Most girls prefer to have long nails. It takes several weeks to grow them. However, the structure of the nail plate is such that they often crack and break. There is a way that allows you to hide the crack that appears; it involves using silk. To do this, you need to know how to use silk to repair nails.
Broken nails
The appearance of cracks is caused by the abuse of shellac and extension procedures, as well as poor nutrition. Weak plates begin to break, and this ruins the manicure. Sometimes the nail cracks closer to the base or in the middle, which is accompanied by discomfort, and pain appears when touched. There is no need to cut it off; it is best to seal the affected area. Here you can use adhesive-based silk to repair nails. It will help temporarily strengthen or repair the surface. The silk that covers the nail plate creates a protective layer that prevents it from deteriorating further.
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The work will take very little time, and the result will last about 7 days. This is done until the nail can be cut without pain. Silk is used to make it easier to grow nails. To strengthen them, cut off a piece of fabric that follows the shape of the nail plate. If you perform this procedure every month, or maybe twice, then even brittle and crumbling nails will grow healthy and strong.
Combination with other procedures
The use of silk can be combined with other procedures, such as strengthening nails with biogel or design with gel polish. The sequence of each procedure will be unique, but the main rule remains unchanged: the silk is placed on a clean, grease-free plate without first applying any basic products.
Classic manicure
A classic manicure is a simple nail polish and design. It does not involve activator liquids or the use of UV lamps. Silk fits into this procedure as follows:
- First, a medical manicure is done. The nail plate is leveled and the cuticle is removed.
- Then a silk patch or reinforcement with silk cloth is made.
- The fabric is polished with a buff until the nail plate is leveled.
- Base varnish is applied. This can be a means to level the nail plate.
- Then the design is done. Plain coating, patterns or the use of decorative elements.
- A fixative or a simple colorless varnish is applied on top.
Silk can slightly extend the life of a classic manicure. But for the most part, the lifespan of polish depends on lifestyle and the quality of materials.
Gel polish
If you're a fan of gel polish, silk enhancement is still available to you. In this procedure, the order remains virtually unchanged:
- First, the usual nail treatment is performed. The cuticle is removed, the shape of the nail plate is created and the free edge is formed.
- Then a silk patch or strengthening of the entire plate is made.
- After smoothing the nail texture, apply a base product on top. Additional degreasing is not required, because it was carried out before using silk.
Then the procedure is completed in the usual way with drying in a lamp and the sequential creation of layers of products.
Manicurists claim that the silk coating increases the wear time of gel polish several times. You can check whether this is true or not at your next visit to the manicurist. In any case, this possibility cannot be completely ruled out. Even after careful polishing, silk retains its texture. It probably provides better adhesion between the nail and the base product.
Strengthening with biogel
Strengthening with biogel in combination with silk gives excellent results. Designs made on this basis last much longer. Biogel and silk can be combined with the application of gel polish to make the manicure extremely durable. The procedure is very simple:
- Remove the cuticle and shape the free edge of the nail
- Degrease the nail plate.
- Apply silk and soak it with special glue.
- After the glue has dried, polish the nail plate to even out its texture.
- Apply the first layer of biogel and dry it.
- At this point, you can immediately apply the colored gel polish. When using biogel, a base is no longer required. Dry the color layer.
- Apply sealer and dry your nails again.
As you can see, anyone can repeat the procedure. You just need to purchase the necessary tools and practice a little.
Material characteristics
Before you learn how to use silk to repair nails, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with its characteristics. This material is a natural fabric woven from soft threads. They, in turn, are made from silkworm cocoon fibers: 75% fibroin and 25% sericin. Although this fabric is soft and thin, it is very durable. It is considered the most suitable for nail repair. Silk in manicure is used if:
- cracks on the free edge or on the nail covering the nail bed;
- chipped nail extensions;
- a broken piece of the free edge of a natural nail.
They strengthen thin and brittle plates. It is also used as a material for extensions. Runail silk for nail repair has an adhesive base. When applying, you should detach it from the base and secure it to the nail plate. Can be used with:
- gel polish;
- gel;
- acrylic.
This material acts as an elastic spacer between the plate and the glue. When a crack is sealed only with glue, a crack will soon appear on the nail again. Although glue is a hard material, it is characterized by brittleness. Silk does not have this quality.
Features of using silk
Many girls have already tried to repair cracks in their nails with varnish, or simply by first covering it with glue.
The problem with this procedure is that after hardening, the varnish or glue becomes brittle, and therefore often cracks in the same places as the nail itself, thereby sometimes even worsening the original situation.
On the other hand, we have a silk ribbon - itself solid, not to mention the fact that the material is quite durable. Here it is needed as a soft spacer between the nail and the next layer.
Usually silk has an adhesive base, and therefore, after fixing it on the nail, it constantly keeps it in the same condition, preventing new cracks and the enlargement of old ones.
Approximately the same situation occurs with the restoration of a lost piece of nail. Silk strengthens the entire nail and prevents further deformation at the site of damage.
As a result, we get a natural contour of the nail, not to mention the fact that the entire nail becomes stronger.
Repair materials
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Before using silk to repair nails that are highly brittle, you should, in addition to it, purchase other necessary materials, namely:
- silk glue;
- orange stick;
- medium hard nail file;
- decorative glitter or stickers.
If you coat it with varnish with a lot of glitter, it will give the nail plate greater strength.
When is silk used?
Now silk for nails is used in cases where it is necessary to repair a nail in the most inconspicuous way. The use of gel or acrylic materials creates undesirable thickness. A nail lengthened in this way stands out from the rest. The purpose of the repair is not achieved.
Another thing is the use of thin durable materials under the general name “silk for nails”: natural silk, linen, fiberglass, fiberglass. Some craftsmen, in the absence of this material, successfully use tea bags made not of paper, but of synthetic fiber.
Indications for use:
- A chipped corner of a nail.
- A crack in the nail located quite high.
- Bitten nails.
- Nail injury (accidental damage with a culinary knife, sawing, etc.).
- Fracture of artificial turf (usually from an impact).
Repair technology
Now you need to learn how to use silk to repair nails. First you need to prepare the broken area of the plate. To do this, use a nail file to make several light movements, starting from the cuticle, and move towards the free edge. Thus, the edges of the fracture are trimmed, and the surface gets rid of shine. After this, degrease with nail polish remover. Then cut off the required amount of fabric to cover the crack. Treat the broken area with glue and attach the cut piece of material. In order for it to lie flat on the nail plate, you need to use an orange stick. After the glue has dried, the excess must be removed. For this procedure, a nail file is used to process the resulting bulge. After treatment, the surface will become smooth. Then you need to cover all your nails with a textured varnish with tiny sandy or shiny particles. This will help hide the unevenness, and the fabric and glue will adhere more firmly to the crack. This place can be hidden with rhinestones or other decorative elements.
It must be borne in mind that you should not repair a nail with silk if the skin is damaged or there is bleeding from the wound.
Nail repair process
Nail repair is a very simple process, and therefore it can be done even at home, it’s just important to follow a certain sequence of actions.
First, you need to pre-treat the nail - if the damage is on the edge, then it needs to be cleaned with nail files and leveled.
From a technical point of view, it is possible to apply silk only to the place where there is damage - the nail will be bio-reinforced, and therefore the likelihood of the situation worsening will be close to zero.
But there is also an aesthetic side to the issue, because such a patch on the nail will still be a little noticeable, even though the silk itself is very thin. That is why many masters apply silk to the entire nail plate.
After applying the silk, you need to make the picture more uniform and integral - process the karaya. During the process, the silk is polished so that it becomes level with the general contour of the nail.
Next, we need to strengthen the fixation of the silk on the nail, regardless of whether it covers the entire plate.
For this, decorative or transparent varnish is used - if the nail is completely covered with silk, one layer of varnish should be enough, but if a small patch was used, a second layer of varnish may be needed for general leveling.
Repairing a chip on a natural or extended nail is a little more interesting and complicated. First you need to fill the damaged space in which there is not enough nail tissue.
Most often, acrylic helps with this, although you can use gel polish instead. All this can now be seen without any problems in various video tutorials, of which there are plenty on the Internet.
Silk is also an ideal material because its color is very similar to the natural color of the nail and finger as a whole.
This is why clear varnishes are very often used in nail repairs, because it is not necessary to hide the silk ribbon behind some color. This is especially true when using silk for medical purposes.
Benefits of silk
This material has a lot of advantages. They can be used to repair nails because they:
- lasting;
- perfectly adapts to the shape of the nail plate;
- has a minimum thickness at which traces of repair are not visible.
An additional advantage of silk is that it is visually invisible because it blends with the natural shade of the nail plates. Silk can be purchased separately, or it is also sold in a special set.
Durable, reliable, lightweight
Silk for strengthening nails
is a natural and dense material that, after gluing to the nail plate, becomes transparent and invisible. The silk layer is lightweight, durable and smooth. It perfectly strengthens nails and meets all the requirements of a modern woman, although the technique was developed long before the advent of nail extensions.
Silk covering, in addition to strength, also has flexibility, and this is very important so that a woman does not experience discomfort due to too hard pads. Silk strengthens the entire nail plate
Silk strengthens the entire nail plate
, and also secure the free edge of the artificial nail. The silk covering comes in white and pink. It is convenient to use, since after correcting the shape it forms a minimal amount of fibers along the incision line.
Silk for strengthening nails can be produced without an adhesive layer or with an adhesive layer. Self-adhesive fabric is convenient to use because it does not require time to adjust the applied layer, but at the same time, it is less transparent than pure fabric. Many masters in beauty salons work with silk without an adhesive layer precisely because of this shortcoming.
Silk nail coating is preferred by those women and girls who strive for maximum naturalness of manicure and pedicure. In addition, the weight of a reinforced nail is significantly less than that of a gel or acrylic nail. Nails strengthened with silk are easier to correct after they grow out.
Another compelling argument in favor of silk. These are allergic reactions. When using natural material, skin irritation is minimized. This is a very important point for those who have developed allergies due to frequent use of acrylic.
What can replace silk
If there is no way to purchase this material, you can try strengthening the nail with flax or fiberglass. The latter is a durable artificial fabric with moisture-resistant qualities. Available in small skeins with an adhesive base.
It is convenient to temporarily restore the plate with liquid silk. This special product contains microfiber fibers, which form a durable polymer coating that protects the nail from further destruction. The kit intended for repairing the plate contains powder, which is applied directly to the glue. It gives strength while maintaining elasticity.
Sometimes it happens that the material suddenly runs out, then the question arises of how to replace silk for nail repair. An ordinary medical fabric plaster can come to the rescue, but not a rubberized one; the nail must breathe. Tea bag paper is also suitable for these purposes. The principle of repair with all these materials is similar to silk.
Restoring a broken nail
It happens that a crack occurs closer to the middle of the nail plate, and not at the edge. This can not only be uncomfortable, but also cause pain. In this case, removing the nail will be very painful and also unsafe. You need to give the nail time to grow at least a little. To do this, you need to strengthen it and seal it.
Repairing your nails with silk will only take a few minutes. And if you already have some skills in this matter, then the process will speed up much. The result can last for about a week. It will be possible to perform these manipulations again before it becomes possible to trim the nail at the fracture site.
Often ladies use silk fabric to get rid of the fragility of their nails. This is achieved by applying several layers of glue and silk, which makes the plate harder, minimizing its breakage.
Step-by-step recovery process
Now let’s look at the diagram itself on how to repair a nail with silk step by step. It is used to repair it in nail salons, where qualified craftsmen can handle it in a couple of minutes. But you don’t always have the time and money to turn to a professional. In this situation, you can help yourself.
First you need to prepare the tools:
- The main “ingredient” is silk for nails;
- Glue with a special bio-composition. The standard kit usually comes with glue that is not of very good quality, so it would be preferable to buy it separately;
- Don't forget about the anti-adhesive compound. It will come in handy if you suddenly glue your fingers together or apply bioglue incorrectly;
- Manicure scissors;
- Files or buffs of different abrasiveness. 120 and 220 grit are suitable;
- Disinfector is a means for disinfecting and degreasing the surface of nails. It eliminates severe drying, so the nail becomes normal after half an hour.
In addition to silk, linen and fiberglass are also used. The first type of fabric is used in rare cases. This is due to its rough texture, which does not go well with the claw. Fiberglass is slightly more popular than linen, but still inferior to silk fabric.
It is better to purchase the material in rolls with a sticky paper base. To achieve the desired result, the price of the fabric including glue should not be less than 100 rubles. This will allow you to repair your nail with silk more efficiently.
Let's study step by step instructions on how to use silk to repair a broken “claw”:
- It is necessary to prepare the broken part of the plate. To do this, make a few light movements using a cuticle file towards the free edge. This will help smooth out the edges of the crack and get rid of the shine of the surface. Then you need to degrease with a disinfectant;
- Cut the required amount from the fabric roll to cover the resulting crack. It happens that the material suddenly runs out. Therefore, it can be replaced with a regular medical fabric plaster. But it should not be rubberized so that the nail can breathe. Tea bag paper is also suitable, which can be used after shaking out the tea leaves;
- Treat the broken area with a small glue strip and place a cut-out piece of “rag” there to fit the size. Place it flat on the surface using an orange stick;
- When the glue is completely dry, remove any excess. To do this, use a nail file to process the resulting tubercle, making the plate smooth. This will hide damage when applying varnish;
- After repair, cover all the fingers with a textured varnish with shiny or small sand particles. This will help hide all the irregularities and strengthen the adhesion of the fabric and glue to the crack. You can disguise the location of the breakdown with a rhinestone or some other designer item.
You should not repair a nail with silk if the breakage causes damage to the skin or bleeding from the wound. This can only do harm. Therefore, contact a specialist immediately.
Reviews of manicure silk
Before you learn how to use silk to repair nails, it is advisable to read what those who have already used this material say. You can purchase this product online or in cosmetic departments of stores. Repairing nails with silk under gel polish can be done on both natural and artificial plates. In the case of artificial nails, the cracked one should be sealed with silk, and on the rest, just update the design. Silk for nail repair, reviews of which are mostly positive, is a temporary aid for brittle plates. This great thing will help maintain length and save your nails from painful cutting. It is, of course, recommended to visit a cosmetologist who knows all the nuances and features of the manipulation. If necessary, he will tell you all the details of the procedure and tell you how to preserve your nail.
It is necessary to remember that you must take care of your hands, this largely applies to your nails. If even taking vitamins does not help keep them healthy, you should resort to special creams and baths that are aimed at strengthening the nail plate.
Source
When a nail breaks
There are cases when the nail breaks off along the smile line, its end is damaged, or the corner of the free edge is chipped. There is no need to resort to reinforcement with silk. Much more dangerous for nails are small cracks in the corners, which are formed because the nail cannot maintain its length: it bends due to certain movements. At first, this does not lead to a crack, but after several such bends it can straighten out, the keratin fibers in its thickness break and the moment comes when the nail itself cracks and then breaks.
This usually occurs in the lower third of the nail bed near the lateral folds. The crack is painful, and it is not possible to simply cut the length down to it. This is the classic case for using silk. A small piece of material is cut with special small scissors to the size of the nail plate and carefully adjusted to its size.
Using one of the means for fixing silk on the nail, fix it and leave it until the crack or tear completely heals. This “patch” can be coated with varnish, gel polish or any other material, including for extensions.
Silk reinforcement: benefits
Of course, a soft piece of fabric cannot replace a nail. But impregnation with a polymer substance makes frivolous textiles a serious alternative to acrylic, which has already gained recognition. Silk extensions can be done with both gel and acrylic. Short duration, spectacular manicure and quite affordable cost are the main advantages of silk extensions.
A piece of fabric is treated with a special composition and attached to the nail with a special composition. A tip is fixed on the resulting frame, varnished or a pattern is applied.
The result is a high-class manicure that looks very impressive. However, the strength of the “silk for nails” technology is much lower than after gel or acrylic extensions. That’s why masters don’t use silk extensions only. And in terms of quality, silk nails are inferior to gel and acrylic ones.
But the combination of technologies, when silk is an intermediate layer between the gel, promises excellent results. The procedure is carried out step by step, the work is painstaking.
