French DIY manicure: French nail tips

Fast French nails :)

You can buy these plastic French nail tips. All you need to do to get a French manicure is to stick these nail tips onto the tips of your own nails with the glue included. Expect to put a good three quarters of an hour aside to fit the French nail tips on your hands.

First and foremost: choose French nail tips that fit your nails!

How to put on French nail tips

You do need to make the surface of your original nails slightly rough so the glue sticks better on the French nail tips. The nail tip is glued onto your nail so that approximately half you natural nail is still exposed.

You then cover both your nail and the tip with the glue. Use only enough glue so you can't feel the join when you file the nail smooth. Be warned: the nail glue sets quickly and is extremely adhesive and can be quite painful if you catch you skin by mistake. Then you need to set the nail by putting a couple of drops of the setting solvent on it using the pipette. After this you just file your nail on the edge and the surface to get the shape you want.

You'll probably need to fill in the bottom of your nail where it's grown every week though.

How to remove French nail tips

French nail tips are easy to remove by soaking them for a prolonged period in warm water.

French manicure painted by hand

French Manicure Contests

If on a piece of paper, your drawing skills are admired by the ones around you, you could also try your painting skills on your nails or your girlfriends nails. If you are very good, you could enter French manicure contests... If you are a French manicure amateur like me, you can only dream about the French nails on the picture.

Yet the main idea of this pedicure picture is: don't limit your imagination on just one nail:

try to paint your manicure design flowing over more than one nail.

The French manicure picture in this post is hand painted by a professional manicure. If you are like me still in the basics of the French manicure, then read the posts below about how to "French manicure yourself"

If you have pictures of your own French manicured nails
to share on this French Manicure Pictures site,
please leave a comment
or
email me your manicure pictures

10 steps to do a French manicure yourself :)

French Manicure needs:

1. nail-polish remover
2. facial tissue
3. nail-file
4. bowl of warm water
5. orangewood stick
6. hand-cream

French nail Paint:

1. base-coat
2. neutral nail paint
3. white nail polish
4. clear nail polish

Treat yourself a French Manicure

1. Remove old nail polish if any.


2. With the nail-file, file your nails into a nice shape.


3. Soak your nails in a bowl of warm water. This will soften your cuticles


4. Now using an orangewood stick, you gently push the cuticles back.


5. A trick from my girlfriend who learned this in the United States: apply some hand cream to the nails and rub the nails in with hand-cream. Leave the hand-cream on for 2 to 3 minutes. Then wipe your nails with facial tissue.


6. On your clean nails: apply a clear base-coat and leave your nails to dry


7. Then use a neutral shade or pale shade, that more or less matches the natural color of your nail bed. This is useful, as your French nails starts to grow and you want to enjoy them the longest without redoing your French nails. So using the neutral nail paint, paint the nails and leave to dry for a few minutes. Then apply the same neutral nail paint on your nails again. Let your nails dry once more.


8. Now start painting your natural white tip of your nail, of course using an (opaque) white or beige polish. If you want your French nails to look longer, you can polish a curve that follows the top of your natural nail. If you are happy with the length of your nail-tip, you can finish the white of your French nail in a simple horizontal line. Let the nail-paint dry.


9. Finish your French nail with a coat of clear nail polish. This extra layer of nail polish will protect your hard work of French nail painting!.


10. If needed, use an orangewood stick wrapped in cotton, dip it into nail paint remover and clean up any paint around your nail.

Your French nails are now ready to..... rest! Make sure you have a good movie on, as this is the time needed for your French paint to dry fully!.

French Manicure defined

What is French manicure?

French Manicure is a manicure or nail-treatment where the tips of nails are pure white. The "French Manicure Look" makes your nails look healthy and clean. It’s suitable for all occasions since it is "a natural"

The French Manicure works well for nails that are medium to long: 1/4” to 3/4.” (0.5 cm to 2 cm). In a French Manicure, the white nail polish is typically aligned with the edge of the finger. Some alternative French manicures also look very attractive:

• You can have long nails with little white or




• shorter nails with a lot of white.

Besides the color quantity and color combinations, there is the choice between the shapes of the French manicure nail tips:

• round French manicure nail tips




• oval French manicure nail tips, or




• square French manicure nail tips.

To draw the white French manicure nail tips you can use a small paintbrush if you want the colour to spread evenly.