A nail strengthening cream: why a conditioner suits soft, peeling nails, and what the hoof in the name means

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Researched. We have not used this one long enough to give you a verdict, and we would rather say so than invent one. What follows is how it works, who it suits, and what it will not do. When we have used it properly, this page carries the verdict and the date.

Onyx Professional Hard as Hoof Nail Strengthening Cream

Nail strengtheners come in two kinds that do opposite things, and the label rarely tells you which one you are holding. This is the gentler kind, and that is worth knowing before you buy it for the wrong problem.

Hardener or conditioner

A hardener is a polish-like coat that stiffens the nail plate, usually by cross-linking the keratin at the surface. A conditioner is an oil, butter or cream that keeps the plate flexible and holds water in it.

Stiff nails snap. Soft nails bend and peel. The right product depends on which yours do, and the wrong one makes the problem worse. We set out the difference in full in hardeners and conditioners are opposite products.

A cream is a conditioner, whatever the front of the tub says.

What is in it

Retail listings for Hard as Hoof name coconut oil, shea butter, jojoba oil and vitamin E, with some versions adding vitamin B5 or calcium. Listings for the different scents do not quite agree, so read the ingredient panel on the one you buy.

The oils and butter are the working part. They sit on the nail and the skin around it, slow the water leaving the plate, and soften the cuticle. A nail that holds its water bends instead of splitting into layers.

Why "hoof"

The name borrows from the horse world, where hoof conditioners have been sold for generations, and the comparison is not silly. A hoof and a nail are both hard keratin, and both crack when they dry out.

What the name does not mean is that the cream feeds the nail. A nail is dead keratin by the time you can see it; nothing rubbed on top reaches the matrix under the cuticle where new nail is made. What a cream can do is protect the nail you already have.

How to use a cream like this

Massage a small amount into the nail and the cuticle, and do it at night, when your hands will not be in water for a few hours. Daily matters more than amount. A nail takes around four to six months to grow from cuticle to tip, so the first nail you will see fully grown under a new routine is months away; the peeling at the edges should ease well before that.

Who it suits

Nails that peel in layers, bend easily, or split at the free edge after a lot of hand-washing, cleaning products or polish remover. It suits anyone whose cuticles crack.

What it will not do

It will not make a thin nail rigid; that is a hardener's job. It will not make nails grow faster. And it will not stand up to gloveless washing-up: water and detergent are what dried the nails out, and a cream cannot outwork them.

A coconut-scented conditioning cream with oils and shea butter, for soft and peeling nails and dry cuticles.

The product

The one people are searching for is the Onyx Professional Hard as Hoof Nail Strengthening Cream.

Onyx Professional Hard as Hoof Nail Strengthening Cream

We do not print prices here, because a price we typed last month is a price that is wrong today.

Written by CatieH, who covers nails and hair here.