Nail Repair Rescue!

Today on the blog I'm going to show you how to repair a nail that has a tear. It's a sad day when this happens but it's not a total loss! You don't have to cut your nail down to the tear and have one nail shorter than the rest....or worse....trim them all down!  

So, today I come to you with a tutorial solution! This is not a permanent fix but it usually lasts for about 2-3 weeks (or 2-3 manis) on me. It's also only intended to be used until you feel comfortable with filing the nail down to the tear. 

As you can see in the photo below, the tear in my nail is on my thumb and would be pretty painful if I tried to cut/file it down that much. 

Allow me to show you how I deal with this situation.

First you'll need to gather your supplies.

Here's what I use: 

- A tea bag (does not have to be Lipton...you'll be dumping the contents)

- scissors

- a nail buffer (my favorite is the Tropical Shine 4-way buffer from Sally's)

- a bottle of brush-on nail glue

- an orange stick

- a base coat (I used Orly Bonder for this tutorial)

- a nail color (I chose OPI "Goldeneye" from the James Bond collection)

- a top coat (I don't use anything but Seche Vite!)

Open the tea bag by cutting the top of it off.

Dump and dispose the tea. You only nead the actual bag for the repair.

Open the tea bag up and cut one side so that you have one flat piece. (You're only going to use a small portion of the tea bag per repair. Save the material for future use!)

My tea bag once it has been cut open. 

Next, you are going to cut a small piece out to fit over the tear in your nail and little bit around it. My piece is about the size of half of my tumb nail.

Take your nail glue and brush some onto the nail where you'll be applying the tea bag. Try not to get the glue on your skin or cuticle...it's not easy to get off!

Working quickly, lay the tea bag on your nail covering the tear. Being careful not to let it overhang your cuticle or the side edge of the nail. If it hangs over the tip of the nail it can always be filed off.

Use your orange stick to gently press the sides of the tea bag onto the nail. 

Chances are you will need to apply more nail glue as it dries pretty quickly. No problem. Just brush some more glue on top of the tea bag being careful not to fold, wrinkle or pull the tea bag off the nail.

Using your orange stick again, gently press down all sides of the tea bag (focusing on the tear) and work out any bubbles or wrinkles.

At this point in the process, your nail will probably look something like this. Kind of rough, not really pretty. Don't worry though! We're not done yet. ;)

Once you're sure the nail glue has dried completely use your buffer and gently buff over the surface that you've just repaired. Don't go too crazy with the buffing! You just want to smooth the surface, not remove the tea bag entirely.

My repaired and buffed nail....not finished yet!

Next you're going to take your base coat and apply a thin layer over the whole nail and allow it to dry.

It should start looking much better at this stage of the process!

Take the polish of your choice and apply two thin layers and finish it off with a top coat!

Voila! Just like new! :)

I hope this tutorial was helpful to you! Let me know if there are other nail care issues you would like me to cover on the blog. Thanks for reading!

;) Lindsay