Push back your cuticles to make your nails look longer. Soak your hands in a warm bowl of water mixed with cuticle oil (or olive oil) for 5 to 10 minutes; it’ll soften your cuticles and makes them easier to push back. Dry your hands and use a cuticle pusher to push your cuticles back, then finish by massaging some cuticle oil into your nails.[3]
Hydrate your hands at the same time! Apply some hand cream after you’re done pushing back your cuticles.
Don't trim your cuticles; this leaves your nail matrix (the area your nails grow from) open to infection and can cause deformities on your nails, like ridges or discoloration.
Buff your nails to prepare them for polish. Use a high-grit nail buffer to gently buff the surface of your nails. Maintain a light touch throughout the process and focus on the cuticle area of each nail. Gently buffed nails help polish stay on for longer![4]
Don’t use a low-grit buffer or put a lot of pressure on your nails as you buff. Either can actually strip away layers of your nails and damage them.
Put a clear base coat on your fingernails. Paint your nails from the cuticles to the tips. Angle the polish brush forward as you work and fill in each fingernail using smooth, even strokes. The base coat is an important part of any manicure, as it preserves the rest of the nail polish longer. Wait for 1 to 2 minutes for the polish to dry completely before moving to the next step![5]
You can buy a French manicure kit that comes with a classic base coat color, a tip color, and other equipment designed to help you create a perfect manicure.
Paint French tips with bright white nail polish. Rest your hand on a flat surface to keep it steady, and paint a white strip across the tips of your nails. Start from one side of each nail and slowly turn your finger as you paint, letting the curve with your natural nail and creating a crescent-shaped line from one side of the nail to the other. Then, wait another 2 minutes for the white polish to dry.[6]
Turning your finger to create white tips is a lot easier than moving the brush, especially when you’re holding the brush in your non-dominant hand.
Try balancing your pinky under the finger you’re painting to keep your hand from getting shaky, too!
You can also use a striper brush to paint the tips onto your nails.
Add a layer of sheer pink polish over the base coat. Apply the sheer pink nail polish evenly across the surface of your nails to give them a soft pink shade that makes the French mani look natural and hide any discoloration on your nails. Most French manicures are done with a soft, pastel pink color—although you could also use a sheer cream-colored polish for this coat if you prefer. Let this coat dry for 2 minutes before moving on.[7]
If you want to stray from the classic French mani, choose a color that isn't pink or cream. You could go with red, purple, blue, green, or any other color you like, and use white nail polish or another contrasting color for the tips.
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Seal and set the manicure with a top coat. Paint a thin layer of top coat polish over your beautified nails, covering them from root to tip. A good top coat protects the look of your freshly painted nails and helps the manicure last longer, too. Once the top coat is finished, just wait for your nails to dry and your manicure is finished![8]
With several layers of nail polish including top and base coats, it can take a couple of hours for the manicure to fully dry. Alternatively, use a UV nail lamp to dry your nails in just a few minutes.
Before applying the topcoat, clean up stray polish on the sides of your nails with a Q-tip soaked in nail polish remover. It’s harder to remove if you wait until after you’re done with the manicure!
Use French tip guides to get smooth, even tip edges. French tip guides are small sticker strips designed to fit the curve of your fingernail and act as a stencil for painting tips. Lay a French tip guide right below the line where the white of your natural nail meets the pink. Apply white polish to the tip of your nail and over the sticker, then peel off the sticker before the polish dries.[9]
When the sticker peels away, you’ll have flawlessly straight French tips! After they dry, proceed with the sheer coat and top coat of nail polish as usual.
Pedicures TampaUse scotch tape or painter’s tape if you’d rather not buy tip guides. Sometimes it’s easier to use something you already have lying around the house! Wait for the base coat on your nails to dry completely, then place a small piece of scotch tape or painter’s tape over the nail like a stencil, with the edge of the tape lining up with the space where the white of your nail meets the pink.
After that, paint your white tips just like you would using French tip guides. Peel off the tape when you’re done, let the polish dry, then continue with the rest of the manicure.
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Apply tips with a white nail art striper for precision detailing. A white nail art striper is essentially a fine, thin brush designed to create precise lines and more complex nail art. Do this just like you would with a standard nail polish brush: start at one side of your nail and rotate your finger, painting a line across the nail with the movement. Then, color in the rest of the nail tip.[10]
Similarly, consider using a nail art stamper to apply white tips. A French tip nail stamper is a simple device; just gently press the tips of your nails into it to get a perfectly even manicure.
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Draw on your tips with a French manicure pen. Do things slightly out of order by painting the sheer pink (or beige) coat after your base coat dries, then adding white tips with the manicure pen. Use the French manicure pen to draw a line along the border between the white and pink of each nail, then color in the remaining tip. The manicure pen works well because it’s a little easier to control than a standard brush.[11]
Draw on your tips with a French manicure pen. Do things slightly out of order by painting the sheer pink (or beige) coat after your base coat dries, then adding white tips with the manicure pen. Use the French manicure pen to draw a line along the border between the white and pink of each nail, then color in the remaining tip. The manicure pen works well because it’s a little easier to control than a standard brush.[11]
Choose this method if you want the white of your nail tips to be a little softer and more natural-looking. Manicure pens aren’t as bright and stark-white as regular nail polish.
Paint your tips freehand and use nail polish remover to even them out. If you’d rather not buy any extra supplies, cleaning up the tips afterward works too! Skip the base coat and start right with adding white tips to your nails. Paint on the tips, then grab a small detail paintbrush and dip it in nail polish remover. Gently scrub away extra white polish to create the smooth tip lines you’re looking for![12]
Be sure to lightly wipe the brush on the side of the nail polish remover bottle before using it, since you don’t want polish dripping all over your nails.
After the tips are painted and dried, add your sheer pink or beige layer and the top coat. Once they’re dry, voilà ! You’re all done.
Whether you're new to nail polish and want to explore the options, or you want to find a longer-lasting polish formula, a gel manicure might be what you're looking for.
Compared to regular nail polish, gel is known to be incredibly long-lasting and yet, unlike acrylics (or fake nails), it is still a liquid formula that is applied directly to your natural nail.
If you want to try gel nails but don't know where to start, this guide will give you a step-by-step tutorial on how to apply gel polish.
We've collected all the supplies you need to stock up on, the manicurist-recommended steps for the best application, and some unique ways to customize your gel nails. Here’s what you’ll learn:
First, the supplies. Gel nail polish application requires many tools you probably already have in your at-home nail polish kit, but with a couple of important additions.
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