by Mary W. Matthews

Created on: September 14, 2010

For her whole life, my mother had weak, brittle fingernails. Until a few years ago, I thought my own weak, brittle fingernails were Mom’s “gift” to me. No matter how hard I tried, I could never grow long fingernails on the first and second fingers of my right (dominant) hand or the first finger of my left hand. I experimented with all the “tried and true” advice, most of which is good: I tried regular professional manicures; I tried specially formulated products that promised me fingernails as hard as diamonds; I tried living my day-to-day life with special care, wearing gloves to do the dishes or to do yard work, using tools to open pop-tops, and that sort of thing. After literally DECADES of effort, I thought I was doomed to live out my life with nails as weak, brittle, and short as Mom’s had been.

Then I discovered biotin.

Biotin is a vitamin, one of the family of B vitamins. It promotes healthy skin, healthy hair – and healthy fingernails and toenails. It’s a pill that you take, rather than a chemical that you paint or massage on. Unlike products that you paint or massage on, biotin works from the inside out.

Well, first I discovered Appearex™, which advertises itself as the number-one product recommended by dermatologists and pharmacists for the growing of fingernails. Appearex™ advertises itself as containing the strongest possible formula for achieving long, strong, healthy nails in what AT THE TIME the box claimed was the maximum dosage. (The manufacturers may have changed their advertising since I stopped buying their product.)

Appearex™ works well, and I used it happily for almost a year. Then my hair stylist advised me to check the ingredients listed on the box. Lo and behold: the ONLY active ingredient listed for Appearex™ is 2,500 micrograms of biotin.

The last time I bought it, Appearex™ cost me close to $30 for a 12-week supply, which worked out to roughly 36 cents per pill. GENERIC biotin, available from many manufacturers in most pharmacies (I frequently buy Nature Made™), is sold in units of 1,000, 2,500, or 5,000 micrograms. (I used to be able to buy biotin in 7,500-mcg pills, but my local drug store stopped carrying it in that dosage.) Best of all, you can buy a bottle of 100 pills of 5,000-mcg biotin for around $12. I watch for BOGO (buy one, get one) sales and buy two bottles for around $12. This works out to 3 cents per pill, not 36 cents. Since 5,000

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