Get in loser, we’re talking nail care

A monthish ago I posted here about my ~journey~ from lifelong skin picker to cuticle care devotee (ilu Laqueristas and jojoba oil). I mentioned in the comments that a key part of my nail care routine is Kerasal’s intensive repair ointment, which is marketed for feet (you can tell by the feet on the box and also by the fact that it’s called foot repair ointment) but also works extremely well for softening cuticles. And to my endless shock, Kerasal saw that comment and asked if I’d be interested in trying their brand-new Bare Nail line, a collection of three 10-free products designed specifically to repair, strengthen, and maintain nails (no feet anywhere).

(I have to pause and tell you that I will never not be dying about this because I am just … so deeply not an influencer, and was so clearly not angling for a brand sponsorship. I mention this mostly because I am very awkward. Hi Kerasal! Sorry that I am the way I am.)

Anyway obviously I said yes because I currently have no personality beyond nail care and polish, so I am here after a week of testing to report my results to you!

The products! (Not affiliate links)

Miraculous Mani Nail Strengthener, a cream with hydrolyzed keratin (basically a more absorbable type of the protein already present in your nails) and shea butter, designed to soften your cuticles and make your nails more flexible/less prone to breakage

Cuticle Cure Serum, which uses hydrolyzed keratin, vitamin C, vitamin B5, and hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture, protect your skin and nails from environmental stressors, and smooth ragged skin and ridges

Nail Strengthen & Restore Base Coat, a combo base coat and ridge filler with celery seed extract, designed to hydrate and smooth cuticles so they look better and are also easier to push back

The routine!

I typically moisturize my cuticles throughout the day, using a custom blend of jojoba oil, squalane, and vitamin E (and a dab of cotton candy scent, because I am 8). I do one final oil before bed, topped with a dab of Kerasal ointment worked into each finger, followed by hand cream, followed by CeraVe intense healing ointment. I stopped that routine cold turkey and used only the Kerasal products for a week to see how my nails would respond. You know, for science. (And math, probably.) (And world peace.)

The TLDR results: I am hella impressed! My nails and cuticles were in pretty good shape to begin with, but they are noticeably improved after just a week. My eponychium (the ridge of skin at the base of the nail that most of us think of as the cuticle) is basically invisible, my fingers have virtually no straggler bits of skin, and my nails feel stronger and more flexible. I run a high-volume vintage resale shop on Etsy, so I spend my days picking at price tag stickers, hand-washing ceramics, digging through inventory, and packing and unpacking boxes, which is a long way of saying that I am constantly snagging (and ripping) my nails on various hard surfaces. The snagging did not change, but I didn’t break or tear a single nail (this was not for lack of trying; I bent my thumb nail basically in half trying to open a box, and it hurt, but it bounced right back). I’m honestly surprised how much of a difference I could see and feel in just a few days. A product that works! And just … does what it says it will do! In 2026! I am shook.

More thoughts, in much more detail!

Miraculous Mani Nail Strengthener

I’d never used a nail cream before — I literally had a jar of Hard as Hooves in my Amazon cart when I got this opportunity — so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The cream is soft, unscented, and thick, but not heavy, and is formulated for both skin and nails, bare and painted. A little of it goes a looong way (it’s a 2-oz jar and I suspect it will last me approximately 8 years). I used one tiny dab on every finger, primarily before bed but also during the day whenever my hands felt or looked dry. It absorbs quickly and does not feel greasy, but it will get lodged at the base of your nail if your eponychium is particularly rigid (when this happened, I just scooped it up with another nail and then worked it in). My skin was noticeably less raggedy after just a few uses, but the biggest difference is in my eponychium — it is SO much softer and MUCH less visible on the nail. The way my cuticles look now is the way they’d look after being trimmed at a nail salon — a result I have never been able to achieve on my own. 10/10, definitely plan to keep using.

Cuticle Cure Serum

My favorite of the three and also the one I was most skeptical about! As I mentioned, I am a diehard jojoba oil devotee who oils obsessively using a custom homemade blend, which I stopped entirely while testing these products (FOR SCIENCE). I was secretly convinced this would end in disaster (idk what this means in nail world, probably a hangnail 😱) but I persisted (FOR SCIENCE).

The serum is super duper lightweight, and comes with a sponge-tip applicator rather than the brush you see on most oil click pens. I thought this was weird at first, but I loved it pretty much instantly. The sponge tip gives you a smaller amount of product per click, which makes it easy to control the flow and to direct the serum where you actually need it (with the brush pen, I usually end up with a flood of oil that then needs to be moved around to other nails). The serum does not run and absorbs SO well and SO quickly — I usually apply to all 10 fingers at the same time, and by the time I put the pen down the first few fingers have already lapped most of it up. It also smells amazing, like a facial at a fancy spa where they serve you cucumber water and everyone speaks in a whisper. I used it multiple times per day, and it worked just as well, if not better than, my custom blend. I particularly loved it on the go; because it doesn’t run and doesn’t require much in the way of application, it’s perfect to use when you’re out and about. 12/10 would drink it if I could!

Strengthen & Restore Base Coat

I have the least amount of personal data to offer on the base coat solely because my nails are always painted and I don’t change my lacquer daily, so I only used it twice — once under a glitter polish (Mooncat’s I’m a MF Supernova) and once under a fine-particle magnetic (BKL’s Mind the Thorns, pictured). My usual go-to base coat is Nail-Aid’s keratin 3-day growth formula, and the Kerasal was a bit better than that one in terms of ease of application (it’s glassy-smooth). It’s also a ridge filler, so I didn’t use an additional filler under either polish, which nearly gave me hives with the BKL because fine-particle magnetics are finicky and take forever and I was worried it would be a disaster but! It was not! I don’t have deep ridges, but my thumbs in particular are slightly uneven, and the base coat smoothed them out perfectly. I also used it for the base-coat magnetic hack, and it locked in my glass bead as well as the KBShimmer I usually use. In all I’d say it’s a solid base coat option, but I didn’t use it enough to vouch for its effectiveness at strengthening.

I realize this is a LOT of information, so thanks for reading and I hope it was helpful! Happy to answer questions or to wax poetic about cuticle care or whatever else you need! KERASAL OUT