Silk wraps for broken nails

I broke two nails yesterday, in different ways so I thought this would be a good opportunity to share how I do silk wraps to repair them, I am absolutely not an expert but this works for me, I am based in the UK so most of the products I use are from UK companies/websites.

As you can see I have lost the tip of one nail and half broken another, and to repair this I am using:

– The Edge, Silk Nail Wrap Trial Kit
– Sally's, Brush on Nail Glue
– Rainbow Connection, Glass nail file
– Boots, Six sided nail file
– Nail scissors
– Orange/cuticle sticks
– Acetone
– Lint free pads

I've found the trial kit to be perfect for I need, which is occasionally repairing one or two nails. I am hard on my nails, I go swimming three times a week, and I'm currently renovating/decorating my house, so I wash my hands a lot. My wraps usually last about a week/10 days, if you're not doing all that they can last much longer.

Before following the pictured instructions I do three things; Make sure my nails are as clean and dry as possible, using acetone and lint free pads to clean them, really focusing on the two that are needing repairs.

Gluing my nail back together, making sure to use the orange stick to hold the nail in place so I don't glue my other hand to my nail, and running it under the nail so I don't glue my nail to my nail bed/the top of the finger, then another quick swipe with the acetone.

Then cutting out templates from paper (not cutting the wrap yet) for each nail, don't worry about the free edge, you just need to get the right shape for the base and sides of the nail. Then once you've got the right shape cut out your silk using your paper templates.

DO NOT THROW YOUR TEMPLATES AWAY, pop them back into the same container as your silk, you will thank me when you're redoing them in a few weeks.

Then, I follow the pictured instructions, when it comes to shaping I cut the excess of with the scissors, leaving a little extra around the edge, then use the roughest side of the big file to get it closer, then finally the glass file to shape it. Then I use the each of the six sides in turn on the nail to smooth down the wrap, just a few light strokes of the first side, then a little more of the next, & so on.

Once you've done this you can barely see there is anything at all on the nail that cracked, you could happily wear clear or sheer polish. After that I just do my mani as normal, and it's invisible that there is anything broken, the nails are a little thicker than my natural ones, but not by much at all, like fractions of a millimetre.

As I mentioned my wraps usually start to lift after a week or so, to remove them they need to soak in acetone, I usually wrap them in a acetone soaked cotton wool pad for about 15mins, then rest them individually in acetone, I use a glass tealight holder, but a shot glass would also be perfect, until the wraps slide off, don't pull them off you'll damage your nail, if they're being stubborn you can rub them a bit with cotton wool.

Finished mani products:
– Nailtiques formula 2

– OPI Nail Envy base coat

– Bees Knees Lacqure, Give it Back Tenfold
– Seche Vite Topcoat

– A 50/50 mix of Vitamin E, & Jojoba Oil.