How To Repair A Cracked Nail

Stocksy/ Raydene Salinas Hansen

Out of the many things my natural clumsiness ruins in my life, nothing pisses me off more than than breaking a boom. I swear every time my nails look long and perfect—like, could-make-it-on-the-'gram perfect—I finish up with a massive chip or snag. Merely since going dorsum to the salon every time I take a fissure is unrealistic (and waaaay out of my upkeep), I've perfected the next all-time affair: fixing my cleaved nail at home.

Ahead, I rounded up everything I've learned about fixing and smoothing cracked, jagged nails in the comfort of your habitation, including all the tips and tools from an ~bodily~ expert: Pattie Yankee, celebrity nail artist who works with Priyanka Chopra, Allison Williams, and Hailee Steinfeld. Keep reading for some ridiculously expert nails.

How to Fix a Broken Smash With Glue

If your blast is just split, rather than completely cleaved off, try Yankee's favorite quick-fix method: glue. Go on in mind this definitely isn't a permanent set—you'll even so have to book an appointment with your manicurist—only it should hold you over until you tin brand information technology to the salon. Here's what you'll do:

Stride 1: Lightly vitrify the surface of the blast—the key hither is to be suuuper gentle, since too much pressure level tin can actually cause more than harm.
Stride 2: Apply two coats of a fast-drying boom mucilage (like Nail Elation Brush-On Glue) to temporarily fuse the crack together until your adjacent professional smash appointment. This will likewise prevent it from catching and snagging.
Footstep iii: When the glue is 100 pct dry, embrace the area with a thin coat of clear blast polish to assistance hold the crack in place (Deborah Lippmann's Difficult Rock Nail Strengthening Top and Base Coat is always a good option, since it as well helps strengthen your nails).

How to Fix a Cleaved Nail With a Fake Smash

Sadly, sometimes when your broken nail is beyond repair, your only solve is to fake it. "One of my favorite tricks for a broken nail is to apply a quick ready of press-on or gum-on nails to concur you lot over until your cleaved nail grows out," explains Yankee. She's a fan of the Dashing Diva Magic Press-Ons, since they "have a pre-agglutinative backing that holds up to seven days," but yous tin use any of your favorite simulated boom sets.

How to Fix a Cleaved Blast With Gel and a Silk Wrap

If your smash is fully croaky and hanging off your blast bed, you may demand to take more intense measures, says Yankee—like with the gel and silk method. Here's what you'll do:

Pace ane: After wiping the crack clean with blast polish remover, gently vitrify the nail with a file. Your goal here is to make the nail as smooth and clean as possible (no excess oil, polish, or snags).
Step 2: Very gently, use nail gum to mend the crack. One time information technology's totally dry, paint a layer of articulate gel polish over the nail.
Step three: While your smoothen is still wet, smooth a slice of silk (it should be pre-cut in the shape of your nail) over the area and wait for the gel to cure. The silk will kinda deed like a bandaid and give your nail an actress layer once it dries down.
Footstep iv: Carefully buff your smash once everything is dry and follow with a second glaze of gel polish.

Dashing Diva Without A Trace Gloss Ultra Shine Gel Strips

Courtesy Image

Dashing Diva Without A Trace Gloss Ultra Smoothen Gel Strips

How to Gear up a Broken Nail With Gel Strips

Looking for something less complicated? Fair. Endeavor a gel nail strip (like Dashing Diva's Gloss Ultra Shine Gel Nail Strips) equally an alternative to the silk-wrap method. The results will be pretty similar, says Yankee, but they're a lot easier to utilise. Clean off any excess oil and polish from the broken smash, mend the cleft with nail gum, and then stick the gel strip on top every bit a record-like culling.

How to Fix a Broken Nail With a Tea Bag

This method is definitely the most popular broken-boom hack on the net. The only catch? According to Yankee, this method requires a bit of maintenance "every few days past applying another coat or ii of glue over the tea bag to continue it strong." But still, yous can't shell an ultra-cheap DIY method. Here's what you'll practice:

Step one: Cutting the top off of a tea bag and brand a square roughly the size of the crack.
Footstep 2: Smooth a layer of boom gum over the crack (a brush-on formula is easiest here), and while it'southward still wet, place the tea purse foursquare on top.
Step 3: One time it'due south dry out, paint ane more layer of smash glue and you lot're expert to go.

How to Fix a Broken Boom With a Pulverization Fill up

This hack is i of the more "durable" at-dwelling house fixes on the list—and it's as well got Yankee's seal of approving. Here'due south what you lot'll exercise:

Footstep 1: Later on painting a layer of nail mucilage over the crack, sprinkle a picayune nail pulverisation on pinnacle while it'south nonetheless wet.
Step two: Go on this process a few times (waiting for each coat to dry in between) until you've created two or 3 layers on top of the crack.
Pace iii: Gear up everything in place by spritzing a glue-drying spray on top of the mucilage and powder, and so buff information technology smooth with a buffing block.

How to Set up a Broken Boom By Trimming It

Alright, you may non want to hear this, simply at that place isn't a truly permanent fix for a broken boom. "No matter how good the repair, a difficult and deep fissure or pause will ever seem to sneak its mode back through the repair," says Yankee. "If the break is in a user-friendly spot to permit it to be cut down, it might exist easiest to merely cut it and trim the rest of your nails to lucifer."

And of form, to avert cleaved nails in the future, Yankees advises all her clients to moisturize daily with cuticle oil and go along their hands protected from the elements. "Fingernails are constantly exposed to harsh hand soaps, chemicals and h2o," she says. "Keeping them moisturized and polished is the all-time solution to fugitive breakage."

Ruby Buddemeyer Blood-red was the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covered beauty across print and digital.