Nailtiques Review: This Strengthener Saved My Nails From Myself

I’ve always loved nail polish, but I went to a Catholic school growing up and wasn’t allowed to wear it (there’s a lot to unpack in that female-specific dress code, but we’ll put a pin in that for now). The rule was enforced so strictly that a teacher once mistook my polish-free nails for an “inappropriate French manicure” and tried to send me to the principal’s office to be reprimanded.

All of that is to say that my nails are a point of pride for me. I spent my summers out of school painting my nails all the time, mixing colors and practicing nail art on anyone willing to lend me their hands. By the time I had made it to Catholic high school, the rules allowed female students to wear nail polish (we still couldn’t wear shiny shoes, though, because if there’s anything worse than glitter nails, it’s patent leather). That’s when I started painting my nails all of the time.

I discovered gel manicures ― among other things that would make my Catholic school teachers shudder ― in college. I started making monthly appointments to get my nails done at the salon because I loved how long gel manicures lasted and how put-together they made me feel. But then I discovered it was possible to have too much of a good thing. After a year of revolving-door gel manicures, my nails were thin and brittle and would break even if I so much as looked at them the wrong way.