Repairing a cracked nail is simpler than you think

A masterfully manicured set of nails is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, most of us use our hands continuously, and chipped or cracked nails are a common occurrence. If you’ve ever split a nail and needed to mend it but didn’t have time to go to the salon, you’ve probably tried fixing it with standard polish. As a last resort, you could file the other nails down to match, but no one wants to go to that extreme.

The following tutorial will help you mend a cracked nail, whether it’s an acrylic, gel or natural one. Start by cleaning the nail and applying protein bond. This will help the gel base coat adhere to the nail better. When applying the base coat, float the product over the nail without applying too much pressure. The gel will be slightly thicker than normal, which will hold the silk fabric in place.

Materials
- Cotton square
- 99 percent isopropyl alcohol
- Protein bond (Young Nails)
- Silk fabric (SuperNail China Silk Wrap)
- Small, sharp scissors
- Base coat gel polish (Gelish, Foundation)
- Tweezers
- UV or LED lamp
- 100/180 grit file
- Manicure brush
- Buffer
- Cuticle oil

We all hate those cracked nails, especially those on the edges!

1. Soak a cotton square in the alcohol, and thoroughly clean your nail.

2. Coat the cracked nail with a thin layer of protein bond.

3. Snip off a small piece of silk fabric with the scissors.

4. Apply a thin layer of base coat gel polish to the nail.

5. Use the tweezers to apply the silk fabric to the cracked portion of the nail.

6. Layer more base coat gel over the silk fabric to ensure it's completely covered, then cure the gel with the lamp.

7. Repeat step 6.

8. Clean off the tacky layer of polish with an alcohol-soaked cotton square.

9. File the surface of the nail with the 100/180 grit file, and then brush away any powdery residue with the manicure brush.

10. Buff the nail with the buffer to eliminate any remaining grooves, and brush off the residue again.

11. Brush cuticle oil onto the cuticles.

Rub thoroughly.

All fixed!