The scenario: You splurge on a spa manicure and your nails look fab — until you smudge half of them putting on your seatbelt to drive home.

What to do: Los Angeles manicurist Beth Fricke says the best solution is to have the polish with you (so you might want to bring a bottle from home next time you go). That way you can place a dot of polish on the smudged or chipped area, let it dry, then apply another coat over the whole nail to even it out.

If you don’t have your polish but you do have a nail file, you can make a chip slightly less noticeable by filing away the chipped part of your nail (or at least some of it) and then evening out the rest of your fingers.