Essie's Ridge Filler

I’ve been wanting to try OPI’s ‘Nail Envy’ for a while now but while I was recently looking at the £1.99 Essie polishes on Fragrance Direct, I came across Essie’s ‘Ridge Filler’ which was only £2.50 (RRP £10.50). I’ve always had pretty strong nails, which grow fast and that I’ve been happy with but ever since I started to wear nail polish on a regular basis, I’ve started to notice that when I take it off with nail polish remover, my nails sometimes peel a little bit and have also noticed a couple of ridges on my one finger nail, so the ridge filler sounded perfect!

Due to wearing so many different colours on my nails, they have become really stained and the first thing I love about the this product is that after the first time I used it and removed it when I was ready to repaint, I already noticed a difference in the staining of my nails. It doesn’t claim to remove stains but I definitely saw a difference. The second thing is the way it looks on the nail; I would definitely be okay with having just the ridge filler on if for some reason I didn’t get the chance to go ahead and paint them. It makes your nails look whiter and all around just healthier. It also dries incredibly quickly which I something I really like. The product itself is white and depending on how much you apply, depends on how opaque of a base you are left with, which I feel acts in the same way as if you were to paint your nails with an actual white polish to make your nail polish colour ‘pop’.

The only complaint I have with this product is that it is pretty unforgiving on the cuticle area or if you don’t happen to have the best/smoothest skin around your nails. I’m someone who can’t seem to stomach pushing my cuticles back and the thought turns my stomach upside down, so I just leave mine how they are and I’ve noticed this product emphasises any imperfections in this area. This is easily managed though by not painting it too close to the cuticle. Also, I have to mention if you were to buy this hoping for it fix any ridges you have in your nails then I think you might be disappointed since it didn't really seem to make no difference to mine.

Have you used this or OPI's nail envy?