
ALRIGHT! I promised in my last review (which was a stand alone review about Color Street) that I would write this post. The first thing I am going to do is link my individual reviews of both products. So if you want to see my stand alone review of
Jamberry click here, and for my review of
Color Street click here. I also have to put up a little disclaimer that I do not sell either of these products and none of the links I put on here will give me
any kind of kickbacks, commissions or benefits.
So just like other Product Battles I am going to look at several factors and determine which brand is the "winner" in said factor and why. However before I do that I am going to explain what these things are! Jamberry and Color Street are both Direct Sales Multilevel Marketing companies similar to Mary Kay, Avon, It Works or Pampered Chef. Both of them sell nail wrap products that help you to achieve adorable manicures and pedicures at home for a fraction of the cost of a salon look.

Jamberry wins on this one, although that may change in 3 years. Jamberry has been around for seven years, while Color Street is brand new and has only been in business for a couple of months. Jamberry has TONS of designs, I was really impressed. I didn't count them all but I would say over a thousand different looks can be found. They also have a Disney Collection that is super cute, kid's sets, a line that has sports and college logos on them as well as a Design Studio where you can have your own custom wraps made! Color Street has a solid 40 designs to start with including geometric designs, some looks that are bold and bright, some that are sleek and simple, soft and romantic looks and more. In addition to nail art they also have french tip options, solid colors and glitter shades! I think they have a really solid start as far as designs and I can't wait to see them hone in on more chic looks in the future! I am sure they will collab in the future, they are a baby company after all, but Jamberry has them solidly beat here. Did I forget to mention Jamberry also has a Wonder Woman and Peanuts collection!? Because they do and it is AMAZING!

If you know me then you know I care about ingredients very much! Jamberry and Color Street are both free of Parabens, Formaldehyde, DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor, Ethyl Tosylamide, and Xylene! Woo! But Jamberry barely edged out Color Street by also being free of Triphenyl phosphate. However I will admit that of all the "toxic" ingredients often found in nail polish, this one is the least worrisome to me. It is used to improve flexibility as well as being a fire retardant. However in a study TPHP was linked to endocrine disruption, and although scientists insist that the amount in nail polish is not harmful, it is always good to be safe.

You're probably like "but wait, you just said Color Street had that bad chemical in it, how did it win?" Because TPHP isn't actually bad for your nails at all. But what is bad? Filing or buffing the nail plate which is a part of applying Jamberry nail wraps. Also the strong adhesive on the Jamberry wraps is basically just strong glue that often causes damage when removing. Where the Color Street options are 100% Nail Polish and do not have any kind of glue-like adhesive and do not require you to file/buff the nail plate.
Because of some controversy I am going to expound on this one a little. First of all with Jamberry if you pick or peel of your wraps (which is not recommended) you WILL damage the nail, there is no way around it. And if you do not push back the cuticle you WILL damage the cuticle. You also have to buff the nail plate to give the nail grip so the adhesive can hang on, (a lot of people file the nail plate because it makes the wraps last longer, but this is also not recommended). With Color Street while it is recommended that you push back the cuticle (because it will look nicer, and your mani will last longer) you will not damage your cuticle if you don't. You also don't have to buff the nail plate at all. And if you pick the wraps off you will see it is the same as picking off polish. You may nick your nail plate, but most often you are just fine. However with Jamberry wraps the removal process if long, which causes a lot of people to pick and peel their wraps. Color Street takes about 3 seconds to remove, so it's not as big of a problem. This is my personal opinion and experience.

Durability has to go to Jamberry too. Their wraps pretty much stay on until you take them off. The Color Street ones last for up to 2 weeks, but will chip if you work with your hands a lot. Because Color Street is 100% nail polish, it behaves like a high quality chip resistant nail polish. However that is chip resistant, not chip proof. Jamberry pretty much stays put (at least in my experience) so it is the clear winner.

The Color Street wraps are WAY faster to apply than Jamberry. I will break down the steps for each in the next comparison but Jamberry has 5 extra steps (6 if you count the one mentioned in comparison 8). The first time I did a Jamberry Manicure it took me just over 20 minutes to do one manicure. With Color Street in just under 20 minutes I did a Manicure and Pedicure! While it is true that if you practice and apply them often your Jam Wraps will become very fast to apply, the truth is the same with Color Street, and I personally feel like after years of practice you'd still be faster with Color Street, they are just SO EASY to apply.
So I just made a chart below to show the step by step process of each product. It makes it clear why Color Street wins this one.
EDIT - A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ON MY CASE BECAUSE OF STEP #3 (FILE NAIL PLATE). I had been taught to do this, however you do not need to file the nail plate BUT you do need to buff it, which is not currently a step on the list and is not necessary for Color Street. I am noting the correction due to a lot of feedback, but I am not adjusting the list because it is a minor detail that doesn't effect the outcome of this post.
On top of Color Street needing 5 less steps than Jamberry, you can't touch the back of Jamberry nail wraps. The adhesive is to strong and it will become difficult to remove. This is not the case with Color Street. If you drop Jamberry on your table, hardwood floor or carpet it is a pain to scrape off, and that is not an issue with Color Street.
I also want to point out why Push Back Cuticle is not a step for Color Street. While it is recommended because it makes for a cleaner nicer application, if you don't push back your cuticles your Color Street wrap will still work great! The Jamberry Nail wrap however will damage your cuticle a lot if you do not push it back properly and will often cause premature lifting, so it is a must for Jams and not for CS.
This one was easy. Jamberry Nails have a lot of steps to remove. You have to warm them up again, use an orangewood stick to lift the edges, soak in polish remover, and go back and forth between lifting and soaking. If you do this wrong you could really end up harming your nail plate which is no good. Plus after you will have to work to remove the residue that is left behind. It took me 40 minutes to take of my Jamberry Mani! Color Street is real polish so you can just wipe it away with acetone or polish remover and a cotton round. Easy as pie.

Color Street sets always include a mini nail file and two prep pads for you to use so you have everything you need right there in the set! Jamberry requires a heating device (use a blow dryer or their own heater that they sell for $20), as well as an orange wood stick, mini scissors, and a nail file. You can buy a fairly affordable set from them that I believe is around $60 and includes all this, a few other items and some wraps, it's a good deal. But you do have to gather all the items up which adds another step to your process, and not every wrap comes equipped with what you need for application.

Last but not least, value. This was a close call but I gave it to Color Street (in all fairness I gave the last close call to Jamberry). The reason I chose Color Street has two parts. 1- I like that my nails look and feel like a REAL manicure. It's hard to say Jamberry does that because their wraps look and feel like plastic... because they basically are. Color Street is REAL nail polish, so it is a better replacement for a salon manicure. It's like replacing chocolate cake with mug cake, vs replacing it with a blueberry muffin. The muffin is good, it tastes nice, and is still a treat, but it's not much like the cake at all. The second reason I chose Color Street is I do feel you can get more Manis and Pedis out of it. Jamberry fans will say you can get more from their sets, but I disagree. I think you have to waste more with Jamberry and their wraps aren't stretchy at all either. The Color Street wraps are more flexible and I was able to get a little more out of them.
AND THE WINNER IS...........
In the end I like both brands, and encourage you try both for yourself. I think that the hustle of running your own MLM is hard, and one I respect. I have nothing but love for the men and women who work hard doing just that no matter what company they are with! Support local businesses guys, I bet you all have friends on Facebook who sell one of these!
COLOR STREET VS RARITY NAILS