French Manicure Tutorial

Hey ladies!

Here's my once in a blue moon nails post! I did a french manicure on myself and it turned out amazing. I have a few tips for making sure you get that perfect white line on the tips and some badass looking nails. I did my manicure about 3 days ago and they still look absolutely perfect, no chips or dents!

I use my own nails, I never use fake nails and I never get them done at a salon, either. I do them myself at home. I've been having a bit of trouble lately with my nails being super brittle after I take off the old nail polish. I've used Sally Hansen Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Nail Treatment once so far and it's actually made a pretty big difference on my nails. I waited over a week before I finally did them, and usually they would chip and tear pretty badly but that didn't happen this time after I used this product for the first time! I just hope that it works great in the long run. I'll update you as time goes on, but right now, I really like this product. I use it as a base coat only.

I use Rimmel's French Manicure Pro products. They aren't the most expensive nail polishes out there, but I find that they do the best job so far out of the products I've tried. I was not a fan of Sally Hansen's french manicure sets. I thought they were sub-par quality. The Rimmel nail polishes are really good and they last a long time. They have 2 different colors for the pink so you can choose between a more natural pink, or a more obvious pink. Each bottle is around 6$CAD.

I used Ciate's Speed Coat to seal in the polish. It was my first time using it and I'm very impressed that it dried my nails in only a few minutes, and that they were rock hard! I don't know how I lived without this before, but this is quickly becoming my favorite top coat.

Keep reading for the tutorial, a list of products used, and of course, pictures of my nails.


French Manicure Tutorial

Before starting, make sure you have done all your prep work, like nail filing, cuticle pushing, removing old polish, etc. If you have brittle nails, like, use Sally Hansen's Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Nail Treatment as a base coat. If your nails are fine, use Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat Pro (I used to use this, but had to switch because the condition of my nails just kept deteriorating). Once they are dry, it is time to apply the white strip using Rimmel 110 French White Tip Pro. The trick to having a perfect line is to do the line all in one smooth stroke. Since the brush is tiny, I have to go back in and make sure the edge has polish. That will not affect your line, as long as you do it first in one long continuous stroke. That is the secret to having a perfect white tip. After they've dried, apply 2 coats of Rimmel French Manicure Pro in 130 French Lingerie. If you want a pinker nail, try 140 French Rose. After your last coat has dried, apply Ciate Speed Coat if you want your nails to dry fast and be rock hard. I used this and I'm in love. I can go to bed and not worry about my nails smudging! If you don't want to use a fast drying to coat, use Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat Pro. So that's it, you should now have a perfect (or close to perfect) french manicure!




Products Used:

Sally Hansen Complete Care Extra Moisturizing 4-in-1 Nail Treatment

Rimmel French White Tip Pro in 110

Rimmel French Manicure Pro in 130 French Lingerie

Ciate Speed Coat

Other Products Mentioned:

Rimmel Base Coat Top Coat Pro

Rimmel French Manicure Pro in 140 French Rose

The Manicure:

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed today's nail post. I find that the French Manicure is timeless. It looks good in any decade, any season. I like it because it makes my nails look nice and groomed, especially now that I've mastered the tricks. I do like Rimmel's nail products very much, but I bought some Essie nail polishes in their french manicure shades. I bought a whole bunch actually lol. I'm going to try out the Essie polishes the next time I do my nails and I'll compare the 2 manicures. I always hear great things about Essie nail polishes and I wanted to finally get on the bandwagon.

So what did you think of my nails? I'm so happy I finally got the hang of it. This is the first time I've had such picture perfect nails! What do you think of the Rimmel French Manicure polishes? Are you a fan of them or do you prefer Essie or OPI?? Let me know what your favorite shades for french manicures are in Essie polishes.

Tomorrow I might post my latest haul, but I don't want it to be show-off-y. I might only do just a tutorial instead using more new products.

Steph xo.