From gel manicures to microbladed eyebrows, there’s always a dozen or so beauty trends on our radar. Some trends change the game of getting ready and provide just as much convenience as they do pampering. But not all treatments or trends are equal, some leave us with damage and the damage can vary from person to person. I have some friends that can bleach their hair every 6 weeks and their hair looks like they have never dyed it and I have some friends that run far away from heat. They can feel the damage just by glancing at a curling iron. Me?! My nails get damaged quite easily, and from messaging with readers on e-mail and social media, I know a few of you experience the same luck.

Dip personally damages my nails the most and I try to stay clear since the nail dremel and the constant mechanical buffing leaves me with notebook paper-thin nails within 2 manicures. I know this doesn’t happen to everyone {lucky girls!}, but I’ll be in pain even just doing things like washing Maxi’s hair because once I take the dip off my nails will bend back! I know some girls can experience the same with the light-cured gel manicures at the salon. And some girls suffer from brittle nails that just peel due to products they use or constant hand washing.

It can take quite a few weeks to grow your nails back out and solve the problem, but what can you do fast? Like..a week fast?! Cue the expanded Essie Treat Love & Color collection– which is actually a product I have loved {and used after dip manicures} for years. When they first launched back before I was even a mama, they had sheer shades. I distinctly remember walking into a Charleston’s restaurant to meet my friend while I was texting Ashley and Stia how good this polish was and how they had to try it since we had all recently been talking about our damaged nails. Now they’ve got a full range including new metallic nails and it’s a one-step system. Calling all busy girls, you don’t need a top coat OR base coat and you can still get stronger nails in just 1 week with 60% less peeling and 35% less breakage.

So what is this Essie nail polish and why is it a big deal?!

Essie TLC Details

• This is an existing collection, which means the formulation is GOOD. It was developed with over 5 years of research to heal your nails. You know the old saying- let other people get the brand new phone on the market so they can work out the kinks. ha!
• The collection features sheers, shimmers, crémes, and metallic shades, so you can create fun manicures like the new color block trend!
• The formulation has collagen and camellia extract. How does that give you healthy nails? Since collagen is a structural protein it can act as a building block to repair nails. Plus, collagen production decreases while we age- so it’s always a great added ingredient to our beauty routines. Everyone adds collagen to smoothies, so add it to your nail routine. This polish is a breathable formula so it can act as a nail strengthener while you stay true to your personal style with polished nails. You get care + color.
• This is a 1-step Essie system which is key to making your nails breathe and heal and the brush makes it fool-proof. If you only have 5 minutes at night to paint your nails, I promise you can easily do it with this formulation. To get the real “busy girl” experience, I painted my nails twice with this formulation- once 3 minutes before bed and once at 6:45 a.m. and Maxi wakes up around 7. I did this because I knew I wouldn’t have time to make it perfect, and yet it still looked salon-like due to the brush width.

Personally, I like this collection so much because Essie really does make it easy to do ‘DIY manicures’ {remember when I shared my DIY mani a long time ago?! Essie polishes!}. I tried the range of sheers to metallics and both went on like a dream with just 2 simple coats. I also like that you don’t have to sacrifice while healing your nails. If we damage our hair with heat we try to stay away from the curling iron. If you have to take a break from lash extensions, you typically miss them. You know where I’m going with this! You can still get your manicures and heal your nails.

So before your next appointment or manicure date at home, let’s talk about my shades for winter and this whole color block manicure I’ve got going on!

Over the holidays, I got a color block manicure courtesy of my sweet friend, Bekah, that treated me to it for Christmas. You play with different finishes like sheers, opaques, shimmers or metallics to really get the full effect! You could also do a color family and do all shades of neutrals. There’s truly no right or wrong way to do it. My favorite aspect is to match two nails together, I have been doing my ring finger and thumb, then with two similar shades like a pink and then one wild card- something dark or a different finish!

From left to right: 

66 Loving Hue- Shimmer-Pinky Nail

95 Finish Line Fuel-Metallic-Ring Finger & Thumb

31 Power Punch Pink-Cream-Middle Finger

53 Can’t Hardly Weight-Cream-Pointer Finger

31 Power Punch Pink-Cream-Middle Finger

This is that traditional baby pink shade that screams “vacation.” It’s also a great year-round color for a pedicure if you like to keep a signature shade. To know how to properly treat your feet, you can find out here.

53 Can’t Hardly Weight-Cream-Pointer Finger

This ties with Finish Line Fuel as my favorite shade. It is described as a “brisk, grey slate” but I describe it as a chameleon dark nail. In some lights, it looks like a navy, some light a deep grey, and other days a pure black. It’s much more forgiving to paint on than just a traditional black polish and isn’t as harsh against my skin tone, but still gives that edgy effect.

66 Loving Hue- Shimmer-Pinky Nail

This is my recommendation for girls that work in a more formal business setting. It’s appropriate for any occasion and if you are one to obsess over chips, shimmer is your best bet! It allows chips to not be as visible.

95 Finish Line Fuel-Metallic-Ring Finger & Thumb

If an at-home manicure intimidates you, this is the shade you want to grab. Described as a “charged-up copper” it almost appears like a deep rose gold.

These polishes retail for $7.89 right now and you can get them online at Target here!

Personally, my biggest takeaway from these polishes is that the tip of my nail bed feels strong. Really strong. I normally will cut my nails pretty short when they are damaged so they can’t snag or get caught on something and then rip. But with this polish, I can open a can or anything with my nails and not have that dreaded “bend back” feeling.

So styled shoot aside, what were my results with chipping?

Here is my 5-day no filter iPhone picture! As you can see, there is one minor chip and this is after deep cleaning, bathing Maxi, and cooking. I’m not sure if the collagen and strengthening ingredients allow the shades to adhere better to the nail, but I was really impressed to have this payoff with no base coat!

*Note, the pink shades do look a bit darker as I took this picture at night and didn’t want to alter the photo by lightening it to its true hue.*

Your hands are an outward expression of love, through your work, your cooking, or caring for others, so the last thing you want to deal with is damaged, painful nails getting in the way with that! Let me know if you try this drustore beauty find that I can’t get enough of!