Witchcraft Protein Hardener Review

This brand has been around for ages. My mother used this brand when she was trying to grow her nails and after years of torn nails I finally listened!

This product is $8.88 at Wal-Mart. It is a Canadian brand as well which is definitely something nice to know! I love supporting Canadian brands especially when they deliver outstanding products.


Claims from the Witchcraft website: Gives nails resistance, protects nails from daily tasks, and other damaging elements, stops nails from splitting and flaking. 
Contains essential amino acid found in brazil nuts and sesame seeds. 

The product is very runny and has a translucent blue colour that doesn't translate onto the nail at all. It has the typical nail polish smell and dries to an INCREDIBLY glossy finish. My nails look like I put a fresh coat of polish on all the time. It's fantastic.

My nail situation: I'm not looking for a miracle. My nails grow pretty fast so I'm not looking for a product that'll speed up growth. I'm looking for something that'll keep my nails from peeling and tearing.

The first week I applied two coats of this hardener the day I bought it and then I applied two coats of polish on top. As a base coat it works phenomenally. It kept my polish from chipping which is absolutely amazing because I work part-time at Canadian Tire (on the floor, no less!) so if my nails don't chip after the first day it's a miracle.

After a week of treatment my nails hadn't chipped or ripped or flaked and I was feeling pretty pleased.

Ten days in this happened. Then one day while I was working out my ring finger's nail just snapped and my heart broke! I wanted to quit but I said I had to give this hardener the benefit of the doubt and use it for at least a month.

The second week I took off the polish, moisturized my nails, wiped off the excess, and applied two more coats of the hardener and then added another coat for every day after. All of my nails have become longer, save for the ring finger which snapped off completley at work.

At this point I'm thinking of giving up, levelling all my nails and starting from the beginning but I want to see how much my non-broken nails grow with this protein hardener's help. If I get another split I was going to give up, no question about that and declare that this protein hardener didn't strengthen my nails at all.

The third week of treatment things just kept getting worse. Admittedly I hadn't been applying as many coats of polish daily as I should have been so maybe that was hindering development. My left hand looks good but my right hand has a wealth of problems.

I don't know if you can see it, but there are tears in the side of my nail, in the corner deep and far down. If it would tear, a good portion of my nail bed would have been exposed. There are two tears in the nail, so the polish isn't strengthening my nails at all.

There's a dent in my index finger's nail and then there's a rip in my middle finger. At this point I'm through with this treatment and I'm ready to level my nails and start anew with a new nail treatment. I really wanted to use this protein hardener for a full four weeks but I could see that it wasn't doing anything for my nails and I was wasting my time. This polish didn't strengthen my nails. It worked for ten days and then things all fell apart.

So I'm low scoring this treatment because it doesn't deliver on its promises of ending splitting, flaking and tearing.

Likes:

1. How glossy it is!
2. It works well as a base coat for polish
3. It temporarily strengthened my nails

Dislikes:

1. It didn't strengthen my nails for the duration of the period I was to use it
2. My nails felt as weak as usual

C

Essie Gel Setter Top Coat Review

 

I've never been big on top coats but Essie's latest entry into the top coat arena piqued my interest. 

 



Claims from the Essie Canada website[sic]: everything you love about gels, but in a perfect top coat you can wear anywhere and everywhere. gel.setter tops any of your favorite essie colours with all the cushy rock-hard shine of a gel in a foolproof formula for your manis and pedis

 

  This topcoat retailed for $10 at Well.ca at the time I purchased it. The package advised me to use it with an Essie polish and I decided to give Essie the benefit of the doubt and used it with my all time favourite Essie polish Bikini So Teeny. But I fully intend to wear this topcoat with all of my nail polishes which are from a wide and varied variety of brands.

 

So I applied two coats of Bikini So Teeny and then one coat of Gel Setter. I even capped the free edge of my nails and usually I don't do that and I think that might have effected the wear of this polish. 

Here's a picture of my nails after a dried coat of gel setter. The shine difference is virtually the same but I find my nails are always incredibly shiny on day one and lose that luster the next day. The top coat wasn't thicker then a regular nail polish which kind of disappointed me because I did want that thick gel look but I'm also glad because the top coat dried quickly. 



 

Here's my nails after five days of wear, including work (After five days I was tired of the colour). I was seriously shocked. The chipping is there but minimal. Usually my nail polish chips after two days and it's extreme so this after five days was incredible. Considering the shine factor my nails stayed shiny right until the day I removed the polish. My nails looked freshly polished days after I polished them! I was really impressed.

 

In short; I really like this top coat. I love how shiny it keeps my nails and how it reduces the amount of chips I get. It might be pricey but it's definitely worth it.

 

Likes:

 

1. Keeps my nails super shiny

2. Extends the life of my polish

 

Dislikes:

 

1. Slightly pricey

 

A