Ready to Scratch or the Silica Miracle

As long as I can remember, I've had awfully brittle fingernails that would literally brake when I tried to peel off a price tag or perform similar tasks. Also as long long as I remember, my Mum (who has superstrong nails) has taken silica as a dietary supplement and tried to get me to take it, too. The white powder which she would mix into plain yoghurt and eat did not exactly appeal to me, nor did pills or capsules. Therefore, my preferred method would be to keep my nails nice and short, which I prefer anyway, filing them even shorter when yet another "peeling accident" occurred. I also tried applying nail hardener, but that seemed to have the opposite effect rather than make my claws stronger.

About a month ago, I was looking for fizzy magnesium tablets at my local DM drugstore. I'm not a fan of dietary supplements at all, but in summer, I sometimes get cramps in the calves at night, which are immediately remedied by taking extra magnesium. Anyway, as I was scanning the shelves, I noticed that they had sorted the supplements according to topics, e.g."pregnancy", "kids", "menopausal", "shiny hair"..."strong nails". Hey, they had onw-brand silica lozenges with cherry flavour. Worth a try for just a little over 1 Euro for a pack of 30. What can I say - not only do they taste really yummy, but they actually work! Never in my life have I had such even and strong nails and should they ever need a testimonial I'd raise my hand.

Catfight, anyone?