Fixing Chipped Nails

Polished nails and manicures can look classy, flirty and cute, but even one nail chip can ruin the effect of your polished nails. Unfortunately, it is really easy to chip nails between manicures, and you may not feel like applying fingernail polish each time you get a nail chip. If you work with your hands a lot , you might get a nail chip or several of them every day, which would mean applying fingernail polish constantly if you wanted to have polished nails! Fortunately, it is possible to fix a nail chip or several chipped nails quickly if you are between manicures but want to maintain the beautiful look of polished nails. If you manicure is more than a week old than you’re better off just applying new fingernail polish to chipped nails. Otherwise, follow these steps to get rid of every nail chip and achieve the look of freshly polished nails!

You’ll need fingernail polish remover, a cotton ball, the same color of fingernail polish you originally used on the chipped nails and a topcoat or sealant coat of fingernail polish. On the hand opposite of the nail chip, dip the tip of your index finger in fingernail polish remover. Rub the fingernail polish remover over the nail chip to remove any rough edges or extra globs of fingernail polish. Once the rough edges are gone, let the chipped nails dry.

Next, brush a small amount of fingernail polish over the nail chip. Repeat for all chipped nails on this hand. Allow some time for the fingernail polish to dry on the chipped nails.

After the fingernail polish is completely dry, you can apply a layer of topcoat fingernail polish, or a sealant. This will protect the polished nails and help to prevent chipped nails in the future. If you don’t have any topcoat fingernail polish, you can use clear fingernail polish instead. I personally find that nail sealant works the best for keeping polished nails free from chipping.

Allow plenty of time for the fingernail polish to dry so that you don’t mess it up and have to remove all the fingernail polish and reapply. It may be tempting to use fast-drying fingernail polish, but you should resist this temptation because fast-drying fingernail polish chips much more easily than normal fingernail polish. If possible, use fingernail polish marketed as “no chip fingernail polish.” These brands of fingernail polish work well and will help your polished nails stay nail chip free for over a week! They take longer to dry, but you can easily use the fingernail polish drying time to watch television or listen to the radio-anything that keeps your newly polished nails still.

Finally, once the fingernail polish is dry, use the cotton ball soaked in fingernail polish remover to wipe any fingernail polish residue off your fingertip. Repeat the process on the other hand if that hand has chipped nails.