A Gel Removal Left My Nails in Tatters—Since Discovering this Repair Treatment, I’ve Been Wearing Nothing Else

Despite the abundance of incredible nail trends that have been dominating 2025 so far—I’m talking iridescent soap nails, pistachio manicures and vibrant jelly nails—I’ve been on something of a manicure hiatus of late. Specifically, a break from gel manicures after a rather questionable removable job at a salon I had never visited before left my nails in tatters. After mourning the loss of my formerly strong and shiny nails and healthy cuticles, I spoke to a manicurist pal who suggested a total nail reset—switching out my favourite nail art designs and trending gel polishes for totally bare nails instead.

I’ll be honest, as a beauty editor who writes about nail trends for a living ,I wasn’t convinced. Let’s be honest, cuticle oils and nail strengtheners are great for nourishing and caring for your nails, but as for making them look polished? Not so much. Thankfully, though, I recently discovered something that does it all—strengthens, protects, and makes your nails look incredibly chic. Enter: Essie To The Rescue. A nourishing nail treatment that has somehow managed to both transform the condition of my nails while becoming my most-worn nail colour. Since wearing it, I’ve lost count of how many people have asked me what I’m wearing on my nails, which is high praise indeed for a treatment designed for damaged nails. So, let’s get into what makes it so brilliant.

My honest review of Essie To The Rescue

First impressions

I truly wasn’t expecting much from this nail treatment when I picked it up—I’ve tried tons of strengtheners in the past and while many have been decent it’s rare for one to blow me away. I was, however, intrigued by the milky pink shade of the polish. Typically, nail strengtheners tend to be sheer, but this looked a whole lot like the kind of shade that would be perfect for this year’s trending CC cream manicure. And my hunch was further heightened when I spotted that global manicurist Julia Diogo (aka @paintedbyjools) had shared a manicure using it on her Instagram page. It looked glossy, sleek and utterly expensive.

It took me no more than a few swipes to be utterly convinced. While the texture is undeniably thicker than a standard nail polish, it glides on incredibly smoothly—that signature wide Essie brush makes it easy—and the colour is both sheer and elegant, but with enough pink pigment to blur over uneven texture and any signs of damage on the nail. Just one coat makes my nails look more elegant and polished, and with the kind of plump sheeny glow that I typically only get from a gel manicure.

The formula

Now for the science side of things. Essie To The Rescue contains MSM (aka methylsulfonylmethane) as its star ingredient. It’s naturally derived and helps to support keratin production, which, in turn, leads to stronger and less brittle nails over time. In fact, Essie claims that it improves visible damage from UV gels in just 5 days. Alongside the MS, there’s also a triple protein complex to improve nail strength and ceramides to lock in moisture and prevent splitting. Basically, everything you could want to take care of your nails.

And the best part is that the formula does not feel like you’re wearing a treatment at all—just a beautiful clean-girl polish. Formulated with a builder gel-inspired thickness, just a couple of thin coats are more than enough to give you all of those great nail care benefits. And while it does look incredible alone, you can also layer it underneath other nail colours as a protective base coat if you’re not a huge fan of a minimalist manicure.

The results

The best part about Essie To The Rescue? It actually works. Within just weeks of using this, I noticed that my nails were peeling less, breaking less and just felt harder, rather than paper-thin and brittle. It’s really low-maintenance—I found that I could get at least 5 days of wear out of this without any chips—but as it is so sheer and glowy, you don’t notice any grow out.

Personally, I’ve been loving wearing it totally alone. And I’ve had so many compliments on how my nails look with it on that I can’t imagine I’ll be rushing out to get back on the gel manicures any time soon. A polish that’s both kind to your nails, looks chic, and requires absolutely zero skill to apply it feels like a welcome addition to my beauty bag. So if you’re also growing out damage or just want something easy to recreate a clean girl manicure at home, then Essie To The Rescue will undoubtedly nail it.