REWIEW: China Glaze Nail Strengthener & Growth Formula

Hello Lovelies!

 

 

As you will be aware from a previous post (found here), I'm a complete Nail Envy junkie. Unfortunately, last time I went to Sally's to stock up they were completely sold out of Nail Envy of all descriptions. Before I descended into a complete state of panic, the Sales Assistant pointed out China Glaze's alternative to Nail Envy , the snappily titled "Nail Strengthener & Growth Formula". I've previously been impressed with the China Glaze product range and decided to give it a whirl. The packaging is nice enough, and I definitely prefer the bottle to the Nail Envy bottle as I like that its frosted and I find it’s often a bit of a pain getting the dregs out of the Nail Envy bottle.  I think that I paid about £6 for it (with my trade card), but I've helpfully thrown out the receipt so I can't be more precise I'm afraid.

 

I've been using this product for the last few weeks, and I'm sorry to report that the results aren't great. I often used Nail Envy as a basecoat for other polishes, however the box of the China Glaze product explicitly states that it should NOT be used under polishes. "When I read this I didn’t pay much attention and thought "Meh, what's the worst that can happen?" How naive was. It turns out that the reason it shouldn’t be used as a basecoat is because it peels, and not just a little bit - so far I haven't survived a day with my nails intact!

 

The directions also state: "Apply two coats to clean, bare nails every other day (good luck with it lasting that long) for four weeks. For best results, use with Orange Cuticle Oil". Now I'm a bit lazy at best, and this sounds like FAR too much of a palaver. Especially when I'm used to the Nail Envy Way of thinking (2 coats, then one coat a day for a week. Repeat). Confession time: I'm not one for taking off my nail polish every other day, and I often 'rock' chipped nails (I know, I know, for some of you that is a cardinal sin, but to be quite frank, if it's good enough for Juliette Lewis, it's good enough for me).

 

There are a couple of good things about this product: it certainly makes my nails really hard (for the time it lasts) and its (slightly) cheaper than Nail Envy, but I'm afraid that it comes nowhere near knocking Nail Envy off its pedestal.

 

(image courtesy of Google - I still can't find that pesky camera lead!)

 

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