Throughout all the years of being an avid beauty product junkie and, simply put, a beauty lover, a good manicure has always been a priority of mine, and still is. With a strong desire to ensure my manicures are always long lasting (hello gelish!), I also have to ensure they are well looked after by applying a good nail strengthener regularly. Having said that I have put quite a few nail strengtheners to the test. Here are a few of my favourites:
Morgan Taylor – Go Ahead and Grow is a nail treatment and base coat in one, which is perfect as a foundation to your manicure. It contains keratin and vitamin E, and together they promote harder, longer and stronger nails. I find that with regular use as a base coat when I have normal nail polish (and not gelish) my nails are not fragile and they do feel a lot stronger. I love that this can be used as both a base coat and as a nail treatment with no nail polish over and your nails still have a nice shine to it.
Sally Hansen Miracle Nail Thickener is an advanced nail thickening treatment targeting soft, thin and ridged nails. It contains calcium and ceramic gel to reinforce and smooth the nails by filling in the ridges and imperfections. This miracle nail thickener promises that your nails will be 70% thicker in 4 days. I sure put this to the test. I once had to have my gelish removed while on holiday and there was no Sorbet around, so I was forced to go to a local nail salon. The nail lady buffed my nails with an actual nail file and I left the salon with the thinnest, weakest and scariest nails ever! I went straight to Clicks and bought this miracle stuff. I must stay my nails did get thicker, but not in 4 days. But nevertheless, it did work! (Note to self: never go to homemade nail salons!)
Sally Hansen Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Treatment is the creme de la creme of nail products. With all the right ingredients, this is a 1. base coat 2. strengthener 3. growth treatment and 4. top coat. I normally take this product with me on holiday as its a multipurpose nail treatment. I love that it does everything, so I don’t have to carry four different bottles, each for a different purpose. I love that it is super shiny so as a top coat, it is perfect!
OPI Nail Envy is amazing! It is for weak and damaged nails, and it contains wheat protein and calcium. All I can say is this product works, but it is quite pricey here in South Africa (R400 for a 15ml bottle).
To make sure your nails are strong and healthy, here are a few things I have learnt:
♥ Always, always, always use a base coat and a top coat. A base coat is the foundation for your manicure and helps the polish go on smoothly and prevents stained nails. A top coat adds extra shine to your manicure and adds a long lasting shine.
♥ Use hand cream as often as you can. Moisturised manicured hands look better than dry, scary looking talons.
♥ Try eat a lot of spinach! Ever since I started eating spinach nearly daily in my smoothies I have noticed my nails are a lot stronger and healthier looking.
♥ Lastly, when treating yourself to an at-home manicure make sure you have all of these essentials.
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Thank you for the lovely review, i would have loved it, if you added the prices off all the products.
Another MUST are cuticle oil.