Beauty Nails This $6 Polish Actually Prevents Broken Nails By Victoria Moorhouse Victoria Moorhouse Instagram Website Victoria Moorhouse is a writer, editor, and consultant based in Brooklyn, New York who focuses on beauty, fitness, and health. Victoria was previously the Senior Beauty Editor at InStyle.com and a Senior Editor at POPSUGAR. Her work can also be found in notable publications such as Shape.com, The Zoe Report, Forbes.com, and Well+Good. She graduated from The College of New Jersey with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Professional Writing. InStyle's editorial guidelines Updated on November 21, 2018 @ 12:00PM Pin Share Tweet Email Photo: Lee Avison Photography/Stocksy - stock.adobe.com There's nothing that sends me over the edge quite like a broken nail. But unfortunately after a marathon gel manicure kick, at least one weak, peeling, thin nail has been a frequent reality. Switching to regular polish instead will help my nails stay in-tact in the long-run, but my short-term solution? Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Instant Nail Hardener. The $6 polish acts like a shield of armor for your compromised nail beds. It's not necessarily a nail nourishing formula, but more like an insurance policy so that your nails don't keep breaking over and over and over again. 01 of 01 Buy Now Courtesy The Surprising Reason You Can't Remove Your Gel Nail Polish What gives the product its power is a mixture of micro-diamond and titanium, and it's basically a clear nail polish that dries incredibly hard, kind of similar to the hard feeling you get after a freshly dried gel mani. You can either just apply one coat on its own, or use it as a base coat and then apply regular nail polish. VIDEO: Coinage: 5 of the Best Chip-Free Nail Polishes The biggest reason my nails keep splitting is because the gel polish has basically sucked the moisture right out of 'em, and therefore, has left them incredibly thin, weak, and brittle. They used to be these beds of steel (or, um, healthier keratin), and I know that if I resist the chip-free temptation of a gel manicure, I can get back there. Until then, one coat of this polish will have to do.