Why you should never let your nail polish chip

This is a bit different from my normal blog posts, but I hope you still find it interesting. Before I start, this is not for the squeamish. Just believe me when I say I got nail polish in my eye and it was awful. Don’t let it happen to you, and as soon as you see your polish chipping, take it off and do a fresh manicure.

For the rest of you with stronger constitutions, read on…

Christmas Eve

To set the scene, I am a massive procrastinator. Never do anything today that I can put off to the very last minute. This is why I frequently end up wrapping Christmas presents on Christmas Eve (sometimes the early hours of Christmas Day).

My manicure is starting to look the worse for wear, and tape and present wrapping are not helping. But, it’s 1am, the presents are wrapped, and I just want to sleep. No freshly painted nails for me this Christmas.

Chanel Vendetta 

Let’s introduce the villain of this piece. A dark and mysterious purple, aptly named Vendetta as it transpires. I think it hates me. I’ve probably had it on nearly a week at this point.

I got nail polish in my eye and it was Chanel Vendetta

I got nail polish in my eye and it was Chanel Vendetta

It’s a beautiful polish, and no more prone to chipping than any other polish. But the time leading up to Christmas tends to be busy, and I’m pretty hard on my nails. It shows.

This Christmas was quite a few years ago now. I’m at my parents house with a few extra guests, but all in all, it’s a sedate one. I’m just finishing Christmas dinner, and it feels like I have an eyelash or something in my eye. It’s annoying.

No matter what I try, this irration won’t budge. I’ve tried massaging my eyelid to stimulate lubrication, and wiping over the surface of my eye, but nothing. Inspection in a mirror reveals no errant eyelash or dust.

I got nail polish in my eye

This is really annoying me now. My eye looks red and I can feel something in there. A closer look with a magnifying mirror reveals a dark patch. A dark purple fleck…. uh-oh…

A piece of nail polish has chipped off and stuck to my eyeball. Obviously the curve of my eye and the nail are the same, because it is not moving. Rinsing and washing are doing nothing.

It’s Christmas evening by now, so I go to sleep. The chip is rubbing the inside of my eyelid too. FML

Boxing Day

A quick chat with a qualified optometrist makes the next course of action clear: a trip to eye casualty. Just what I wanted to do with my bank holiday! My dad drove me, my eye is sore and the optometrist said I’d need someone to drive me back at least.

I got nail polish in my eye and I went to Eye Casualty

I got nail polish in my eye and I went to Eye Casualty – picture credit NHS

In eye casualty, there’s only one other person waiting. Pro Life Tip there – time your eye injuries for Boxing Day, you’ll get seen quickly. Also, one fairly grumpy eye nurse is on duty.

When I get seen, I explain what’s happened, and they examine my eye. Next step is to SCRAPE THE CHIP OFF MY EYEBALL WITH A METAL SPATULA.

But luckily (!) I get to have fluorescent yellow drops in my eye first. So they can see exactly where it is. I now look like I’ve gone legitimately crazy, with a bloodshot yellow eye. Or a really bizarre form of jaundice.

The scraping is over very quickly and doesn’t hurt. I am free to go home, with slightly blurry vision in one eye for a few hours.

This really put me off painting my nails at all for about a year though. Do not recommend.

Moral of the story

Don’t let your nail polish chip off, don’t pick it off, don’t risk this happening to you. It really sucks. Also, metal spatula.

I got nail polish in my eye, so you don’t have to. A fresh manicure always looks better anyway.