Quimica Alemana Nail Hardener 0.47 oz

by Quimica Alemana

• Hardens nails and treats chipping
• Great for peeling and splitting of nails

Product Description

Nail strengthener that, besides forming a protective barrier, prevents chipping, peeling and splitting of your nails. Instructions for use: Shake before use. Apply only to clean and dry nails. To start the treatment, apply a thin coat from the center of the nail down to the tip once a week. Let it dry and paint the nail with your favorite nail polish. After three applications, as the nail gets stronger, brush one thin coat covering the whole nail. Use once weekly. Protect the skin around the cuticles with cream. Caution: Can cause some discomfort on first use. If you feel pain, burning or persistent discomfort, remove it immediately from all nails and suspend its use. Avoid contact with cuticles and skin. Warning: Not meant for daily use. Keep out of reach of children. Keep away from heat and flames. Flammable. This product is formulated to be used once a week. Please note that, as is the case with any cosmetic product, excessive use can cause unwanted side effects. And again: if you haven't used this product before, do not cover the whole nail with the strengthener on first use. As your nails get stronger from week to week you can slowly start to cover the whole nail. This is especially important if you have very thin or brittle nails. Note: Retailers in the United States have to sell this product in the original box with correct ENGLISH LABELING AND INSTRUCTIONS printed on the cardboard box. Should you only receive the glass bottle without the box, please return the item to the seller for your own safety!

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 1 x 4 inches ; 2.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00126IXLO
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (202 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,442 in Beauty (See Top 100 in Beauty)
  • #4 in Beauty > Makeup > Nails > Nail Treatments > Nail Strengthening

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 124 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic (when used with care) April 26, 2010

By A. Pec

Amazon Verified Purchase

After a spell with artificial nails (which, naturally, includes an exhausted rejection of their maintainance, sanitation and cost!), my nails were roughed up quite a bit: paper thin, peely and ridged/pocked. This product certainly does what it claims, and in a matter of weeks with one night spent surface buffing and enjoying 'True Confessions of a Shopaholic' (it was *so* a girls' night), my nails have transformed. It's important to understand, however, how the active chemicals in nail hardeners work, and this should affect how you put them to use. Quimica is a Colombian-made formaldehyde or formalin based hardener, while other products are said to have protein or nylon bases. The formaldehyde/formalin tincture means that the active chemicals are very strong and effective and therefore should be used with caution and patience -- the latter of which is hard to have when you've just ripped off a set of acrylics and sworn them off for good!

With very thin nails at the onset, my double-coating on the first go was entirely too much and my nails were *almost* unbearably burny the entire evening (therefore affecting my proper enjoyment of a few Guinness and a game of pool at the local pub), and they were even super-sensitive through the next day, particularly to temperature. Starting up a regimen, as I did, of every 4-5 days removing the old layers and reapplying another double (as well as a few days of back-to-back stripping and reapplying), I believe I used too much too soon, and some of my nails began to have opaque, whitish spots and marbly, striated growth marks of the same color.

I'm still super happy with the outcome of dramatically hard and tough nails within only weeks; however, I'd recommend the following (more patient) regimen: Start with one thin coat and reapply only one thin coat every 4 days to one week for 3 weeks or so. If you have very damaged, thin or sensitive nails, use moisturizing creams at first to build some base resilience that can weather the brawn of Quimica. From there -- that is, either moisturized, 'pre-op' nails or from a few weeks of using only one layer every business week or so -- you can decide whether a back-to-back booster of stripping and reapplying the next day would be safe or warranted. Because it feels like the active chemicals are doing their work on the first few days of application, a fast strip-and-reapply turnaround like that seems to give the fastest results. In my case, I think the nail bed was overstimulated with the formaldehyde activity and thus overreacted in hyper-producing keratin's cross-linking fibers, which are the natural structures of nail strengthening.

I have on order a bottle of Trind nail repair, a Dutch product that has also received rave reviews and contains formaldehyde among these other ingredients: Maximum 75% organic solvents:mixture of ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, isopropyl alcohol,n-butyl alcohol,toluene,Maximum 30% non-volatile addtile additives, film-forming components(e.g.nitrocellulose), softeners (e.g dibutyl phthalate), Polymer resins, thixotropic agents( e.g. stearalkonium hectorite), maximum 2,5% formaldehyde, maximum 5% UV filters,camphor,titanium dioxide. I'll update this review after that experiment with Trind! Below are some more technical descriptions of formaldehyde strengtheners that I found to be quite informative in developing my own nail care regimen. Best!
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Here's a good explanation on how formaldehyde works on nail keratin, and also, interestingly, they say it is the only active ingredient that works 'at the chemical level' to improve nail strength (other 'hardeners,' like gelatin, don't work at the chemical level to restructure the nail's makeup but rather work as a surface protectant, just like simple nail polish works to coat and protect the nail):
Formaldehyde works with the keratin in the nail. Keratin is the protein that makes up the nail plate. Formaldehyde reacts with the keratin and causes the strands, which are already cross linked together, to create more cross links, hardening the nail. Although more cross-links mean a harder nail, too many links cause nails to become dry and brittle. This is why nails become worse when formaldehyde is over used. The nail can even become so brittle that it will lift off from the nail bed completely. Because of this scientists are working to create new ingredients that work like formaldehyde, but do not cause excessive the cross-linking that leaded to brittle nails. A balance between the hardness of many cross-links and the flexibility of the natural nail is the perfect toughness desired in a nail.
[...]

Another website gives the following advice on using both hardeners and moisturizers to achieve the ideal strength and flexibility for your nails:
Contrary to popular belief, the nails should not only be hardened, but moisturized as well. This is so they will remain flexible. This is the main reason why many nail-growth programs fail. The individual will only harden the nails. The idea is to achieve a balance. If the nail is too hard, when slammed accidentally onto a hard surface, it will snap because it lacks flexibility. It will also not look its best because it will be too dry. Conversely, ifthe nail is too soft, it may rip very easily because it lacks resistance. The moral is that if you want to grow long nails, you should incorporate both nail strengtheners (hardeners) and nails moisturizers (conditioners) into your nail-care regimen to encourage optimum growth.

Here's their bit on formaldehyde strengtheners:
If your nails are in sorry shape and you are not prone to allergies, try a formaldehyde strengthener. These actually cross-link the nail keratin fibers to increase strength and resistance to damage, so that you can grow long nails. Formaldehyde, however, is known to cause severe reactions in certain individuals, such as bluish discolorations ofthe nail, painful scarring and cracking of the nail and cuticle, and severe bleeding in the nail bed. Due to the high risk, the Food and Drug Administration will not allow nail formulations with more than 5% formaldehyde content. In other countries, however, this is not the rule, so it is a bad idea to buy nailproducts from outside the U.S.A. If you are not prone to allergies , these formulations may be safe for you to use, and are the strongest nail strengtheners available. If you notice any of the above symptoms, discontinue use immediately or your nails will end up in worse condition. Try Sall'e "10" (Salle's "10" International).
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If you really like doing your background research, check out this page on the nitty-gritty of formaldehyde strengtheners: [...]

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing product! February 9, 2009

By Y. Rodriguez

I've been using this product for a year now. I absolutely love it!!! For years I've tried every product available to make my brittle, short nails grow with very little results. I too got this from a nail salon for about $17. It was worth it. I use it every 2 days & I can go for 1 1/2 weeks w/o changing the nail polish. My nails grow & don't break now. During the summer they grew so much I actually had to trim them down a few times. I do dishes & all sorts of things that would destroy my nails but they are in great shape. I also can do my nails at home & save a bundle on manicures. Just one thing, if your nails hurt after you put it on, you're using this stuff too much. Lay off for a few days & you'll be fine. Enjoy beautiful nails!!!!

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not safe. August 15, 2010

By Bufster3

Amazon Verified Purchase

I saw all the wonderful reviews of this product and ordered it. I was so excited as my nails are very weak and brittle.

I noticed that there was a warning on the bottle stating that if a burning sensation occurs after application to remove it immediately. I figured it might sting a little but I was shocked when after 20 minutes or so I began to feel pain in my ring finger on my left hand. My finger tip and nail bed started to turn red and the pain traveled to the joint. Then as I was removing the product the pain began in other fingers on both hands. The pain continued and there was a rippling under my flesh that appeared on some fingers. The pain is mostly gone now after 2 days but this was a really scary experience.