The iPhone is pretty. And the first day I got it, I stripped it naked. No protector, no plastic cover, nada. I didn't want anything masking up its beauty. Bare was best. And then I second thought myself when it was ready to go into my purse to go out.

I know most 'enthusiasts' would scream in fright at the thought of what I almost did. Let alone stripping it of its original packaging before even getting a protector for it. I already knew I wanted to order invisibleSHIELD, mind you. Having had experience with it on the nano, I know it was a worthy investment. But I wasn't going to wait until I get it in the mail to start using my phone.

So what do I do? Do what I do best. Make something. I didn't want any of those ugly hard shells or leather cases for it. Nuh-uh. My phone needs to look as naked as possible. So, I went to my local Beverlys and picked up some vinyl.

Holy crap! Thin vinyl is $0.99/yard there. I cut up a TINY corner out of that yard to make my pseudo-invisibleSHIELD. I ordered my invisibleSHIELD for $43 for two full-body sets (one for someone else).

So I made some cuts, and I poked some holes, and made my makeshift bodysuit for my phone. I relied on the staticky stickiness of the vinyl and a few slivers of invisible tape to keep the thing in place.

Don't laugh too hard. It's obviously not lookin as good as iS. But with 60% effort and less than 10 cents, I was able to walk out the door cradling the phone in my purse (and flash it to all the noobs wishing they had one).

Eventually I got my package in the mail. Ah, they've definitely upped their product packaging since the nano. You can tell these guys have made a lot of money.

Without further ado, the invisibleSHIELD.

Instead of having to use soap and water, now it comes with this spray for moistening your fingers and films. It pretty much feels and looks like water, but maybe it's purified so it won't leave residue. It also comes with a squeegee that works well for squeezing out air bubbles.

And off comes the vinyl!

Honestly, the vinyl feels very very close to the shield. It's just that the vinyl is not as smooth and a tiny bit thicker, and doesn't have the adhesive. But remember, 10cents vs $21.50.

Here's the sheet for the whole backside.

The trick to getting your placement just right is to spray enough of the spray so that the sheet can slide around until you find a good spot for it. The corners will be a little bit tricky, and it'll seem like it'll never look right at first. But once the solution dries out a little bit, the stickiness will return and you can hold the corners in place until they stay. The material is stretchy, so the corner tabs will stretch a bit to conform to the curvature of the phone. Everything will look fine in the end. It recommends pushing the corners into the palm of your hands for a few minutes to make it stay. That helps.

Much better than my original work, eh? Obviously comes with the price. But honestly, I felt like I was just getting a piece of well-cut sticky vinyl. Not that I wouldn't get it again or that there is much better option, but still. They must be making good money considering the fancy packaging they've got going on nowadays.

As good as it is, one thing I don't like about the shield is the tacky feel of it. It FEELS like vinyl. It has that stickiness. Of course we don't REALLY want it to have a smooth plastic feel cause then there'll be a whole ton of people getting product replacements because the phone slipped out of their hands. invisibleSHIELD has a 100% guarantee, you know? If the shield fails to protect your device (under reasonable circumstances), the company will replace the shield AND the phone for free. At least, that is what they advertise...