Nails, Nails, I Love Nails! Mavala Scientifique Nail Hardner Review

Hey Ladies,

Believe it or not this post will be about nails, if you hadn't already guessed. As you all know I'm getting quite obsessed about painting my nails at the moment, not only because of all the lovely nail polishes I've recently got but also because of the condition of my nails.

I used to have gel nails on constantly and although they don't damage your nails as much as acrylic nails, they do pretty much ruin them, when one flies off it removes a few layers of your nails & it bloody hurts. So when you have them on for prolonged periods breakages are inevitable & so your nails under the artificial coat of gel are not in good condition, I can always tell which nails I've had fly off previously when my nails are under the gel lamp & the heat from the UV light gets unbelievable painful on the nails which are more damaged than others. It seriously feels like your nails are on fire! Any one else experience this?

Anyway over Christmas the only days off I had to go & get my infills were Christmas day, Boxing day & New Years day, which obviously meant I couldn't get them done. So on Boxing day I looked at my scraggly nails & decided to chew them off! (not a wise move it hurts like hell)

Once the process was finished I looked down at the sorry looking things & promised them I would get them re-gelled on my next day off! ... Then I got fired! So getting gels nails wasn't the smartest thing to do when I had no income, as they are expensive to maintain. So I looked into nail strengtheners and I stumbled across two which are amazing!

Mavala Scientifique Nail Hardener

This is a very strange product first of all because it is a blue liquid, most nail treatments I've used (& there's been a few) are in the form of a nail polish that sits on your nail. Perhaps the fact that this liquid is absorbed into the nail is the reason it is so effective at making the nail harder & stronger.

According to Mavala the tip of the nail is the most fragile and unprotected and therefore breaks easily; the hardener therefore is supposed to stop soft, flaking or splitting nails & quickly harden them allowing them to become healthily and strong.

This is supposed to be applied to the free edge of the nail about 3 times a week until the nails are healthy and then reduced to three times a month after that. I don't listen to instructions so I apply this whenever I reapply my nail polish so about 3 times a week & I haven't reduced it after 3 months of using it, I also tend to apply it to the whole nail! What can I say, I'm a rebel!

Initially I couldn't see this doing anything to my nails mainly because the damage from my gels was still apparent however now that the damage has grown out I have seen an amazing difference and not just because of the lack of damage from the gels.

Whenever I reverted to natural nails in the past & any damage had grown out my nails would peel an unbelievable amount & therefore break easily, now however i rarely get any peeling, for some odd reason the only nail that seems to be a black sheep & peel is my right index finger, who knows maybe I use that one more than the others, it is my pointing finger!

So now I have very strong nails that aren't prone to peeling so I worship this product & can't recommend it enough. I bought it from Fragrance Direct but when I checked it's not available anymore, you can get it from Look Fantastic for £10.70 for 5mls or Boots for £5.50 for 2mls, 2mls sounds like nothing but it will last you ages a good 6 months to a year even, 2mls is the size I've got & you can hardly see I've used it.

Mavala Nail Shield Strengthener

This consists of two polishes, although not a treatment as such it does help in conjunction with the hardener as it helps protect the nail using nylon fibres. It is designed to give resistance to the nail protecting them from damage so that they can grow strong & healthily.

Again, I have this on my nails every day, I only use the 1st step because the lid of the bottle for the 2nd step won't come off (how rude!) I have to say the 1st step does all the work because its the formula which has the nylon fibres in it, the 2nd step is just designed to smooth the nail out for polish application.

This is a great product for when you're first starting out growing & strengthening your nails as it adds layers to the nail which make them stronger, I continue to use it because its a bit of insurance so my nails are extra strong just in case!

Again I bought it from Fragrance Direct but they don't have the sizes I ordered in stock, they have it at Look Fantastic for £15.40, again I really recommend this product if you're nails are prone to breaking as it really does instantly make them resistant to breaks!

The rest of my nail care consists of cuticle creams or oils, my favourites being Burt's Bees Lemon Cuticle Creme and CND Solar oil (hate the smell but it does it's job). I think hand cream is essential in nail care & my favorite is Clarins Hand & Nail Treatment Cream and then finally nail polish, which you all know I love from my very frequent NOTD posts and of course a good top coat to prevent chipping & add shine, I will discuss my favorite nail polishes & top coats in a post soon so look out for that.

Are you as in love with nails as I am or are you an artificial nail girl itching to quit the habit? or in love with the man made talons (I know I was!)

Hope you're all glad for the weekend, I know I am and are all well!

Thanks for reading!