You can buy these silk wraps from Sally Beauty Supply for just a couple bucks. I don't remember exactly how much they were, but it couldn't have been more than $5.
There's nothing worse than growing your nails out all nice and even then having one tear! Then you pretty much have to cut the nail with the tear and the cut rest of your nails down to match. Oye! I hate that!
Fortunately, we're not the first people on earth with this problem. lol
These wraps come in a variety of sizes and are all quite long. They're a thin, mesh fabric with an adhesive backing. What you do is put nail glue all over your nail with the tear, then place the silk wrap on the nail glue and let it dry. After it dries, add a layer of nail glue on top of the silk wrap. Take nail clippers and cut the excess of the silk wrap off (you can use a nail file to make the edge smooth).
Use a buffer to even out the texture of your nail (which will be quite rough at this point).
Avert your eyes! Natural nails coming up!
My pitiful nail here with a tear... :( Owwie! This picture also includes the wrap on top. I'm not sure why I didn't get a "before the wrap" picture.
The pink is an outline of where the wrap is on my finger. The green traces the tear.
After you smooth out your wrap, you can apply a base coat (probably a ridge filler would be a great bonus!) and paint your nails. It won't even look like anything happened! :)
I usually have to replace my wraps every few days, but it gets the job done until my nail grows out far enough for me to cut off the damaged part. Perhaps roughing up your nail before applying the wrap/glue would be the best approach.
Good luck!
