French manicure in five easy steps

Get a perfect French manicure at home with these five easy to-do steps. And then bask in the compliments.

1. Step 1: Start with clean nails devoid of any trace of nail polish. Buff them if necessary and apply a base coat (optional). Apply a baby pink nail polish/beige nail polish/tan nail polish as the base color. Pick the shade depending on your taste. Apply a second coat if required.
Some suggestions:

Colorbar– Flirty Pink, Flirty Mauve, Rosa Rosa

Colorbar– Exclusive 42

Lakme True Wear Color Crush– #9

Maybelline Express Finish– #174

Revlon Super Smooth nail enamel– 376 Opulent pink

Street Wear Quick Dry Nail Enamel– 07 Natural Hues, 11 Panache pink


2. Step 2: Only after your base coat dries completely, begin Step 2. Grab some cello-tape and cut into one inch strips. De-glue by placing strips on the back of your hand and repeatedly removing till most of the glue comes off. This will ensure that the glue doesn’t spoil your base color.
3. If you want straight French tips (suitable for square tip nails) then place the cello-tape directly on your nails leaving the tips bare. If you want a curved French tip (suitable for round nail tips as in the pictures), place the cello-tape in a curved fashion as demonstrated here.

4. Step 3: Apply a matte white nail polish; preferably quick dry ones that works best for French tips. If your polish is opaque, one coat should be enough. If your polish is a bit translucent apply two coats and allow it to dry completely.
Some suggestions:

Lakme True Wear Color Crush #8

Revlon Super Smooth Nail Enamel – 395 White Divine


5. Step 4:After the tips are dried, peal the cello-tape carefully in one direction. My advice is not to peal it the polish is still wet or even semi-dry. Also don’t tug the tape in both directions. Patience is the key here.

6. Step 5:To seal your French manicure for longer, apply a top coat evenly on nails and allow it to dry completely.

Street wear top coat

Sally Hansen’s Advanced Hard as Nails Strengthening Top Coat