Easy Fixes for the Most Common Nail Problems

Summer is here and some of us are eager to incorporate bright colors into our days. Some choose bright colored clothes or shoes. Others prefer bright accessories like bags, jewelry, sunglasses. And quite a lot of women choose to get a bright manicure. If you regularly go and get manicures, you’re pretty much good to go, but for those who choose to get their nails done at home here’s a few tips and tricks you might find useful along the way.

Slight Break/Rip

Broken nails might not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but occasionally it can be really upsetting. Especially if your nails grow really slowly or one of them breaks right before a big event. Don’t despair, ladies! There’s a very easy fix for this problem – nail glue. Yup, it’s not just for attaching fake nails, you can fix your own nails with it too. Just dab a tiny amount of it on the area where you have a rip in your nail and hold it together for a minute. Voila, your nail is good as new! However, this works only for those times when your nail hasn’t broken off completely. If it did, I’m sorry, but just clip the rest of them and rock short nails. It’s better than walking around like a dork with one short nail.

Smudges

I’m not talking about those times you were just impatient and decided to reach into your pocket or handbag before your nails dried properly. I’m talking about those times you’ve waited for a long time and then tried to be careful all day but it still smudged. I’ve had cases where I went a whole day with perfectly polished nails, but when I woke up the next day they had smudges and indents in them. If that happened to you it means you’re piling on thick layers of nail polish. Happens to the best of us. Just make sure you do thin layers next time. If you’re doing 2 coats, make sure you wait in between coats so the first one can dry completely. If your nail polish comes out goopy and thick just throw it out, it means it’s old and expired

Peeling/chipping

Don’t you hate it when you’ve had your nails done and they’re all pretty and perfect and then in 3 days the small white line starts creeping in? That thin line where the nail polish chipped or peeled at the tip of your nail can be prevented. Just put on a thin layer of quick drying topcoat every other day and it should prolong the life of your manicure. If it chipped a little or that line crept up on you unexpectedly, just clip your nails a tiny bit and use a thin layer of topcoat and your nails will look perfect again.

Bumps and Bubbles

If your nail polish doesn’t go on smoothly try cleaning your nails with some rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover beforehand. In most cases there’s either natural oils or residue of hand creams on your nails and that’s preventing your nail polish from adhering to your nails properly. If you think that it’s your nail that’s uneven, you can lightly buff the whole nail, then clean it with rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover and apply a base coat.

Stained Nails

However, if you forgot to use a base coat and now your nails are stained – here’s a few solutions for you. First try soaking your nails in nail polish remover. To do this take a few cotton balls, moisten them with a lot of nail polish remover and keep them on your nails for a few minutes. That should help get rid of most of the nail polish residue. If that doesn’t help – rub lemon juice on your nails for the next 10 days. That should help. I know 10 days is a lot, but trust me, it’s better than just waiting until your whole nail grows out, that takes months.

Dull Nail Polish

If you bought a nail polish and the color doesn’t show up as bright as it is in the bottle – we have a solution for you. You don’t need to use dozens of layers, 2 usually do the trick. To really make a nail polish color pop use a white nail polish as the base. It’ll give your colored nail polish a white canvas to work with and therefore will make the colors brighter, more vibrant and more pigmented.

Drying Takes Forever

If you’re impatient and can’t wait 10 minutes for the nail polish to dry there’s a solution that will cut that time in half. It involves a bowl with cold water and ice. Basically, once you’ve painted your nails submerge them into a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes. It might not seem like a long time, but in 5 minutes you’ll feel like your fingers are freezing. However, it does work, your nail polish hardens faster in ice cold water. If you’re willing to freeze a bit to save time – this tip is for you.