The Do It Yourself French Manicure

How to do a French manicure for gorgeous hands

The finishing touch on any makeover is a good-as-new manicure, but who says you have to fork up a bundle at the salon to get perfect natural nails? You can maintain beautiful hands and nails at home with a few simple tools. We recommend a French manicure or American manicure (Frenchie's more subtle American sister) because they go anywhere, and with anything. Herein, our best do it yourself French manicure tips. Try on makeup and fashion trends in our virtual styling studio.

"The most famous of manicures is refined and flattering and shows that you pay attention to details."

To begin your perfect French manicure, open a window to ventilate your bathroom or find a comfortable spot to paint your nails outside. Remove all traces of nail polish with an acetone-free nail polish remover. For best results, soak a few cotton balls in the solution and press them onto your nail beds for a few seconds to loosen the polish and make it easy to remove.

Use a pair of cuticle clippers to remove stray hangnails caused by dry skin. Never cut your cuticles with clippers, instead push moisturized cuticle skin back with an orange stick wrapped in cotton to avoid damaging the nail bed. If you discover a hangnail but don't have clippers handy, prevent it from ripping further by slicking it to the skin with a bit of lip balm or sticky lip gloss. This will help you resist the urge to yank it off with your teeth before you can cut it.

Try this weekly anti-hangnail treatment: fill a small bowl three quarters full with olive oil, or mix equal parts olive oil and hand moisturizer, and pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds. Soak each hand in the warm solution until it cools for healthy, hydrated cuticles. File your nails into the most coveted shape du jour, the "squoval," which is a cross between a square and an oval. It is the most flattering shape for all hands.

French manicure kits can limit you because the whites are too white and pinks too pink. Buy the colors you like separately as you would any other color. The sheerer the polish, the less room you have for making mistakes. Our French mani polishes of chioce are totally natural and look more like a so-called American manicure than the stark white French variety.

Start with a clear, strengthening base coat to prevent your nails from breaking and yellowing. Allow it to dry, then apply two coats to white polish to your tips. Contrary to popular belief, a do it yourself French manicure doesn't required the steadiest of hands. Instead of painting the nail tips from side to side in a half moon shape, brush outward in several tiny strokes to create an even line. Follow with one coat of light pink polish from nail root to tip. The pink should be sheer enough so that it does not overpower the white. Finish with a quick-drying top coat to prevent chipping.

To get a French manicure look without using any polish, use a buffer to smooth the surface and a chamois polisher to impart high gloss shine. A nail white pencil can be used to whiten the tips of your nails in a pinch. The best part is that it doesn't require drying time. Simply dip the pencil in water and swipe it under the tip of each nail. Rinse your hands to remove excess and you're good to go. --Stephanie Simons

Read more: http://www.taaz.com/beauty/beauty-tips/nails/do-it-yourself-french-manicure.html#ixzz1GZn6lSVv

French manicure

French manicure

French Manicure

The French Manicure is world famous with the influence spilling in India as well. It’s a neat way to groom your nails that is a hot favorite due its prim and healthy look. The reason why this manicure is a rage amongst women is due its feminine and classy style. So what exactly is a French manicure and what is the procedure? French manicure is a style of shaping the nails and painting them with pink and white paint. The nails are basically shaped oval to soften the edges and are painted with a light pink coat whereas the tips are painted with a thin edged coat of bright white nail paint. One needs to be careful that the white edge is not too thick, which kills the authentic look. Overall, the manicure gives a super-natural look and apt for all types of occasions, be it professional or social. Getting a manicure at a salon is the best way to achieve the proper look, but its very much possible to try it at home too. Though it takes some time, practice and patience to get it right, it’s worth the effort if you want to save the money. Here’s how you do the French manicure: French manicure Requirements: ·A mild pink nail paint ·A white shade ·French manicure kit available at a beauty store ·Nail polish remover ·Warm water ·Cotton French manicure Process: Soak a cotton ball in nail polish remover and remove the old paint if any. Wash your hand thoroughly and soak in lukewarm water for a few minutes. Gently push the cuticles back in place for evenness. File your nails in a curved shape using the nail filer, scissors etc. With nail clippers, beauty scissors or a nail file, shape your nails evenly. Apply one coat of the protective clear base to avoid damage or chipping ·Apply 2 coats of the white paint only on the tips, preferable with one long stroke instead of breaking it up ·After the white paint is completely dry, apply one coat of the pink colour over the entire nail for a natural finish. For a bolder look you can use 2 coats. ·Its advisable to apply one more coat of clear polish for protection. Some caveats to consider while applying the coats: Ensure that the previous coats are completely dried else it might cause the next coats to smudge. For best results, buy a French manicure kit which has all the ingredients already plus some fake nails that help you paint the tips accurately by placing these over your original nails at an appropriate position. It is advisable to have long and healthy nails to don the French manicure. Professional nail art technicians definitely can value add to your manicure. E.g. they may use fake tips for you depending upon your choice. They will offer proper treatment in terms of conditioning and robusting before applying the paint. You can adopt a crazy theme depending on the occasion or during the holidays when socializing is at its peak. Paint the tips yellow and orange or get a Diya painted for Diwali. Going to Goa? How about a light blue and green to go with the azure waters and the foliage? There are infinite designs and colour permutations you can adopt depending on your imagination. So let the French manicure get an Indian touch and awe-inspire your friends to go for a similar look. French manicure Expenses. Well, beauty has its price and it varies within different stylists. They can charge anything between Indian Rupees 250 to Rs. 1000 for various types of treatments. There are ‘nail bars’ or nail salons that specialize in nail art and treatments in major metros wherein you can enjoy the experience of nail art while sipping coffee, so obviously they will be a little exorbitant. From a career point of view, nail technicians must be qualified but unfortunately there are few courses available in India. The other options are to join a nail parlour, which has qualified professionals or those who conduct nail art classes. One just needs to ensure the credibility of the lead person. Also, it would be a great advantage to be creative and inclined towards drawing / painting as the profession demands. Thus with women being more outgoing nowadays on the home front or business front, nail trends and nail technicians are hip nowadays. The onset of exclusive nail salons has given an impetus to nail technicians s a profession and they can start about on their own too. You can go to you Fairy godmother and get a makeover for your nails now! ~ Authored Karishma Bajaj

Different Procedures

Different Procedures

1. Paint yourself without guides

This takes a very steady hand and significant experience to get right and make your nails look good. Even if you can do a perfect manicure with regular polish, freehand painting to perfection is extremely difficult on 10 nails. Some technicians have it down to a fine art.

2. Paint yourself with guides

This method is probably the most popular. It can take a while, however, to comfortably peel off and perfectly position the French Manicure guide stickers. But those stickers are very cheap (a few dollars or less).

3. DIY glue-on acrylics

Another popular cheap manicure is a set of thin acrylic nails that you can glue on. The synthetic nail doesn't cover the entire nail bed. Even though the tips are bright white and have well-defined smile lines, this kind often yellow fairly quickly (not the white, the rest).

4. Salon acrylics

The manicurist affixes full-length curved white tips (the size they come in); then she cuts them down to the length you want.

5. Sculptured gel

A special gel is used with nail guides. The gel comes in different shades of white and pink. It cures under UV light in 30 seconds to 3 minutes. It is a tough material and it can be further protected with very shiny clear sealant.

Besides durability, the sculptured advantage is more tapered and more rounded tips. The factory-manufactured acrylics are much flatter than personally custom-made gels because they are designed to fit more women's nails. High arched nails to about 50% are one of the unique and definitive characteristics of sculptured French manicures.

The disadvantage of gels is limited to the skill of the nail technician. Gels can be too thick--several times thicker than natural nails and acrylics. The above picture is an example. Some women prefer the extra thickness, but make sure you get it by choice.

Touch Ups

The advantage of French manicures, as we have already noted, is they make your nails look clean. The disadvantage is they are not forgiving when they aren't clean.

French manicure pencils are a clever idea for touch-ups, but so far they get mixed reviews. Some of the critics say the white pencil color washes off too easily. They can work as a quick fix when you are going out. Since the pencils are pretty cheap they are worth testing.

Nail experts agree that manicures are well preserved with a good top coat and a new layer of clear top coat every few days. This is definitely true for the continued protection of French perfection.

Full Salon Services

Do you want to leave your favorite beauty salon this year looking perfect from the top of your head to the tips of your nails? Planning a day at a spa in 2010 to get your hair and nails done? Besides the new nail style ideas here you can also see hair styles 2010 pictures online.

2010 Beauty Trends

The manicure trends this year are expected to include the continuation of what fashion magazine editors noted got started in 2009: colored gel nails.

Originally gel was used only in French manicures (pink and white) and nail art; then colored French tips became popular. Now the same colored gel is being used to paint the entire nail. It seems like a natural progression, doesn't it?

Because cured gel is so durable, you can now get a manicure that lasts for three weeks instead of one--or even longer with the special gel top coats--like the IBD Intense Seal Top Coat.

Caution

What is the condition of your natural nails? Are they strong and healthy enough to handle the stresses of filing and chemicals used for manicures? Or are you prepared to wait for your nails to recover after acrylics are removed?

You don't have to look online in public forums very long to read accounts of women whose nails looked damaged after they removed their enhancements. Sometimes the damage was done in application; and sometimes it happened by the incorrect removal.

The thinner and more brittle your nails, the more careful you should be and the more research you should do before taking matters into your own hands. Consult your salon or read the great nail care advice online.

Manicure Trends

Manicure Trends

One of the latest nail trends is the old French Manicure in different new colors. So the nail bed color may stay pink, but the tips are not white. The most popular alternative nail tip colors are red and pink, but you also see black tips, too, since black nail polish became a hot nail color trend.

You also may have seen girls wearing alternative French Manicures where the tips are white as usual but the nail bed is a different color. Another type of manicure is the French style in reverse. The tips are pink instead of white, and the nail bed is white instead of pink.

French Manicures.com is just getting going. There are 50 pictures of manicures to get the nail show started, with lots more on the way. See if you can find yourself a hot new manicure style now, or if not, bookmark this site, and return later for the new updates. Beneath the 50 thumbnails on this page there are more pictures below.

French Manicure Nail Designs

The best pictures for brides of the most popular French Manicure nail designs

Nail styles come and go but one style remains popular: the French Manicure. Since they were introduced many years ago, in fact, French Nails have never gone out of style. They are a classic look for day or night, and you still see them everywhere.

But in recent years, we have seen different variations of the French Manicure. Now, instead of just pink nails with the traditional white tips, there are many different kinds of French Manicures. There are so many new options.

French Manicures.com shows modern brides and teen girls going to prom some of the elegant new nail styles and colors. You can find excellent pictures of fresh new ideas which you can print out and show your manicurist at the nail salon.

Wedding Nails

Wedding nail art for French Manicures is a popular look for the bride who wants to dress up her nails. It adds extra elegance to the classic French look. Women are choosing increasingly sophisticated manicures, but the great thing is the refined new looks are very pretty without being too flashy.

How to give yourself a French Manicure

How to give yourself a French Manicure



Fashion experts have differing views on the French manicure. Some think that the French manicure has gone pass and outdated, while some are of the opinion that the French manicure is a classic that will never go out of style. But whatever the fashion gurus think, many women go for the French manicure because of its simplicity and the natural look that it evokes. The French manicure also gives the nails that clean, well-groomed appearance that is neither flashy nor fussy.

But first, what is a French manicure? A French manicure is a style of polishing the nails wherein white paint is applied to the tips of the fingernails, and the rest of the nails are given a pink coat or painted with sheer polish that is colored either pale pink or very light beige. The French manicure is very good for short nails and nails that have a moderate length.

Before you start giving your nails a French manicure, make sure you have followed the general rule for putting on nail polish. You should prep your nails first by removing old nail polish with acetone remover. Then go and clean your nails and give them a trim.

Once you are done cleaning and trimming your nails, go ahead and apply a base coat to your nails. Keep this base coat thin and even. Afterwards, put a tip guide to your nail. This is supposed to cover the lower part of your nail as well as follow the curve of your nail tips natural white. When you are done with that, apply white polish to the exposed tips of your fingernails, and then let them dry. Keep the area that you will paint white thin. If you go too widely on the white paint, your nails will look chunky. Also, if you do not feel comfortable with stark white tips, you can use off-white polish instead.

When the white polish on the tips of your fingernails is dry, remove the nail tip guides thoroughly. And then, paint the entire length of your nails with a beige polish. Two coats of this polish may be necessary. After this, put a layer of top coat on your nails. This is the last step; after putting on the top coat, dry your nails and make sure they dry completely.

To extend the life of your French manicure and to keep your nails nice and looking well-groomed, you should make it a point to apply an extra layer of top coat on your nails every night.

For all its seeming simplicity, putting on a French manicure can get really tricky. Most drugstores and beauty shops sell readily-assembled nail polishing kits especially made for the French manicure. If you need extra help, you can find these kits very useful.

If you want to try out the French manicure but you are afraid to do it yourself, you can always visit a nail salon and have your nails done there. French manicure often costs extra than a regular polish because of the degree of accuracy needed for the job. It may be an expense, but it is worth it.



Also see: Illustrated French Manicure Tips and Personalize Your Manicure

Professional Manicure Tips

Professional Manicure Tips

A manicure is a beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands. Manicures usually involve soaking the hands, applying hand lotion, filing and shaping the nails and applying nail polish. There are also special manicures, like French manicures. This article includes:

• Find more on manicure and pedicure
• What is the procedure for manicure?
• What is the procedure for pedicure?

It is possible to give yourself a professional manicure or pedicure at home. You can even create your own professional manicure sets (including pedicure machines for those who want all the manicure and pedicure sets and tools). All you need is a few simple tools and knowledge of the procedure that professional manicurists use.

What are Manicures and Pedicures?

A manicure is a beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands. Manicures usually involve soaking the hands, applying hand lotion, filing and shaping the nails and applying nail polish. There are also special manicures, like French manicures.

Pedicure is the same sort of treatment for the feet. Again, it involves soaking the feet, filing and shaping the nails and applying lotion and nail polish.

The Procedure (for doing your own manicures and pedicures)

Below are the procedure that would be followed by a professional manicurist. By following the same procedure, you can also give yourself a professional-looking manicure. Before you start, though, you will need to collect some tools and put together one of your own professional manicure sets.

PROFESSIONAL MANICURE SETS

Here are all the tools you will need to give yourself a manicure or pedicure. Some items on the list are essential, but some items can be left until later. You can also buy professional manicure sets or individual manicure and pedicure sets.

The Basics

1. Bowl of warm water (this will have to be a very large bowl for a pedicure).
2. Nail polish remover.
3. Cuticle pusher (preferably orangewood)
4. A hand towel.
5. Nail clippers or scissors.
6. Clear nail polish.
7. Cotton pads.
8. Finger brush.
9. Nail file or emery board.
10. Nail polishing board (or nail buffer).
11. Massage lotion or hand lotion.
12. Pumice stone.

Extras

1. Finger bath.
2. Foot bath.
3. Bath salt.
4. Cuticle remover (this is not necessary).
5. Cuticle oil (this is not necessary).
6. Colored nail polish. (This isn't necessary if you do not want colored nails.)
7. Base coat.
8. Top coat.
9. Professional Items
10. Pedicure machines (can also be used for manicures).

HOW TO DO A MANICURE

If you have ever wondered how to do a manicure, the following list should be helpful. It is a list of steps that professional manicurists take when giving people manicures. By following the same steps (and using your own professional manicure sets) you too can give yourself a professional manicure.

1. Remove any old nail polish with nail polish remover. Wash and sanitize the hands with soap and hot water or by scrubbing with bath salt. Bath salt is best because it removes dead skin cells. Dry the hands with a clean towel.
2. Trim the fingernails and shape them with a nail file. Metal nail files or emery boards can be used, but professionals usually use fine glass files. To file properly, start with the file at the outer edge of the nail and move towards the center. You should not file nails with a saw-like motion.
3. Soak the hands in water. A cream, oil or chemical cuticle remover can be applied to remove cuticles. The cuticles are pushed back with a cuticle pusher. Metal cuticle pushers can be used, but they may damage the fingernail. It is best to use orangewood cuticle pushers.
4. Polish the fingernails with a polishing board (or nail buffer). A polishing board has a soft foam layer with a polishing surface.
5. Apply nail polish. Most professionals apply at least one layer of clear nail polish. If you want to apply colored nail polish, use at least three layers. Start with a base coat. Then put on the color coat. Finish with a top coat. Clear nail polish can be used in place of a base coat and top coat.
6. Finish the manicure with a hand massage. You can use hand lotion or oils. Some manicurists will soak the hands in paraffin or wax before putting on hand lotion.

How to Give Yourself A Pedicure at Home

It is good to pamper yourself. It gives a self rewarding feeling like you are doing something special for yourself. Giving a cosmetic beauty treatment to your feet and nails is known as Pedicure. For exposing the toes and feet, with slinky shoes, you need to have healthy and attractive feet.

If you don’t have time and money to get a pedicure done at salon, don’t get disheartened. You can do a very good pedicure using things you already have around the house.

1. Soak your feet in a tub of warm soapy water till it cools and allow it to dry to soften it. Rub the foot gently in a circular motion with a foot file. Let the foot continue to soak when you work on the other foot. Commercial foot soaking tablets or liquids are also available for softening, moisturizing, and deodorizing the feet. If you don’t have this, use a table spoon of baking soda and few drops of bath oil to get the same effect. Add some salt to the water to soften the dead skin cells. This will refresh your tired feet also. Dry your feet using a soft towel.

2. Now clip and file the toe nails. By rounding the nails slightly at the corner, file straight across the nails. For filing the nails, work with an emery board in both the direction by smoothing tears or breaks. File away the spilt or rough edges. Clean under nail tips.

3. Before polishing the toe nails, minimize the cuticle using a cuticle stick. Use an orangewood stick or cotton swab and apply cuticle removing solution to loosen the cuticle of the nails. Do not cut them; it can cause infection and pain. Hangnails or loose skin around the nails must be trimmed with cuticle trimmers or clippers.

4. Clean the excess cuticle solvent using a damp towel and apply foot cream lotion on both the feet and toe and massage for 5 minutes. If your skin is too dry, after massaging the foot with cream, wrap the feet with wet warm towel.

5. Now rinse your feet with warm soapy water. Using exfoliating cream like apricot scrub to remove the excess lotion. After rinsing the feet, wipe them properly to dry.

6. Use polish remover to remove any residue or lotion left on the toe nail. Apply a base coat of nail polish and let it dry completely. Now apply nail color gently on the nails according to your own choice. Wait for some time to let it dry.

7. Apply light foot lotion on feet, ankles and toes.

Your feet will look attractive and healthy, if you perform this process twice a month.

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