How to Fix a Broken Nail - Tutorial / Orly Nail Rescue

Back when I had very brittle nails and a broken nail every other week I decided to look for something to fix the problem. I tried the tea-bag-technique with nail glue and the nail repair pads from essence which is pretty much the same thing. I wasn't too happy with these and then read about the Orly Nail Rescue kit which comes with nail glue, nail repair powder and a buffer. After using it a few times I kind of forgot about it. Also, my nails got better bit by bit, so I didn't really need it anymore. Up until the incident two weeks ago when I piled my thumb into a ventilator (it was disconnected - yay!). It was such a bad rip that I couldn't just cut it off and that's when I remembered my kit. I decided to show you the process of repairing a nail with this kit since I thought that could be interesting for some. The set is available from various stores, I got mine on ebay.

A note to start with: I think the powder is acrylic powder and if you have that plus nail glue you might not actually need to buy this kit. I didn't try it though... let me know in the comments if you know more! Oh and: today's pictures aren't pretty, sorry about that! 

Ich hatte früher ganz brüchige Nägel und alle paar Tage einen davon eingerissen. Meine Versuche mit Nagelkleber und Teebeutel bzw. Nail Repair Pads von essence waren nicht sehr erfolgreich und ich bin dann über das ORLY Nail Rescue Set gestolpert. Da drin sind Nagelkleber, ein Pulver und eine Polierfeile zum Reparieren von eingerissenen Nägeln. Vor zwei Wochen habe ich dann meinen Daumen in einen (glücklicherweise ausgeschalteten) Ventilator gerammt - autsch. Da der Riss zu tief war, um den Nagel einfach abzuschneiden, habe ich das Set wiederentdeckt. Ich dachte, ich zeige euch heute, wie ich damit den Nagel geflickt habe, weil das sicher einige von euch interessiert. Das Set gibts bei diversen Anbietern, meines ist von ebay.

Kurze Anmerkung zuerst: Ich glaube, dass es sich beim Pulver um Acrylpulver handelt und ihr darum auch nicht unbedingt genau dieses Set braucht, falls ihr das eh zu Hause hättet. Aber ich habe eigentlich keine Ahnung von dem Zeug und habe es darum auch nicht selbst ausprobiert. Lasst mir gerne einen Kommentar da, falls ihr mehr wisst. Und: Die Fotos sind heute nicht hübsch, sorry dafür. 

Stuff you will need: Nail repair/Acrylic powder, nail glue, a buffer, a brush and an underlay to collect the excess powder. For removal: nail polish remover with acetone, cotton pads, aluminum foil.

Dinge, die ihr braucht: Orly oder Acrylpulver, Nagelkleber, Polierfeile, ein Pinsel und eine Unterlage für das überschüssige Pulver. Zum Entfernen: Nagellackentferner mit Aceton, Wattepads, Alufolie.

Step 1: Remove old polish or the old powder-glue-mix. I've done this several times since it will only last for a few days. You will also have to remove the stuff using this technique, just let it soak for a few minutes. Please wait until it's completely soft and can be removed without difficulty, as shown in the picture, otherwise you might damage the nail underneath! You want to be really careful around the ripped part of your nail.

1. Schritt: Alten Lack oder Pulverreste entfernen. Da ich den Nagel mehrmals flicken musste, habe ich mit der Entfernung des alten Pulvers angefangen. Für das Entfernen einfach den acetonhaltigen Entferner auf ein Wattepad geben, mit Alufolie umwickeln und ein paar Minuten einwirken lassen. Bitte lange genug warten und erst abziehen, wenn das Zeug ganz weich wird, sonst macht ihr euch den Nagel kaputt! Speziell beim Riss müsst ihr sehr aufpassen. 

Step 2: Add the nail glue onto your nail and try to make it as neat as possible. Try not to cover your cuticles in nail glue! As you can see in the next pictures, I didn't do it very good due to having to take a picture while doing it, but the neater you do it here, the better it will look in the end. Also, hurry up because glue dries fast. No kidding.

2. Schritt: Den Nagelkleber so ordentlich wie möglich auf den Nagel aufpinseln und möglichst nicht auf die Nagelhaut. Ich habe mich da wegen dem Fotografieren ein wenig gestresst, wie man in den anderen Bildern sehen kann. Es lohnt sich aber, hier genau zu arbeiten. Und beeilen müsst ihr euch auch, weil euch das Ganze sonst eintrocknet.

Step 3: Dip! 

3. Schritt: Eintauchen!

Step 4: Carefully remove excess powder with a brush. It's better to let it dry first. They say not to touch your eyes while working with this powder and I think that might be very good advice. Close the jar after you're done, so you won't spill it (and go blind). 

4. Schritt: Ganz vorsichtig das überschüssige Pulver mit dem Pinsel entfernen, aber am besten zuerst trocknen lassen. Bitte mit dem Pulver nicht in die Augen fassen und das Döschen rasch wieder verschliessen. Teufelszeug! 

Step 5: Let it dry. At least 30 minutes. Then buff for a smooth finish. It feels and looks a bit weird, but it doesn't actually need a lot of buffing.

5. Schritt: Komplett trocknen lassen. Mindestens 30 Minuten. Dann polieren, bis ihr zufrieden seid. Es wird natürlich nicht so glatt wie der Nagel vorher, braucht also nicht zu viel Poliererei.

Step 6: Make sure that there is no excess powder on your nails. Then add two coats of a base coat of your choice and let it dry.

6. Schritt: Wenn ihr sicher seid, dass kein loses Pulver mehr auf dem Nagel liegt, könnt ihr zwei Schichten Base Coat auftragen und trocknen lassen. 

Step 7: If you want to, you can add a color of your choice. I used two coats of Zoya - Dree and one coat of Essence - BTGN High Gloss top coat. The finish looks perfect to me and in my opinion no one can tell that there's a broken nail underneath. Now the duration of this nail rescue depends on what you do with your nails every day. It took three days until the powder mix gave in and then you just have to be a bit careful with that nail until you're able to add a new layer or - if the ripped part grew out - file down your nail. That's it, nail rescued! 

7. Schritt: Wenn ihr wollt, könnt ihr jetzt noch darüber lackieren. Ich habe dafür zwei Schichten von Zoya - Dree plus eine Schicht vom Essence BTGN High Gloss Top Coat lackiert und ich finde, dass man dann von der ganzen Reparatur überhaupt nichts sehen kann (ohne Farblack natürlich schon). Bei mir hält das Ganze ca. drei Tage und dann fängt das Puder an der gleichen Stelle wie der Nagel zu reissen. Ich schaue dann, dass ich das Ganze entweder möglichst rasch wieder neu machen kann oder falls der Riss schon ganz rausgewachsen ist, den Nagel kürzen kann, damit ich nicht irgendwo hängen bleibe. Das wars auch schon! 

Nail & Hand Care

I decided to post an update on my nail & hand care routine! I wrote a post about this in my very first months of blogging, but even if I didn't change my routine a lot, I feel like it needs an update. At first I have to admit that I'm blessed with quite healthy and uncomplicated nails and cuticles, which means I don't really have to do a lot to keep them in good health. But I do have four products that I use regularly - from daily to weekly - and I would like to present them separately. 

Hand lotion: Balea Beautiful Berries *Limited Edition*

A good hand lotion is a must-have, even if you don't have damaged or dry skin! I used to apply it regularly every night before going to sleep, but my lazy self took over and I'm now usually just applying it before taking pictures for the blog. I change the brand and scent every now and then, so it doesn't have to be this lotion in particular. Another favorite of mine is Lush - Lemony Flutter for times when my skin is very dry or as a hand mask over night. 

Cuticles: p2 - Cuticle Softener Pen

This one is an all-time favorite! I absolutely love this product and always have replacements at home. This does magic to my cuticles or rather, lets them disappear! You're looking at an unused pen in the picture, they do get filthy quite fast. The description says to apply the liquid with the pen and then push back the cuticles with the cap. What I do is simply remove the cuticles with the pen itself and this works great for me! 

Filing: Glass nail file 

I changed from nail clippers to a glass file after reading that clipping damages the nails. Let me tell you: There is nothing I hate more than filing my nails. It's disgusting and lets me shiver! But with a glass file it is a tiny bit better, I would never again use a metal or sand file. I still hate it though. I bought my glass file at Coop, but you can get these kinds of files on Ebay etc. as well. Obviously you have to be careful with these, because they break in no time. I broke too much of these already.

Nail hardener: Microcell 2000

This nail hardener is a life-saver. My nails do chip and split fast if I don't use a strong nail hardener. Since it is quite expensive I use it from time to time and then regular base coat in between, but I always see the difference when I stop using it. I'm sure there are other similar nail hardeners and it doesn't have to be this brand at all. These nail hardeners do have controversial ingredients though, make sure to read up on them online first.

That's it, this is my basic nail & hand routine! Obviously I use other products as well (like whitening tooth paste, buffing file, etc.) but not on a regular basis. A problem that I have with my nails, which I didn't solve yet is this: 

My thumb nail has the habit of breaking at a specifique spot and that's usually nothing that can be solved with glue or tea bags and so on. I read, that this has to do with some kind of a nail memory, where the nail "remembers" a weak point and breaks over and over again. This would then basically be unfixable... Is there anyone with the same problem? I would love to read your opinion on that!  

How To Remove Nail Polish Stains

Today's post is not pretty. But I really hope it is useful, since I'm sure some of you have already had the problem of stained nails. A lot of blue or red nail polishes can stain your nails, sometimes even if you use a base coat. After removing my Heisenberg design my nails looked quite bad, because silly me forgot the base coat before adding H&M - U Must Have This. It is annoying, but nothing that couldn't get fixed! So I will show you my way of removing those nasty stains.

You will need the following items to remove all the stains from your nails and get back the natural color:

separate toothbrush
soap
whitening toothpaste
denture cleanser tabs (optional)
nail buffer

After removing all the nail polish with remover, start scrubbing your nails with the toothbrush and soap. This will remove the first layer of color. Add a bit of toothpaste onto the brush and continue brushing until most of the stains are gone. If your stains aren't that bad, you might already want to stop here. If your stains are really bad you could soak them in a bath with denture cleanser tabs for about 10 minutes. I didn't do that because it was not necessary. For the parts where the brush didn't scrub off all the stains you might want to use the nail buffer now. Please don't buff too much since it can damage your nails! I only do this very carefully for removing stains. When you're done you can either allow your nails to rest and apply a good hand lotion and/or cuticle oil. Or you can go straight to a new design, of course with applying a good base coat first. I'd recommend using hand lotion either way, because it was quite a rough procedure for your nails and skin!

1. After removing the nail polish:

2. After using soap:

3. After using toothpaste:

4. After buffing:

I hope this was helpful!