and wanted to change them up.

I do find that they're a bit thicker than the Sally Hansen, so I feel they are more sturdy and easy to cut to size and work with in that sense. Where as the Sally Hansen ones can stretch to fit your nail, but often times can break. 

Also, the plus about the Jamberry Nails nail wraps is you don't have to worry about them drying out because you need to heat these up before you use them anyway. So you can use one or two, put them back and not worry they'll be dried out next time you go to use them. You can also get multiple uses out of one set of nail wraps - I was able to do my toes and some of my finger nails from just the one floral set of nail wraps.

I do think this subscription service would be much better if they allowed you to pay month by month. A $75 investment up front is a lot, but then again you pay once for three months and don't have to think about it again for another 2 months. They also offer discounts if you buy longer subscriptions - saving you a little bit of money off the regular price.

And if you didn't know, Jamberry Nails has consultants that sell the nail wraps individually - they're $15 each - and from what I could find, each consultant will only get 4 invites for the Stylebox every month. With that being said, that could mean you have a wait list to get this or you just find a different Jamberry Nails consultant. I don't know if ordering direct from the website assigns you to a consultant or not - like I said, I was sent this box for consideration and I wanted to share it with you all.

So who do I think this box is perfect for? Well to start I think this box would be wonderful for anyone who likes to have their nails looking good but doesn't have the time to do them. You're guaranteed at least one set of nail wraps in your box, and you could get 2 sets or the other products could be a polish or two. If you're not into surprises this isn't a box for you because you don't get to choose your wraps. You have to be open to whatever patterns, styles and colors you receive. For example, I am so not a floral person and would have never picked out those floral nail wraps from their website - but I used them because I had them and actually was happy to step outside my box. I will say that on the toes the floral print did look a bit odd from a distance because aside from the big toe you really couldn't distinguish a pattern so it just looked a bit like abstract art or colors thrown together. So for my toes, if I had a pattern similar, I would just apply to my big toe and choose a complimenting polish for the other toes. On the nails they looked great.

I'm looking forward to trying that cheveron print on my nails in the near future. Is this something I'm personally going to jump on and try out, eh, probably not. I don't have $75 extra dollars to invest all up front at this time - but I do want to keep this as an option for the future because even though the process of applying the Jamberry Nails nail wraps was a bit more tedious, I actually like these nail wraps a lot and think the final results are well worth the effort!

If you're interested in signing up for the Stylebox by Jamberry Nails CLICK HERE to go to their website.

Let me know what you think...

Did you receive a Stylebox by Jamberry Nails this month? If so, what are your thoughts on the box? Have you tried Jamberry Nails nail wraps before? Discuss in the comments below.