I like to take care of my nails and have them at what I deem to be a decent length. Only with my hands (and therefore nails) often being wet through cleaning, the chlorinated water in the local pool (I like to swim at least once a week, sometimes more), doing the odd bits of gardening here and there, and just general wear and tear my nails begin to suffer and get a little chipped and a little 'flakey'. When I first tried Collection 2000 nail strengthener I was in uni, and funds were pretty tight. I didn't want to spend out on a more expensive brand.

So, what exactly is this product and what is my opinion?

The product is a 2 in 1 strengthener, with hardener and added calcium. The strengthener comes in a clear 12ml bottle with a pearly white lid. The consistency of the liquid means that it is easy to apply without being too gloopy or too runny, which is brilliant as I find some nail varnishes tend to be really messy due to consistency issues. Simply apply as you would any other nail varnish - using the three stroke rule (one stroke down the middle, then one each side) works really well. Once applied, it takes a couple of minutes to dry completely and gives a shine to my nails. Not only does it look nice, it actually does what it is meant to do. My nails definitely benefit. They are much stronger, and are not flakey. They don't chip or break easily, and actually are quite useful 'tools' when doing some simple tasks such as opening plastic bags (think the type that frozen veg comes in). Before, doing something like that could have been enough to break or damage a nail so meant I had to hunt out a pair of scissors, but after using this nail strengthener my nails cope with all sorts, and I have no problem with things like the gardening or the fact that my hands are in water a lot.

Another positive to this product aside from it's main function, is that it works brilliantly as a base coat too. If you like to wear darker colours on your nails it prevents any staining.

A 12ml bottle lasts quite a while. It also doesn't go gloopy. I did find an old old bottle of this the other day (a good 3 or 4 years old that had a small amount left in it) which had gone a bit icky and gloopy, but in a normal circumstances in the lifetime of a bottle of this stuff you are not going to have this problem. One bottle will normally last me a good 6 months or so, at least.

Collection 2000 products are available in Superdrugs, Tesco and Boots, but may also be available elsewhere. I bought my latest bottle of this from Superdrug when it was priced at £2.99, but it was also in a 3 for 2 offer so I also treated myself to a couple of new colours of nail varnish. This was a couple of months ago now, but I see this offer about every so often so keep a look out. Even if you buy it individually, full price, I would definitely recommend giving it a go. I have recommended this to friends in the past, including my mum, a previous Sally Hansen user. Now converted, they are getting just as good results (if not better!) for a much cheaper price.