To Fix a Freshly Painted—and Smudged—Nail

Tightly cover the top of an open bottle of nail-polish remover with your pointer and middle fingertips and quickly turn the bottle upside down to wet the skin slightly. Then gently swipe the polish smudge with a remover-dampened digit until it flattens out. Reapply a clear topcoat to restore the shine.

To Fix Sheet Creases All Over the Nails You Painted Right Before Bed

Try the same technique described above, but add a layer of the original polish color plus a layer of topcoat once the smudges are ironed out. Faster yet, swipe a quick-dry glittery topcoat over as camouflage.

To Fix a Chip That Occurs Days After Polishing

If you have the polish color, smooth out the nicked area with a remover-dipped fingertip as described above. Next, fill in the chip with matching polish, then apply a second coat of color to the entire tip. Seal with a clear topcoat. If you don't have the original color on hand, remove all the polish from the chipped nail and paint it a different, complementary color. Voilà—it's an accent nail!