'Amazing!': Mums lose it over Kmart's $4 isolation saviour

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and the coronavirus pandemic is working overtime to prove the old adage right. Or wrong – depending on who you ask.

With everything from restaurants, to salons forced to shut up shop for the past two months, desperate former consumers have found themselves forced to confront and conquer the dreaded DIY, with mixed results.

When it comes to beauty, the at-home game is a dangerous one indeed, but a group of clever mums seems to have found a radical solution in an unlikely Kmart item that they say delivers salon results for just $4.

The OXX Studio false nails are a Kmart staple that comes in a massive range of colours, patterns and even plain options that you can paint yourself and retail for under $5.

Stick-on nails probably give you flashbacks to the kind of prepubescent beauty sessions that also involved hair crimping, but this nifty set has been receiving rave reviews from the mums online, and they have the pictures to prove it.

Mum sparks fake nail craze

One mum’s snap of her impressive manicure job using the budget items first kicked off the craze this week, her photo prompting others to give them a whirl.

Stuck on with a $5 glue from the retailer, the mixture of animal print and beige nails were filed down to a short but stylish square but the nifty lady.

Other mums loved the post, taking to the comments to share their own experiences with the deceptively cheap at-home option, with most reporting at least a fortnight of wear out of the DIY job.

“$4 Black ones lasted two weeks before the first one fell off,” one lady wrote.

“My daughter has used both of these above,” one lady shared. “The last set she put on lasted over 2 weeks, surprisingly with the glue that came in the pack!”

“Mine have been on for 2 weeks now,” another agreed.

For some it wasn’t quite as smooth sailing, reporting certain nails falling off or snapping.

Most, however, were delighted with the results, some even threatening to forgo professional jobs even when salons are allowed to reopen.

“I’m obsessed too I can’t believe I’ve actually paid upwards of $70 for nails that looked atrocious in comparison to these,” one woman wrote.

It’s the latest in a string of wildly popular products to hit Kmart shelves during the pandemic.

Last week a sausage roll maker released by Kmart for $30 sent shoppers into a frenzy, and earlier a $30 ‘loungewear’ set from the retailer turned into must-have work from home isolation attire.

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