Review: Sally Hansen – Miracle Cure Strengthener

This nail strengthener was my first nail hardener, so I will be honest and tell you right now that I am unsure as to what nail strengtheners are meant to achieve. If you have experience with nail care products and which ones are worth the money, let me know in the comments. 🙂

Size/Quantity: 10ml

Price & Availability: around ₩10,000 at Olive Young Korea.

Opinion: TL;DR: Did nothing to strengthen my nails but kept them from peeling most of the time, used it as a basecoat.

Ingredients: ETHYL ACETATE, BUTYL ACETATE, ALCOHOL DENAT., NITROCELLULOSE, ADIPIC ACID/NEOPENTYL GLYCOL/TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, TRIMETHYL PENTANYL DIISOBUTYRATE, TRIPHENYL PHOSPHATE, CAMPHOR, SUCROSE BENZOATE, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, ETOCRYLENE, AQUA/WATER/EAU, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN, SACCHARIDE ISOMERATE, SACCHAROMYCES/ ZINC FERMENT, SACCHAROMYCES/CALCIUM FERMENT, SACCHAROMYCES/COPPER FERMENT, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, TOSYLAMIDE/EPOXY RESIN, DIMETHICONE, ASCORBIC ACID, SILICA, D&C VIOLET NO. 2 (CI 60725). ACETATE, TOSYLAMIDE/EPOXY RESIN, DIMETHICONE, ASCORBIC ACID, SILICA, D&C VIOLET NO. 2 (CI 60725).

Application

The brush was a decent size and the polish always went on smoothly. It dried reasonably quickly. The polish itself is clear, goes on clear and dries clear. The finish is a natural satin finish, not a matte and not a high shine glossy finish either.

I was able to use most of it before the level went down too far and the brush could no longer reach far enough into the bottle, so even though there was still product in the bottle, I had to chuck it because the brush was not able to pick up more varnish.

I am guessing that you could use this on its own for a naturally manicured look, but since I like nail polish – I give myself at home manicures once a week – I used this as a base coat under my colour nail polish.

Efficacy

First off, this protected my nails from getting stained by my colour polishes, but then again, most of my polishes are light in colour, so I am not sure whether you would have the same result if you were to use this under dark or highly pigmented polishes.

I felt that my nails were just as bendy as without the nail strengthener. However, I will say that my nails have started peeling now that I no longer use this, so perhaps the strengthener did work.

Then again, my nails never used to peel, so perhaps the peeling part is just me getting older. Who knows.

Final Thoughts

I am unsure whether this strengthener did anything or not. I did not see or feel any tangible results, so will not be repurchasing, though I am open to buying another strengthener from the same or a different brand in the future.

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