• Always wipe nails with a cloth before painting. Any oils left on the nail will prevent polish from sticking and increase the risk of chipping.

• Dark colours make nails look shorter. Tackle this by painting only the centre of each nail and leaving the sides bare.

• Small nails look bigger if you use shimmery or metallic polishes.

• Pale colours are best for When you’re in a hurry. They show fewer mistakes and chips are more easily disguised than with darker hues.

• If a nail breaks, the only thing you can do is cut it off. If, however, the break is low down, take a tea bag, cut a tiny strip of the gauze, apply it to the nail and paint over with polish.

If you break a nail and don’t have an emery board accessible, file the nail against the sides of a matchbox.
The ignition strip is slightly abrasive, so it will rough out any edges.
This will help prevent the nail from getting snagged, till you can file the nail at home.