In January, I decided to take a break from gel nails, partly to test alternatives for a future column. It’s no exaggeration to say that over the next month at least one nail broke every single day. My long, strong natural nails owed everything to builder gel, it turned out, and on their own were as weak as street party lemon squash. Whether this is the effect of hormonal changes or years under the UV lamp, my nails have been withered by time, and before I could even look for gel alternatives I needed to find a fix.

I should say that my frustrations with nail-strengthening products are numerous and, ultimately, inhibit regular use – which is essential for results. I don’t see the logic in products that dry hard, to be layered one coat atop another, forming a thick, lacquered carapace. How are the upper layers of such products reaching the nail itself and having any impact? No nourishing or strengthening ingredient can hope to find its way past the gate. I suspect the sense of increased strength is illusory and vanishes when the overladen nail is chemically cleaned.

Even if these products do work to make the nail harder, this doesn’t fix the problem often at hand: nails can be both hard in the brittle sense and weak in that they shatter with the slightest ding. Instead, manicurists will usually advise frequent application of cuticle oil, to cure all ills.

They have a point – moisture and barrier care is important, and diligently massaging in oil will typically yield better-looking, more flexible nails. I just use whichever facial oil is next to my bed, but even a cheap almond or avocado oil from the supermarket works fine. I’ve never found any cuticle oil to be transformative in preventing breakage, though.

Enter OPI’s Repair Mode Bond Building Nail Serum, which costs a whopping £29.90, but to my mind is worth the money. It claims to repair broken bonds in nails (just as products from Olaplex and K18 do for hair), leaving them more consistent in texture and more flexible.

The liquid is applied daily (I did the first fortnight over bare nails), but doesn’t dry hard like lacquer. I observed a definite slowing in breakage as early as day three.

Peeling and flaking have stopped altogether. Breakage is greatly reduced. My nails have even started peeking over my fingertips again. It is not miraculous, but it is undeniably doing its job. When so few do, I wanted you to hear it first.

Set styling: Yvonne Achato