At Home 3-Way French Manicure Tutorial

Creating a french manicure at home can be such a hassle.  Those "at-home"manicure kits are difficult to work with.  A friend has complained to me that the stickers do not fit her nails, and they just fall off.

So to help everyone with these problems, here is a tutorial featuring three ways to do an at-home french manicure WITHOUT those silly stickers.

Supplies:

• The biggest essential is a skin toned base color.  I use Essie's Sugar Daddy, it is a perfect "my nails but better" shade.  For anyone with light skin, I recommend it.
• Pick out the shade you will use to make the strip at the top of your nail.  You can go traditional, with white, try a classic twist and do black, or add a pop of color.
• Scotch tape
• Hole Reinforcements (for loose leaf paper)
• These are not required, but I also recommend a base coat and a top coat to lock in your manicure.

Liquid Leather; White on White; Tour de Finance; Sugar Daddy

Instructions

1). Start with clean nails and add your base coat.

Rare picture of my naked nails...

2). Paint on your nude base coat.  Here, I only painted my pointer, middle, and ring finger to show you the difference with and without Sugar Daddy.  

Before going any further wait for the paint to dry.  Add some quick-dry drops, or just be patient.  You will want them completely dry or you will peel off that paint. 

3a). Reinforcements: Place a ring at the tip of your finger, mimicking the natural curve of your nail.  Then paint the tip.
As soon as you are done, remove the ring by peeling the ring away from you.

3b). Scotch Tape: Peel a small piece of tape, an inch or so long.  Then, like the reinforcements, place it along the tip of your nail matching the line of your nail.  Paint over it, and peel the tape away from your nail.

3c). Free-Handed: After dipping your brush in the paint, remove almost all of it.  You want a very small amount of paint on the brush, and it should only be on the tip.  

Then line the tip of the brush up with the bottom line of the"white part of your nail" (called the free edge or distal).  Paint a small stroke up, the stroke will be the length of the free edge.   The best way to describe this, is like giving your nail a "toothbrush mustache", more commonly known as a Hitler mustache.  After giving your nail this "mustache" continue the short strokes on the left and right.

Finished Product:

L-R: Tape, Reinforcements, Free-Handed

Personally, I prefer the free-handed method.  If you have a steady hand, it won't be as difficult as it seems.  This method is faster for me because you don't have to wait for the nude base to dry completely as you are not sticking anything on it.

Like with any manicure, once the polish is 80% dry, top it off with a clear coat.  If you paint the top coat on too soon, the wet color may streak on your nail.

Tag me in pictures of your "At-Home French Manis"! 

Instagram: @kaatiejay // Twitter: K80_Jay

Questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments.