HOW TO REPAIR A NAIL A Lesson with Siobhan Armstrong Prepared for www.clarsach.net the website of the Wire Branch of the Clarsach Society The repaired nail beside a natural one This lesson shows how you can repair a broken nail quickly and easily at home. You can make nails that are comfortable, inexpensive and which feel and function like normal nails. They can last up to two weeks. Unlike commercial false nails which attach to the entire surface of the nail, ping-pong nail extensions are glued only to the very tip and so do not harm the living surface of the natural nail. EQUIPMENT You will need... A ping-pong ball. Cheap ping-pong balls are preferable since they are thinner and more flexible. Superglue. Ordinary Superglue is fine. Scissors. Spend money buying good nail scissors, preferably with curved ends. A Nail file. You need a file with different grades, from coarse to very fine polishing finish. Self-adhesive Silk Wrap. Easy to find in US drugstores, more difficult in Europe - try a nail salon.
Trimming the inside Cut a piece out of a halved ping-pong ball and carefully shape it to fit under the remnants of the nail to be repaired so that it is perfectly flush with the nail bed in a crescent shape. If fitted properly the repair is completely comfortable and cannot be felt. Trimming the outside Cut the nail extension out of the ping-pong ball. Leave ample margins on the sides and make it far longer than the desired finished length.
Now cut the sides of the ping-pong extension so that it exactly matches the width of your natural nail. Glueing on Put a thin layer of Superglue on the edge of the upper surface of the ping-pong nail extension. Press it carefully to the underside of the natural nail. Press down on the nail and up from below, particularly at the corners, until the glue has set.
There s too much glue here, wipe any excess off the surface....and here it is stuck on. Remember to ensure the superglue has bonded the entire width of the join. Trimming the silk Choose a length of silk wrap which is the same width or wider than your nail. Cut a crescent shape 2 to 3 mm deep from the end of the silk wrap
Trim it 2-3mm deep. Applying the silk Apply the silk crescent over the join between the natural nail and the ping-pong extension.
Trim the silk to the exact width of the nail. Glueing the silk Apply Superglue all over the surface of the silk wrap. This will make it transparent and invisible. Wipe off any excess glue that escapes onto the natural nail.
Cutting the nail Wait for the glue to dry. Cut the nail to slightly over the desired length. Filing the nail File the end and sides of the ping-pong nail extension to the desired length and shape. Start with the coarse grade of the nail file and then work down to the finest grade. Angle the file from above and below to achieve overall smoothness.
Buffing the nail Buff the surface of the join to make it smooth. But don't file so hard as to damage the silk wrap.
Ping-pong nail extensions The final result published by The Wire Branch Demonstrated and written by Siobhán Armstrong Photographs by Simon Chadwick First published 9th November 2002