Confession: lots of us Allure editors are lifelong nail chewers and polish pickers. It’s our natural response to emphasize, boredom, and mainly another negative emotion — and it makes growing my nails past my fingertips without breakage near unimaginable. It also doesn’t help that lots of us frequent the nail salon and get aclyrics or gel often. As beauty editors, our hands are up close on camera continuously, so we turn to nail-strengthening base coats to deeply heal the damage that we have ashamedly done to ourselves.

Whether you prefer it or not, you could wear a base coat underneath nail polish to forestall staining and to guard your nail’s natural oils from polishes, in response to Latest York City-based nail artist Miss Pop. When you’re already taking that added step at home, why not double-task with a formula designed to harden and strengthen nails, too?

For that reason, we have rounded up one of the best nail-strengthening base coats (that will also be worn alone, but what fun is that?) based on editor testing and nail artist recommendations. Trust us, they make the difference.

Orly’s Nailtrition works on a two-week program. Apply the treatment to reveal, clean nails on week one and repeat seven days later. The pink formula will get working to advertise strong and healthy nail growth.

The OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener Treatment provides strengthening wheat protein and calcium in its formula to offer longer and stronger natural nails. After using this, people will wonder if you might have acrylics on.

Made with celery seed extract, Olive & June’s Nail Strengthener helps prevent any damage that might be caused to your nails. Just apply this treatment to reveal nails and in the event you’re still craving color, add a color paint right on top.

When you’re in search of a mild option, Latest York City-based manicurist Holly Falcone loves Formula 2 Nailtics. This formula hydrolyzed keratin protein, which in response to board-certified Connecticut-based dermatologist Mona Goharathis protein is of course present in nails and hair, and applying it creates a protective barrier for nails, helping to make them strong and resilient over time.

This Zoya protectant that just hit the market is included in a three-part nail strengthening system. When applied on top of the Gelie-Cure Rescue Serum, this Repair Base fuses its nutritive keratin into the nail. Then it could possibly be followed up with the system’s clear gel top coat, Naked Gelie, which comes off easily when soaked in remover. Miss Pop is an enormous fan of the system because any regular or gel nail polish might be worn on top of this combo.

Though Nail Tech makes 4 forms of nail strengtheners, Latest York City nail artist Gina Edwards recommends the brand’s Intensive Therapy 2 for peeling nails that need fast results. She says that with frequent re-application, users see visible leads to around 10 days.

This hardener by Deborah Lippmann is perhaps on the pricey side for a nail product, but it surely’s definitely worth the splurge for the cruelty-free formula without parabens, sulfates, or formaldehyde, a chemical continuously used as a preservative in nail polish. A bonus: Hard Rock might be used as a base coat, topcoat, or each — it’s really like two products in a single.

This oil-based keratin treatment by CND requires you to maintain nails completely bare for every week or two with a view to take its effect as you apply day by day — rest assured, Miss Pop says RescueRXx is among the best strengtheners on the market.

Sally Hansen‘s reasonably priced Mega Strength Hardener is an Allure Better of Beauty winner for a reason: This transparent and glossy base coast formula dries in seconds, looks great by itself or underneath one other polish, and its wide, flat brush makes application a breeze. Not to say its hardening effect is straight away noticeable on brittle, break-prone nails.