Review: OPI Nail Envy for Sensitive and Peeling Nails

I am forever searching for something to keep my nails long and luscious, instead of brittle and constantly breaking. Weirdly, in particular it seems to be my thumb nails that break. Anyhoo, with that in mind, when I saw Nail Envy in the duty free shop at the airport, I decided it had to be mine. My parents had given me 40 Euros for food/drink (I mean I was staying at airport for about 6 hours between two flights but how much do they think I eat?) so I used the money I had left over. I think it's what they would have wanted.

What it says on the tin: 'Say hello to stronger natural nails with Formaldehyde-free Sensitive & Peeling Nail Envy - packed with Vitamin E and kukui nut oil to help soothe and protect against peeling'

How it works: You apply two coats on day 1, none on day 2, then another coat on day 3, continuing until day 7 when you remove and repeat the process (I hope that makes sense). These are my results after 7 days. It doesn't specifically mention how many weeks you should keep using it, I guess the more you carry on the better? 

Here's what my nails looked like before and after:

The Review 

Good Things: As you can see from the pic above, there's not that much difference between the two images (there's actually more chipping on the after photo and once I removed the polish my nails were VERY peel-y) but since then I've been using the polish as a base coat and my nails have been much less prone to peeling and breaking (except my bloody thumb nail). So maybe the product works by peeling first and thus sort of renewing the nail? My nails are also less yellow and do feel stronger and longer. I like that the product is formaldehyde-free as I'd imagine it can't be great to have harsh chemicals seeping into your pores. 

Bad Things: When I bought this at the duty free shop, I asked a shop assistant if I could use this with nail polish, and she said I could. Although this is STRICTLY true, and like I said I have been using it as a base coat, I feel I was somewhat misled. The instructions are based on having no nail polish on because how can you apply 2 coats, apply nail polish, then take it all off on day 3 and still be applying another coat of Nail Envy? You would be starting again. If you're supposed to apply the Nail Envy on top of the nail polish, that also doesn't make sense as the nail polish would almost definitely have chipped by then and you'd be painting over horrible chipped nails.  You feel me?  This maybe isn't the product's fault, I imagine the shop assistant was just trying to make a sale, but it is still an aspect that annoys me, as I hate having bare nails. 

Also at £18.65, it ain't cheap! 

Verdict: I do like this product, and I would give it 6.8 out of 10. As the first type of its kind I've tried, I would buy it again but I am also inclined to try an alternative product on the market to see how it compares. Preferably one that you can put on under nail polish that is designed to work as a base coat. Maybe that will make it less effective. We'll see. 

Let me know if you've tried OPI Nail Envy for Sensitive and Peeling Nails (or any version) and what you thought. Also if anyone has any similar product recommendations I'd love to hear them! 

EDITED A YEAR LATER TO ADD: I now use the original OPI Nail Envy and I LOVE it. I just use it as a general base coat every time I do my nails and it keeps them so strong and long. 10/10 for sure - does exactly what it's supposed to do! 

Faye x