Hello my dear readers! Today I'm going to review the
Essie Grow Stronger Nail Strengthener. I bought this on sale at London Drugs for around $10 on boxing day. The nail strengthener I used before was the
Sally Hansen Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener. I can do a review on that one later if you guys want~
This is what the packaging looks like~ You can buy this from most drugstores that sell Essie products like Shoppers Drug Mart, London Drugs, Superstore etc. The price will vary everywhere.
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| It looks like a milky pink but it goes on clear |
I thought I'd give you some history on my nails first. I'm not one of those people that go out of their way to eat/drink lots of things that are supposed to make your nails stronger. I have a pretty bad diet and basically eat whatever's in the fridge lol. I do try for veggies and juices though!
I used to have a lot of milk when I was a kid, but now that I'm older I've stopped drinking so much. My nails have never been able to grow out because they would always chip and peel. I used to cut my nails but after a while I started
filing them down instead. I feel like filing them keeps them growing and doesn't damage them as bad as cutting them but that's just me.
So before I started the application I filed my nails down. You can probably still see some of the nail bits that haven't been filed away completely. Here's what they look like:
You can see on my
first and middle finger that there is some chipping/peeling going on. I try not to peel my nails so to stop them from peeling I try to buff the peels out with a nail file/buffing tool if that makes any sense at all. Below is after applying the nail strengthener. The product looks like a milky pink, but as you can see it doesn't really show up as anything on my nails.
The product filled in the cracks and smoothed out the nail. Plus it makes them look so clean and fresh! Since the application I have applied polish and re-filed my nails once. This is what they looked like after removing the polish. This was about
a week after the application:
After that I reapplied the strengthener as a base and did my Valentines nails. This is what they look like today as I'm typing this out to you
(about a week and a half after the above picture). Please excuse the bits of pink/glitter left over from my last coat of polish~ Also I'm sorry the last few pics came out blurry >___<;;
As you can see, they've grown quite a bit. I know it's not the same hand but the chipping is gone on my right hand as well (same chipping/peeling but on different fingers). They're really strong right now, they don't bend or break when I try to do things like open a pop can! Now I can finally have the pretty long nails I've always dreamed of having!
Packaging: ♥♥♥♥♥
I love the way Essie polishes are packaged. They're small but hold a lot of product and don't rip you off like those other polishes with the thick glass bottles. I also like that it's not one of those funky shaped bottles, it just makes storing them a lot easier imo.
Price: ♥♥♥♥♡
I think that this product is reasonably priced for what it does. I'd love for it to be cheaper but there's quite a lot of product for what you're getting so I can't really complain. I'm fine with just getting it when I see it on sale, but even at full price I think it's still worth the purchase.
Application: ♥♥♥♥♥
The application process was easy, The product is not too watery or too thick and spreads nicely over the nails. It dries pretty fast so you can get on with your color polish right away if you're using this as a base. The brush is the same as any Essie polish brush.
Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥
I would definitely repurchase this product. In fact, I think it will be my go-to base coat from now on. It helps my polishes go on smoothly and minimize staining. Of course the big benefit of this product is that it has helped my nails grow back stronger and healthier. I probably won't be using any other nail strengthener from now on. I love this stuff. Also it looks so cute in the bottle! It's my favorite shade of pink~
I hope you found this review helpful! Thank you so much for reading~
