Why you’re going to love this
We all been there, admit it. It happened at least once, exactly before that event you wanted to go to. But hey, don’t stress over it: we’ve got your back, ladies!
What you need
A smartphone and your passport (or the traveling ID).
- Nail Polish Remover or Acetone (swipe over nail before applying the wrap)
- Cotton Pad (for swiping acetone over nail before application)
- Nail Glue (not base coat or nail treatment)
- Tea bags (cut to just slightly smaller than nail size)
- Scissors (for cutting tea bag wrap to size)
- Tweezers (for placing the tea bag wrap over your nail surface)
- Orange Sticks (for holding down the wrap while they dry)
- File or Buffer (for smoothing out the wrap after application)
How you’ll do it
Start by cutting the teabag to the shape of your nails. You should be ending up with something like this
Step 1:
First, swipe your entire nail plate with acetone or nail polish remover. This helps get rid of the oils on your nails and helps the wrap adhere to your nail more securely.
Step 2:
Seal the tear with a bit of nail glue. You don’t have to do this if the tear is small, but for a huge tear where the torn bit doesn’t stay in place and might move around, it’s a good idea. I think I put a bit too much here. You only really need a little bit to seal the tear. Too much and it will cause a bulge on your nail, which will make it harder to apply the wrap on top. You want to keep the surface flat so the wrap goes on more easily:
I don’t have pictures for the next couple of steps, because you have to work quickly, so there wasn’t time to stop and take photos.
Step 3:
Apply nail glue over the entire nail. Leave a little gap at the sides and at the base of the nail, near the skin and cuticles and the sides and bottom of the nail. This is important because you don’t want to glue your cuticles or skin to your nail wrap!
Step 4:
Then, working quickly, use a pair of tweezers and place the nail-shaped tea bag cutout over your nail. Use tweezers, and not your fingers, or you will glue your fingers to your nail. And that’s painful. (Um, not like I would know….*looks away and whistles*)
Step 5:
After the wrap is on the nail, use an orange stick to press down and hold the wrap in place while the glue dries. Remember, use an orange stick and not your fingers, or you’ll get your fingers glued to your nail. This step will take a few minutes or longer, depending on how fast your nail glue dries. The important thing in this step is to make sure that there are NO air bubbles under your wrap, between the tea bag material and your nail. If there are any air bubbles, moisture could collect in them, and lead to bacterial growth, on the nail. So if you do see air bubbles, it’s better to redo your wrap at this point. Better safe than sorry!
This is what my nail looks like at this point:
As you can see, I am a DIY nail wrap noob, and I glued my cuticles and skin to my nail wrap, because I accidently put too much nail glue and cut the size of the nail wrap a little too big. I ended up using a bit of nail polish remover to un-stick my skin.
Step 6:
Next, put another layer of nail glue on top, and let it dry. The nail glue will saturate the wrap and make it turn clear (or at least, clear-ish). This way, the wrap will be secure, and it won’t look as obvious.
Step 7:
You’re all done. All that’s left is to lightly file or buff down the surface of your wrap to smoothen it out. Don’t overdo it, or you’ll end up buffing through the wrap. Once you’re done filing or buffing, and you can proceed to paint your nails with whatever colour you want.
Here’s a photo of the finished wrap (pardon the lint and the remnants of previous polish, this was a photo of the wrap taken later in between manicure changes):
This wrap, noob-ish as it was, lasted me for around 2 weeks. Eventually I redid it because my nails were growing out, and for some strange reason a corner of the wrap chipped off. (Seriously, how does that happen?!)
Here’s my fixed-up and pretty-fied nail. You can tell its the middle finger that broke, because the too-big wrap is sticking out from the sides of my nail. Oops.
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