Sunday, February 7, 2010

Give your nails a little help

Hey there,

As I have stated before in one of my posts, I used to be a huge nail bitter. I spend about a year dependant on press-ons and fake nails because I couldn't grow my own nails. About two months ago, I decided to stop 11 years of purely destroying my poor nails and the area around them. Proud to say I have not bit my nails since. I know it's hard and you may think you won't be able to do it. Actually, I know exactly how that feels. But I also know the feeling I get when I see my nail beds recovered and the nail growing past the flesh. I finally have nail tips! And that is all due to these two:

Sally Hansen's Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener and Sally Hansen's Grow Nails Now Nail Growth Solution
You can get either (or in my case, both!) at drugstores. Since they are nail treatments, they will cost more than a Sally Hansen nail polish. With a buy one, get second 1/2 at Rite Aid, both products came to around $12.99. I dislike its packaging, it's a bit too much. I understand that unlike nail polish, using a nail treatment needs directions. But, if the directions are in the back of the bottle, it's unnecessary to tag along more paper with same directions. I wish Sally Hansen thought of that. However, for the product, I can get past that fact. On to the each product review.

1) Name: Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener


This is pretty much your ordinary base coat and top coat. It comes in a 0.5 fl oz/14.7 ml bottle that has cute packaging (green top and label aww). The brush and the bottle are the same as any S H nail polish. The directions on the back of it say the following.

TO USE: Apply 1 coat as a base coat. Let dry. Apply 1-2 coats of your Sally Hansen nail color. Let dry. Apply Green Tea + Bamboo Nail Strengthener as a top coat for a high gloss finish.

Now, you do not need to use SH nail polish; any brand works just fine. I like it as a base coat and as a top coat. It dries fairly quick and has a nice texture that makes my nail feel softer before using nail polish. The "high gloss finish" is definitely achievable with only one coat of this. It also makes my nail color more long lasting and it takes longer to chip. I love it for that purpose. As a nail strengthener, however, it failed to impress me. I was super excited for the green tea action,, which didn't happen with me. I did not notice any major strengthening to my nails neither while having this on nor after using it. Since this costs more than the regular base or top coat, I won't repurchase it just for that purpose. I will be in the lookout for a new nail strengthener as soon as I am done with this. I brush it on my nails at least 2 times a week, so for the half of bottle left, that should take me about 1 month.

2) Name: Grow Nails Now Nail Growth Solution

Directions: Brush generously over nails and cuticles; gentkly massage in. Let nails dry before applying nail enamel, or wear alone for a natural look.


This is one of my favorite nail treatments out there. I find the price to be reasonable for the quality of the product. The brush is just like the other except that it initially looks like a stick - you need to distribute its hairs manually. You brush it on like a nail polish but this is made of a different texture. You will see air working with it and dry it on your nail as soon as contact happens. If you do not massage it into your nails and cuticles, it will just stay on your skin and become sticky and then uncomfortable all over your hands.
This stuff works miracles. As directions stated, I use it 5-10 mins before layering on a base coat - 5 min to masage it in and 5 to let it dry. Your nail will feel stronger after the first week of use, even though that is not the purpose of this product. As for length/nail growth, you will definitely notice a different within the first few days. Even after many generous applications (two coats each time - one before base coat and one after top coat, twice a day, every day of the week!), this stuff never seems to run out. It's been over three weeks of using it and I'm only done 1/5 of the 0.45 fl oz/13.3ml bottle (btw, the weight is not visible on this one; I was looking hard to find it,, rgh). I am going to get a backup of this soon because I love it!
Just for a side note, I have not been using this simultaneously with my Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (for which I already have a review) so I can assure you any results of changes in my nails are due to both of these products and nothing else.
On to explore more treatments for my lovely&adorable fresh new nails.
~ TheBeautyBebe

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