How To Give Yourself A French Manicure
What makes a manicure French? Find out how to achieve the perfect French manicure on your own hands, every time. Add a touch of class to your hands without spending a fortune.
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Step 1:
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You will need
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Step 2:
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Make some time
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Don't rush your manicure, you will make a mess.
Give yourself some time and do it right.
It will last longer in the end.
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Step 3:
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Nail Varnish Remover
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Get rid of any old nail varnish using some nail varnish remover on a cotton pad.
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Step 4:
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Cuticle oil
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Put on some cuticle oil and massage it in.
Leave it on whilst filling to soften your nails.
If you don't have cuticle oil, olive oil or any edible oil will work just as well.
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Step 5:
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File your nails
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There is no point having beautifully varnished nails that are ragged.
Take an emery board and run it along the nail tip, only in one direction, until you get the shape you want.
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Step 6:
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Tidy up your cuticles
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Cuticles are the skin that overlaps onto the nail.
It is a natural part of the nail, but oil in the skin means that the nail varnish will not stick to it for long.
So to soften your cuticles soak your nails in warm water, this can take up to 15 minutes.
A great alternative to this is to apply cuticle remover to your nails, give your hands a generous coat of moisturiser and wrap in cling film for 15 minutes.
This softens the cuticles and moisturises your hands.
To remove the dead cuticle, rub a cuticle stick around in very small circles so that the dead cuticle is rubbed off.
You can then push the rest of the cuticle back.
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Step 7:
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Wash your hands
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Clean away all of the nail dust and grime so that you don't seal it in.
Wipe the nails down with a little nail varnish remover once again to remove any oil residue, as it will cause the varnish to flake off.
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Step 8:
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Put on a base coat
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Wipe off the extra on the side of the bottle.
Brush on in 2 or 3 careful strokes.
The base coat protects your nails from being stained by the pigments in the coloured varnish.
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Step 9:
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Put on the tip
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You can you use a pink, white or cream colour for the tip.
Cream has a more natural look than white.
Carefully draw a thin line of varnish across the natural white tip of the nail.
If the line looks uneven initially, let it dry, and if you need to, put a second neater line over it.
Make sure it is fully dry before putting on the next layer of nail varnish.
The white tip can be tricky.
Some manicure sets come with stickers that you can paint the tip over.
They guard against putting on a crooked line.
To make the tip application easier, take a small piece of cardboard and cut out a diamond shape.
Put your nail in it and brush along the white tip.
It will stop the varnish going on your skin.
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Step 10:
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Apply the colour
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Brush on the colour varnish next.
Again make sure there's not too much on the brush.
You can put on more layers if you need to deepen the colour.
Wait until the first layer is dry to touch and then put on a second layer.
The classic colour to use for a French manicure is a transparent pink or beige.
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Step 11:
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Put on a top coat
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The top coat is a hard, clear layer. It seals in the colour and protects the nail.
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Step 12:
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Let it dry
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If you want a good French manicure you should leave it at least 5 minutes before even checking if it's dry.
To check if it's dry you can lightly touch a nail with your tongue, if you taste nail varnish it's not dry.
If you're afraid your nails are still tacky, put a little cuticle oil on them to prevent lint from your clothes sticking to them.
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Step 13:
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Tidy up
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If you smudge the top coat or tip you will need to remove all the varnish from that nail and start again.
However, if you've got just a little varnish on the skin around your nail, use a cuticle stick with a little cotton wool and nail varnish remover to wipe it off.
This is much more precise than a cotton bud.
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Step 14:
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Put away your varnish
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Add a little nail varnish remover to a paper tissue and wipe around the bottle.
This will prevent it from becoming sealed shut.