Nail strengthener for brittle nails

Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment has the best record for brittle nails: 30 of 35 reviewers said their nails got stronger or stopped breaking. Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment has the highest share at 17 of 19 from a smaller group, and Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus Nail Protein follows at 21 of 24. OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener has the weakest record here at 16 of 33, with 35% of its reviews saying it made nails more brittle.

  • 312 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Oct 2020 to Oct 2026

Updated . How we count

Did nails get stronger? What reviewers said
  1. Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment 35 said either way
  2. Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment 19 said either way
  3. Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus Nail Protein 24 said either way
  4. Olive & June Nail Strengthener 28 said either way
  5. essie Hard To Resist Nail Strengthener 51 said either way
  6. Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails 17 said either way
  7. OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener 33 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for nail strength. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment Best record Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment 30 of 35 say their nails got stronger See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Two complaints pull the lower records down: the coat chipping or peeling off, and nails getting more brittle. 35% of Hard as Nails reviews and 21% of essie reviews mention chipping.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment

Sally Hansen

Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment

Best for nails that keep breaking

30/35 say their nails got stronger

30 of 35 reviewers said their nails got stronger or stopped breaking, and 20% say their nails grew longer. 15% saw no change.

What buyers praise

  • Nails grew longer 20%
  • Less peeling or splitting 13%
  • Nice shine 10%
  • Good value 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Chips or peels off 8%
  • Made nails brittle 8%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 30 of 35
  • Brand site 6 of 8 shown, not counted
2 Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment

Sally Hansen

Maximum Growth Nail Treatment

Best for growing nails out

17/19 say their nails got stronger

Growth is the big theme, with 56% of reviews saying nails grew longer, and 17 of 19 said their nails got stronger. Fewer reviewers weighed in on strength here than on Repair + Rescue.

What buyers praise

  • Nails grew longer 56%
  • Nice shine 15%
  • Good value 5%
  • Works as a base coat 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Chips or peels off 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 17 of 19
  • Brand site 3 of 5 shown, not counted
3

Nailtiques

Formula 2 Plus Nail Protein

21/24 say their nails got stronger

Strength is the main praise, at 58% of reviews, and 21 of 24 reviewers with brittle nails said they got stronger. 18% say peeling or splitting eased. We found no official Amazon listing for it.

What buyers praise

  • Nails grew longer 33%
  • Less peeling or splitting 18%
  • Nice shine 8%
  • Works as a base coat 8%
  • Good value 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Made nails brittle 8%
  • Chips or peels off 8%
  • Too expensive 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 21 of 24

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

4 Olive & June Nail Strengthener

Olive & June

Nail Strengthener

24/28 say their nails got stronger

74% of reviews say nails got stronger, and 24 of 28 reviewers with brittle nails agreed. 13% like it as a base coat, while 10% say it made nails more brittle.

What buyers praise

  • Less peeling or splitting 15%
  • Nails grew longer 15%
  • Works as a base coat 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Made nails brittle 10%
  • Strong smell 5%
  • Too expensive 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 24 of 28
  • Brand site 5 of 7 shown, not counted
5 essie Hard To Resist Nail Strengthener

essie

Hard To Resist Nail Strengthener

34/51 say their nails got stronger

More reviewers weighed in on this one than on any other strengthener here, and the results are mixed: 34 of 51 said their nails got stronger. Chipping is the main complaint at 21%, and 17% say it made nails more brittle.

What buyers praise

  • Nice shine 11%
  • Nails grew longer 11%
  • Works as a base coat 6%
  • Less peeling or splitting 6%

What buyers complain about

  • Chips or peels off 21%
  • Made nails brittle 17%
  • Too expensive 7%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 34 of 51
  • Brand site 7 of 12 shown, not counted
6

Sally Hansen

Advanced Hard as Nails

11/17 say their nails got stronger

The coat itself is the problem: 35% of reviews say it chipped or peeled off. Strength still gets praise in 48% of reviews, and 11 of 17 reviewers with brittle nails said their nails got stronger.

What buyers praise

  • Nails grew longer 20%
  • Nice shine 13%
  • Good value 10%

What buyers complain about

  • Chips or peels off 35%
  • Made nails brittle 10%
  • Strong smell 5%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 11 of 17
  • Brand site 5 of 7 shown, not counted

Share of 40 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

7

OPI

Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

16/33 say their nails got stronger

Reviewers split almost evenly at 16 of 33, and 35% of reviews say it made their nails more brittle. OPI's own site is far kinder at 11 of 13, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Nails grew longer 19%
  • Less peeling or splitting 7%
  • Nice shine 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Made nails brittle 35%
  • Chips or peels off 19%
  • Too expensive 12%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 16 of 33
  • Brand site 11 of 13 shown, not counted

Share of 43 store reviews that mention each point. A full bar is 50%.

Where these numbers come from

The 7 products ranked here carry 6,047 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about nail strength, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Oct 2020 and Oct 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (1 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment Target (39 reviews counted)
  3. Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus Nail Protein Target (40 reviews counted)
  4. Olive & June Nail Strengthener Target (39 reviews counted)
  5. essie Hard To Resist Nail Strengthener Target (71 reviews counted)
  6. Sally Hansen Advanced Hard as Nails Target (40 reviews counted)
  7. OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener Target (43 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which nail strengthener works for brittle nails?

Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Nail Treatment has the best record (30 of 35), followed by Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Nail Treatment (17 of 19) and Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus Nail Protein (21 of 24).

Does OPI Nail Envy work for brittle nails?

Reviewers are split. It has the weakest record here at 16 of 33, and 35% of its reviews say it made nails more brittle. People tend to write when something goes wrong, so this may lean negative, but the gap with the other strengtheners is large.

Is essie Hard To Resist good for brittle nails?

Often, but not always. 34 of 51 reviewers said their nails got stronger, and more reviewers weighed in on it than on any other strengthener here. Chipping comes up in 21% of its reviews.

When are brittle nails worth showing a doctor?

Nails that suddenly change color, shape or thickness are worth showing a doctor. Don't count on a strengthener to sort that out.

Related problems

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.