How to : How to Do a French Manicure

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Use 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.

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]

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]