Nail disaster = bring on the gel

Image via WikipediaHaving flirted with DIY acrylic nail kits many years ago, I would not consider myself a complete virgin when it comes to nail treatments. However, due to the toxic smell of those products and the terrible condition they left my nails in when removed, I wouldn't even consider them these days. At least that's what I thought.

Here's the scenario. I've been looking after my nails quite well of late, with twice weekly DIY manicures, rubber gloves when doing housework and regular lashings of hand cream and cuticle oil. They were in pretty good nick. However, disaster struck when I was closing some sliding doors and I managed to achieve a nice big break from the side to the middle of the nail. So what? Well, normally I would just file everything down and start again, but this break was below the end of the nail bed. It wasn't just going to be ugly, but very very painful for the foreseeable future as well. What to do? Repair, I thought. I went to work that day with a plaster over the nail to buy me some time. I tried taping, but no luck. Then I whipped out the superglue, the break was too stubborn. I tried a teabag wrap, it lasted two days.

Today, as a final resort I asked my hairdresser. Long story short, I am now the proud owner of a solitary gel nail. There's no tip, it's shortish and natural looking. No stripper nails here. I must say it feels a bit strange having something foreign on one nail. Break repaired, my plan of action now is to let it grow out. I have no intention of adding the maintenance cost of gel nails to my already extensive list. Perhaps I'll need to buff it down a bit in a few weeks. Obviously, gel is thicker than natural nails and I don't want a huge hump on my thumb, but we'll see how it goes.

If you have any advice, please let me know:-)