OPI Nail Envy, Nail Strengthening Treatment

UPDATE: I’m still using this OPI Nail Envy and loving it. And so is my Mom and all the other people we have converted along the way. Honest to god, this product keeps my nails strong and long. I can’t remember the last time that I had to cut all of my nails because one of them broke. Now I only cut them when they get too long for my own comfort. I still can’t believe these are really my nails, I take a lot of pride in polishing them these days. I will be a forever customer for this particular product. I saw mention that the formula changed...I personally haven’t had any different experience with the bottles that I’ve used recently. Everything is business as usual for me and my nails.ORIGINAL REVIEW: I have been using the OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener (Original) all summer and my nails have been stronger and more beautiful than ever. I work in the medical field where there is lots of hand washing and moving of heavy equipment all day long which is just brutal on my nails. I also do a lot of gardening and landscaping which plays a big role in weakening my nails.I started using OPI Nail Envy as a base coat before applying my favorite color polish on top and I've notice quite a difference already in just a couple months. My nails are no longer splitting, peeling, cracking, or bending. This product dries super fast and holds on great to any polish I put on top of it. My color nail polish no longer lifts/separates from the nail, peels, or chips. It stays right in place and just wears evenly along the exposed edges of my nails.I was so impressed with this product that I had my Mom try it when she was staying with me. I forgot to ask her how she liked it before she left. I ended up buying her a bottle here on Amazon and having it shipped to her house. I got a phone call right away after it arrived and she was so thrilled to receive it because in the two weeks that she was using it while staying with me, she had noticed a real difference in her nail growth. She actually asked me where she could repurchase it when she runs out. My Mom follows the directions to a T and only applies the OPI Nail Envy on its own. She applies a coat of it every couple of days and then on day 7 takes all of the polish off and starts over.She loves it, I love it, how could you not love?! My Mom and I have different nail issues, however, this product worked great for both of us. I will definitely be repurchasing this nail strengthener when the time comes. This product is making me love polishing my nails and it's helping me get my money's worth out of the color polishes that I had stopped using because of all of my nail problems. So very happy with this product!

I've used OPI for 3 weeks now, following the process to the letter My observation is that the product is very nice, a good-quality attractive nail polish, but the product itself did not harden my actual nails. The process is to layer on the polish several times over a week, then clean it off and start again. My nails themselves are just as brittle as they were before, but the several new layers over a week help to keep them from breaking. Once the polish is cleaned off, I can see the nicks and peels just as they were before, and I haven't been able to grow them much. I've had to cut them down & file them every week.I like the product as a nail polish; it is better quality than drugstore stuff and looks better, with a nice semi-gloss. But my sense is that any reasonably good nail polish would work the same way, simply keeping the nails together, as it were, like a glue, if it was layered on several times over the course of a week. It reminds me of WEN, which purports to be a cleansing conditioner for the hair, making shampoo unnecessary, and making the hair more shiny & healthier. I suspected then (and now) that any good-quality conditioner would work the same way. Same with this nail polish.UPDATE June 13, 2014 -- 3 months later:Fair is fair -- I've upgraded my stars rating from 3 to 5. It did work!I continued to use OPI simply because I liked its looks, but stopped using it the way they recommend (i.e. every few days adding another coat )-- I told myself I'm too busy to obsess over my nails that way, and in any case I felt it wasn't working anyway. I just stripped & repolished my nails on Sunday nights and then not again until the following Sunday night.However, three months later, after this casual use, I can say that my nails are long and strong, without the cracking, chipping, and peeling I had had when I started. No one is more surprised than I, but I'm very glad to be wrong in this case! My recommendation now is to use this product, because it does work. My original review was 3 weeks in, which isn't long enough to grow a full nail. But now, after 3 months, I have grown a full new set of nails, and they are great.It is now clear to me that it is product, and not process, after all. When I cleaned off the polish before, my nails were still brittle & cracking (etc). When I clean it off now, the nails underneath are whole and not peeling & cracking. It really did make a difference.I will continue to use this product and I recommend it without reservation.