I received this to trial in the "Neutralize & Brighten" option.The nail polish comes in white and silver cardboard box. The polish comes in the classic essie packaging; a clear bottle with "essie" etched into the glass, and a classy white lid. The labelling is holographic, which adds a pretty touch to the packaging. The strengthener is tinted purple in colour as it is mean to neutralize yellow tones in the nails. The first time I used this I had just died my hair copper, so my nails were stained yellow (so the perfect time to see if this can neutralize yellow!). As this is tinted purple, it did kind of neutralize the yellow tones, but then it left my nails tinted purple, so it looked like I was lacking in blood supply to my hands! Ideally, a neutralizer will neutralise tones and dry down to a natural colour, so you can wear your nails bare, however, the purple tint just made my nails look a bit corpse like, so I wasn't a fan of using it on bare nails. This wasn't an issue when I used this before applying polish, as it neutralized the yellow tones and the purple tint doesn't show through any nail polish layered over top. This did well for strengthening my nails - I used this several times and my nails did feel stronger and sturdier. I apply new nail polish weekly, so my nails take a lot of flack from me and this has left them in a nicer condition. This dries quickly as well which is ideal for when you want to apply nail polish afterwards.
I do have mixed feelings about this product however. While it does neutralize, the purple tint doesn't look good if you aren't going to apply nail polish after using this which I think defeats the purpose of neutralizing? But this does work at strengthening the nails - but this isn't an essential product for my routine and is quite pricy, so I would recommend this if you have very brittle nails and want a solution, but give this is a miss if you aren't too concerned about nail strength or wanting something to neutralize yellow tones in your nails.
My nails were in average shape after taking off shellac. I was hopeful that this nail strengthening polish would help make them stronger, especially with all the hand washing and sanitising i do with my job. However after only one shift the essie Hard to resist had already chipped off almost half of my nails. Tried reapplying, but the same thing happened the next day. Pros: Easy to apply, don’t need to be precise. Clear coated with pleasant slight pink tint. Cheap price. Cute packaging. Cons: Chipped easily after one day of work. Smelt quite strong on application. Moderate dry time.
Tips: May be more suited to someone without a job that requires regular hand washing/ sanitising.