DIY French Manicure

I'm not a high-maintenance gal in the least, thank God.  But sometimes you feel like making your nails look a little nicer than they usually do.  If you don't have the money to spend at a fancy schmancy salon, what is a frugal gal on a tighter-than-a-girdle-budget to do?  Do it yourself at home, of course!  Here's what you'll need...

Nail polish in white and nude  (or colors of choice, but one must be transparent)
Nail polish remover
Orange Stick or Q-tips
Cotton ball or pad

Now, you might be saying to yourself...well, you already have a French Manicure kit (from the 1990's)...why not just use that?  Well, I could, but I won't.  I have never gotten those little strips to sit right on my nails and they always looked messy and crooked afterward.  Besides, people nowadays are doing them with all sorts of colors and I don't want to limit you, so use whatever polish you like! (even though I think it looks weird when people have purple or red nail tips, lol)  So, how do we go about this?

Start by pouring a little bit of your nail polish remover into the cap.  Be sure to pour a bunch on your counter, like I did.  Actually, don't do that.  Be very careful where you do this as that nail polish will eat the finish off of lots of things!  Someone found that out the hard way by setting a bottle of nail polish remover on their sister's veneered dresser and received a thorough flogging. But I wouldn't know who that was.

Take your orange stick and pick up a few fibers of the cotton, then twist it around like cotton candy.  We're not looking to get a lot on there, just a very thin layer.  

Twist it and smooth it out with your fingers to make any stray fibers lie flat. Set aside. 

 Before we start painting, be sure your nails are cleaned and trimmed/filed. If your cuticles need trimming or conditioned, now would be a good time.  Using the white nail polish, paint the tips of your fingernails that extend past your finger.  If your nails are really short, you can just do a small, curved line across the top.  Avoid going straight across the top.  That just looks weird and I can never figure out why people do that.  It looks so unnatural.  As if perfectly white fingernails look natural, right?  LOL!  Anyway, just do a sloppy job of it.  We're gonna clean that up in a minute.  

Your nails will look something like this.  I ended up doing a second coat because they were a little streaky.

Now, dip the cotton end of the orange stick into the remover.

You might want to dab a little bit of the excess on a paper towel first.  Take the stick and rub it back and forth over your nail in an arch, essentially removing the unwanted polish.

When I do the others, I fold my hand over like this because it's easier. Continue with the rest of your nails.  It's always hardest to do the other hand.  This would be a good time to have a friend/family member help you.  They won't be perfect, but the nail salons are never perfect either.

 Wait until dry, then put a coat of your lighter color over it. 

When dry, you can go over it with a nice shiny clear coat if desired.  Work quickly and use more than you need because it will smear your work if you go over it too many times or take too long.  Here's how it looks afterward.  I eventually did a 2nd clear coat for durability.  I figured I'd at least make it last a few days.  OMG, whose old, fat crepe-y hands are those?!

I don't know how much a French Manicure costs at a salon, but I'd wager to say that I saved myself a good $25 by doing it at home.  Funny, people nowadays seem to think that a manicure is a necessity rather than the luxury it really is.  People have become such pampered pooches that we've forgotten how to do anything for ourselves and I think it's kind of sad.  I see young girls (12-13 years old) every day that have professional manicures and highlighted or dyed hair. (I know because of the fake nails and the too-good-to-be-done-at-home highlights....are you kidding me?!?) This annoys the tar out of me.  Maybe it's just me and I'm an old fuddy duddy or jealous because I don't even have that luxury myself, but I can't help but think these people are setting their little princesses up for disappointment in life.  I also can't help but think of their overly-high expectations of their future husbands, who will be a dismal disappointment when they can't afford these luxuries.  When they get in the 'real' world and have 3 screaming kids and a husband that works long hours, the focus is more likely to be getting in a shower that day, let alone the manicure they'll never be getting, lol.  Why start them out headed for disappointment?  I've never met a man who wanted a high-maintenance woman, in all honesty, but all men want women who keep themselves looking well-groomed.  We can keep ourselves looking nice by doing our own hair and nails, even on a limited budget with limited time.  This literally took less than 1/2 hour and cost me just pennies. Give this a try yourself and let me know how it turns out.  Okay, rant over.

Pin It