OPI Nail Envy: Review

Nail Envy comes in several forms.

I get Nail Envy quite a lot.

Okay.
I lie.
A very lot.

Whether it's the exquisite length of someone's nails in comparison to my poor little uneven stumps, or an amazing manicure in some gorgeous colour that I can't afford, it will set my Nail Envy going.

It's a sad subject for me, because my nails used to be long, really long, and they were strong and, well...I didn't appreciate them.

Boo. Hiss. Sad Face

I didn't have to worry about them, and my polish picking problem meant I rarely wore nail polish - truly, I didn't care.
I'd show them off in all their bare-naked glory, a lot of the time they weren't perfectly filed, and I can almost guarantee that people cringed at me on the sly, on sight of my unkempt nails.
Couldn't care less though, me.

Fast forward a year or two and my nails break as soon as the coveted white tips are even trying to show themselves, thanks to the daily mountain of washing up that my hands are subjected to these days - seriously ladies, (and gents) if you still live at home and sneak your way out of most of it, be thankful! Your nails are as good as they'll ever be!
I have discovered this the hard way.

Boo. Hiss. Sad Face. Again.

I'll just slyly leave out that most recently it may well just be because of the Shellac I ruthlessly picked off back in February, and the copious amounts of polish stemming from my new found hoarding skills.

Nail Envy came to me in a new form relatively recently - in the form of this little bottle...

After hearing Estée and several others raving about its magic, miracle working skills, I looked down at my poor nails and ermm...got straight on eBay.
Yeah.
I got the original formula, because it was the cheapest one I could find.
And I'm not fussy.
No matter how good things are supposed to be, I'll almost never pay full price.

Probably a good thing in this case.

See, I've been waiting to write this post for a very, very long time.
I'm practically grey.
I had hoped that as a dedicated user now since around early March, I would have noticed some difference in the quality of my nails, but I kind of haven't?
As a result I've been postponing this post, time and time again in a desperate effort to make my Nail Envy use pay off...

Left: Before. Right: After. (left hand)

Left: Before. Right: After (left hand)

Left: Before. Right: After (right hand)

Indeedy there's not a reet lot of difference there, about a millimetre longer, and a teeny bit whiter along the tips.
To be frank, there's probably more of a difference in the blumin' lighting than owt else!
Soz peeps.
Oh, and the 'after' pictures are taken after a three week Nail Envy break.
S'about it really.

So, Nail Envy is said to be a 'nail strengthener' containing wheat protein and calcium - the stuff nails are meant to like, I can't entirrrrrely say my nails liked it - I mean they didn't hate it, but well, yeah.
:/
My tips look healthier, but then again aside from post-shellac picking, they have always been extremely white, and I am merely back to that now.
Sadly though, they are no stronger or longer than before, and in fact have more flakes than ever.

Again, until thrice daily scrubbing sessions resulting from zee other half's 'amazing' burning-food-to-bottom-of-pan skills, I never really had flaky nails.
I was pretty damn proud of them actually.
But oddly enough, when using Nail Envy I found flaking right down to my cuticle?
At times I did wonder if it wasn't left over residue from removing it every week, but gradually. and after lots of really sound nail polish removing sessions, I decided it just couldn't be.

Now, when I say I followed the instruction leaflet religiously, I mean it.
I have since lost it, (oopsies) but the procedure is relatively simple to remember:

1. Apply two thin coats.
2. Apply one more thin coat every other day over the top of the other two.
3. After a week, take it off and start again.

That is all.

Oh yeah.
Apart from the one MAJORRRR 'lolable' moment where they tell you to apply it '1/32" from the cuticle'.
I'll let you digest that for a second while I get my tape measure...
LOL.
Really?
:|

Back to the less 'lolable' times, and you can also wear it as a base coat under nail polish, in which case reapplication kind of depends on your polish.

It dries VERY QUICKLY, (couple of minutes!) and with a kind of shiny, clear polish type finish, which I quite like and often wore on its own.
Application is a breeze - the instructions talked of doing three swipes across the nail, one down the middle, then to the left and finally right - I'm telling you, I scoffed upon reading that, I am farrrr from a tidy nail painter and usually don't manage any less than ten strokes of the brush, but with this, I actually managed it!
Come on, you know I love those virtual high-fives ;)
The brush is kind of the perfect shape, and somehow fans out to cover a large area of nail.

I almost felt like a pro tehehehe ;)

I can tell you it really does need a top up every couple of days though - like any polish, it chips, and by the end of the week it would look quite scruffy - despite the fresh coat every other day, not a problem though for me, especially as I had the image of my dream nails just floating there in my head.


***

My main reason for thinking it's finally time to post this, and that I've finally made my mind up, is that I've gone Nail Envy free for about three weeks now...
Something of a a little experiment.
My nails are less flaky than before - now only at the very tips and only on some nails, and they're bright white like I'm used to.
They still break fairly regularly, and I find it pretty hard to grow them all how I'd like, but in all honesty I've decided that my nails are much better off without any gimmicks or wonder products, I'll continue to use Nail Envy, but only as a base coat when I wear polish - it's full of supposedly good stuff and so shouldn't be doing any harm in such a small and irregular dose :)

So here I am, sadly still lacking the nails I long for, I still envy nails on a pretty much daily basis.
I've come to the conclusion that as long as I am a girl, this will be the case.
Pretty sure I'll always be a girl...

Therefore

Let the Nail envy continue ;)

Maybe of the non bottled variety.