Every gardener knows that no matter how many gloves you buy and how careful you are about it, dirt ends up under and all over your fingernails and ground into your skin. I wear gloves for heavy work, but otherwise don’t really like them so my hands, and nails, are always a mess. And forget nail polish — even a professional manicure (which I don’t have the patience for very often) wears off in a day.

Enter Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. These things are, for nails, what the toaster was to sliced bread. They are easy to apply, and the Sally Hansen kit provides you with 16 strips per box, so you have room to make mistakes. After my first couple of installations I can now actually get three manicures out of two identical boxes. And I’ve come to really enjoy the many cool designs, especially of course the flowers.

The best part — they actually live up to their claims. They require no drying time once applied, and will last 10 days to two weeks. Despite digging up crab grass for a week in the garden without any gloves, my manicure was still solid — no chips or marks. And my nails seem to be protected from the damage of plant juices and dirt and are now stronger. I’ll never have model perfect nails, but at least now I can go out to dinner without hiding my hands behind the menu!