Valentine’s Day is coming up, so of course you’ll want to make sure that you look prim and proper – not a hair out of place. Unfortunately, as university students, we can’t exactly afford to get a manicure whenever we want. This leaves us with only one option: do it ourselves.
This week, I’ll be giving step-by-step instructions on how to paint French tips. If you don’t have a steady hand, either get someone to paint your nails for you or hold your breath and hope for the best!
What You’ll Need:
- Base coat
- Black nail polish (brand used here: Essie)
- Blue nail polish (Essie)
- Silver nail polish (Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure)
- Matte topcoat (Sally Hansen Big Matte)
- A nail file
First step is to file your nails, starting with your thumb. I prefer a square tip, but you can file them however you want. To get the square tip, file the tip of your nail flat, only filing in one direction. After it’s flat enough, round out the edges.
After you finish your thumb, continue on with the rest of your fingers until they’re all done.
Next, you’ll want to paint over all your nails with a base coat.
After that, you’ll want to paint the tip of all of your fingers except for your index finger, in black. You’ll need a steady hand for this, so you can try to hold your breath as you paint the tip or ask a friend with a steady hand to do it for you.
Next is your index fingers. I chose a turquoise, but you can choose any colour you want. Same deal as before: you’re going to paint the tips of your index fingers in your chosen colours.
You can stop here and go on to applying your topcoat. Since I like accent fingers, I’m also adding the silver nail polish.
You’re going to paint over your entire thumbnail, but just a thin layer, so you can still see the black tip. Continue and paint the other thumb.
After your thumbnails have dried, take the black polish once more and paint the tips again.
Finally, apply your topcoat. I chose a matte topcoat because I like the way it looks, but feel free to use a glossy coat.
And you’re done! Simple and easy nails that make you look like you took more than a handful of minutes to paint them!