Nail care: Nailtiques Formula 2 review
Nailtiques Formula 2 Kit
I’ve been meaning to do a post about some of the things that I swear by for nail care for a while now. I see lots of bloggers start these posts with ‘lots of people have asked me about (insert nail care question) so I thought I’d do a full post about it.’ Truth be told, I rarely get asked any questions. I suspect there are many reasons for this that I won’t ramble on about, but it has made me think that I should engage readers of my blog a little more. I’ll attempt to do so in future posts, but for now I’m just going to go right ahead and tell you a bit about one of my must-haves for nail maintenance, whether you asked or not! The first, and possibly the most important for me, is Nailtiques strengthener/base coat.
A while ago I struggled to keep my nails long. I’m not talking talons here, just maintaining a pretty girly sort of length was difficult for me. Now, I am not particularly precious about my nails considering I run a blog about nail polish. I work at a computer for a living so I am always typing, I am clumsy (I’ve broken many a nail simply trying to open a door), and I enjoy activities that generally demand lots of use of my hands like baking, sewing, letterpress printing and unwrapping of chocolate bars. I am also a proper div when wearing rubber gloves so can only wash up with bare hands. The cost of replacement glass wear and crockery is simply just not worth protecting my hands!
All of these things combined meant I usually had nails around this length. Though fairly even, and well presented, the desire for a bit more length never went away. I am also a pretty huge cynic though. I am not going to be swayed by ads for products with ‘happy molecules’ (genuine line from a face cream ad not long enough ago to justify the stupidity). Drug store strengthening base coats have never done anything for me, so I was hesitant to try anything more expensive, but while I could deal with the nail breaks that resulted from me being a clumsy oaf, the peeling and splitting was beginning to annoy me. After a bit of reading it seemed though it was a trial and error situation, with some high end restorative products working for some but not for others, so I just bit the bullet and bought myself Nailtiques Formula 2.
I was so skeptical, but I gave it every chance to work by not painting my nails with anything but Formula 2 for about two weeks, after which I used it as a base coat under all manicures. By the end of those first two weeks my skepticism was obliterated! I could already see and feel a difference in my nails. The peeling had stopped, the growth over the two weeks hadn’t been counteracted with breakages, and even after an unreasonably long shower they still felt strong and a lot harder, but not at all brittle.
In regards to long term use, I do find that after a few solid months of using Formula 2 my nails do curve a little more than normal, almost like they’ve tightened up a bit too much. I gave Formula 1 a go, which is for less needy nails, and felt like this was a bit more suited to my newly strengthened nails. Typically though, I did get complacent, and with a vast amount of swatching that needed to be done, I went back to using ordinary base coats for a while. Not my best plan, and it wasn’t too long before Formula 2 came to the rescue again. This s**t works. I now switch between both Formula 1 and 2 depending on the condition of my nails, so being asked to review a Formula 2 mini kit was a bit of a no-brainer for me. The kit contains the small 7ml bottle (which retails for around £9-£10 alone), a 7ml cuticle oil and a cuticle gel in a little pot. In all honesty, I’ve never used a cuticle oil that didn’t feel exactly like every other cuticle oil I’ve used. I just haven’t come across one that does anything more than some olive oil would do, other than smell nicer. The Nailtiques oil is much the same, it does what all oils do, but it does smell amazing! It might just be me, but it smells like a subtle marshmallow scent, which I love. The gel is ok too, though better for night time as although it’s not super greasy, I wouldn’t use my computer mouse immediately after rubbing this on my nails. It’s also not really ‘gel’ like at all which confuses me. It’s basically a cream, but nice whatever you call it.
Nailtiques works for me, and I’ve recommended it to other people who have also said that it’s saved their nails. It really is hit and miss though. I know other people who had no success but have had great results with other products. It really is trial and error, but based on my experiences I would definitely recommend giving Formula 2 a go. The proof is in the pudding.
Then and now. Ooo, look at that lovely length.
I’m really interested to hear about your experiences with strengthening base coats. Have you tried anything that everyone seems to be raving about but had no luck yourself? Or is there another product that you swear by?
Important Bits:
Cost £9.95 (rrp £22.90)
Availability escentual.com
Contents The Nailtiques Formula 2 Kit contains:
Nailtiques Formula 2 7ml A protein-rich treatment containing Keratin and Calcium that bonds the nail’s layers and greatly improves strength and vitality.
Nailtiques Oil Therapy 7ml A rich blend of oils that soften cuticles and infuse essential vitamins into the nails.
Nailtiques Cuticle & Skin Gel 7g A rich gel blend of glycerin and aloe that deeply conditions both the cuticles and the skin around the nails.
Product sent for review (though I have purchased this myself too as described in the post).
