This Barbie printer is fun and easy to use.Photo by Augusta Statz

By Augusta Statz

For my sister’s 16th birthday the one thing she wanted, besides a car, was a nail printer. So, my mom and I found her one. She’d kill me if she knew I was telling this, but it’s designed by Mattel, and it’s called Barbie Doll’d Up Nails. It sounds kind of little kidish, but it’s amazing. I’m actually glad that she got it because now I can use it, too!

So, how does this nail printer work? Well, it comes with software that you install into your computer. Once it’s installed, it prompts you to stick your finger in a slot that’s located under the ink cartridge. It takes a picture of your finger so that it knows your nail size. After painting a primer coat that is supposed to help the ink not smear onto your nails, you pick a design, put your finger back in the slot and magically, your design is printed onto your finger. You go through this process for each finger, and even for your toes if you really wanted.

It’s not actually all that magical, I guess. It looks almost exactly like a normal printer and even has an ink cartridge. But, you never feel the ink cartridge on your finger, but you can watch it slide back and forth as it prints a design on your nail.

There are over 1,000 designs to choose from. But, you can also add your own designs by taking pictures, putting those pictures on your computer and having those pictures printed on your nails. The designs that come with the program are separated by categories. Some of the categories are Spelling B, which contain letters, Swatch Book, which contains many different patterns and prints, Sweet Treats, which contains all kinds of foods and treats, and Wild Beauty, which contains nature scenes and various animals.

This donut design didn’t smear or chip after a week of wear.Photo by Augusta Statz

My sister and I both chose from the Sweet Treats category. She put different cupcakes and ice cream cones on her nails while I chose to put a sprinkled donut on each thumb.

What I like about the designs is that they show up on any color of nail polish, and least the ones we’ve tried so far. The printer comes with three nail polishes, white, a clear primer coat and a clear topcoat. It is suggested to use white as a base color so that the designs show up, but it isn’t necessary. Your nails can be any color, as long as you put the primer coat on top of it before the design is printed, the designs show up just fine.

What’s even better is that the designs actually last. I have had my sprinkled donuts on my nails for over a week, and they look just as good as when I first applied them, no chips at all! Unfortunately, the polish around it was a different story.

The only downfall this nail printer has is that it is pretty expensive, $150 to be exact, if you go to Toys R Us, like we did. But, after pricing a few other printers, we found this one to be the cheapest. Also, the software is only compatible if you use Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. So, that was another issue for me.

But, other than the price and the compatibility with various software, I would highly recommend this nail printer if you have the money to splurge on it. If not, try to convince a friend to buy one so you can use it whenever you want! However, keep in mind that this will save you time because it’s really easy to have salon quality nails without actually having to do anything yourself except paint the base coat, primer and a quick clear top coat. Also, I think that this product could save you money in the long run, if you are one of those people who love going and paying for a manicure. With this product, you can do the manicure yourself. Plus, it wouldn’t surprise me if nail salons started having this product in-store, if they don’t already. That would also explain the ridiculous prices of these machines. Spending $1,000 ( and yes, I did see one that cost that much) on a nail printer might not be a big deal if you are purchasing it for an entire company or salon to use. It looks as though this is where the technology of nail design has taken us. Why go and pay to get your nails done by a nail printer when you could do it yourself?