Ohora Nail System
The Parrothead in me hears Ohora and immediately starts singing Jimmy Buffet’s One Particular Harbor…
La ora te natura
E mea arofa teie ao nei
Ia ora te natura
E mea arofa teie ao nei
Anyone? No…? Okay, let’s move on to my review then!
Ohora Nail are DIY gel nail strips that you seal with UV light. It’s a semicure gel nail made from real liquid gel but only cured 60%, making it flexible and wearable for all kinds of nails. Once it is cured under the UV light (which can be ordered from their website), the last 40% of the gel will harden to your nail like the gel manicures you receive at the salon. This method requires a little more effort than the pop-on nails.
This system sounds amazing, right? Unfortunately, not so much…
Pros:
Tons of color/pattern options
Free UV lamp when you sign up for emails
Easy to apply
Cons:
They look like DIY nails
They do not last
The nail art comes off easily
I have to say I was really disappointed that these were not my solution for at-home manicures. I read their mission statement, “A world where you can enjoy the same high-quality gel nails as nail shops, without the constraints of time and space” and it aligned so perfectly with what I wanted to accomplish...but the product missed the mark for me.
Here’s my experience with Ohora Nail System:
I put these nails on prior to attending a Halloween get-together and trick or treating. I sat at my counter, followed the directions to a “T” and even enlisted my husband to help me so that they would be perfectly positioned.
The instructions for application seemed easy enough:
1. Clean any oil and moisture on your nails.
2. Pick the appropriate gel size.
3. Apply the semicured gel.
4. Apply pressure evenly to make sure the edges are held down firmly.
5. Trim the excess gel hanging over the end of the nail.
6. Cure gel polish 1-3 times with included light.
I made sure my hands were clean, I used the prep pad, and I ensured everything was dry before application. I cured them the recommended 3 times under the light and they came out looking just okay.
The first issue that I noticed was one of the pros of this product. On the Ohora website they tout their product as “Beauty Beyond Compare” and explain the 3 different gel layers: base gels, color gel, and top gel. Upon trimming the excess gel that hangs over the end of my nail’s tip you could see those three layers individually. It looked similar to pages in a book when they’re fanned out.
The next issue was the “high-quality designs.” The set I chose had a pearl gem on the thumbnail. Outside of how annoying this thing was because of its height and it getting caught on things, it didn’t stay on my actual nail.
This brings me to a funny story…
I put these nails on for Halloween and had read about this idea for getting rid of excess candy. Basically, you chop all the candy up and mix it with cookie dough to create a giant candy cookie. I thought this was a great idea and proceeded to make one for my family to enjoy the day after Halloween.
The process required me to hand mix in the candy and once I finished putting this cookie together, I realized I had lost one of the pearl gems from my thumbnail, which immediately put me into a panic that it was inside the cookie.
I’m not going to lie, we definitely still ate the cookie, but everyone was very aware that there might be a “prize” hidden inside and we needed to look through and be careful as to not bite down on this gem. Long story short, about 3 weeks later I was moving a chair cushion and found the gem in between the arm and cushion.
Needless to say, these gems could cause problems if they fall off and once they do the nails aren’t so cute anymore. If you decide to take the plunge after this review and try these, I suggest a design without any raised ornamentation.
Now the final problem I encountered was the lack of wear time. These nails lasted less than 48 hours. The company suggests soaking the included nail stick in remover (acetone) and pushing the stick gently around the nail polish edges to remove the nail covering. I didn’t have to do any of that because the nails were peeling layer by layer and also right off my natural nail, making removal super easy, which I guess you could view as a pro?
I would say this at-home manicure product is a dud. Save your time, frustration, and money and try another option like a Static Pop On Nail, embrace your natural nails, or splurge on the investment of going to the salon.
The quest for the perfect DIY manicure continues! I have another product that is similar (but hopefully better) that I’ll be reviewing - so stay tuned for my update and continued search, and if you have an at-home nail product you love let me know!
Peace, Love, and better DIY Mani solutions
XX,
Jenna