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Mabsy
Moderator
 
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 9644
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 2:38 am  |
I just had a french manicure done the other day. I don't usually go out to get my nails done (ok, I've had them done TWICE in my life now) but after traveling for so long and having issues with jet lag I figured I'd let someone else worry about my nails.
I have tried doing my own french manicure heaps of times and it never worked out. I used all sorts of stuff (like the little stick-on guides, etc) but the guides didn't fit the natural curve of the white part of my nails. So, I asked the lady to do a french manicure and I watched how she did it. Brilliant! Much to my horror, she painted on the white tips without worrying about the line (they looked terrible!) she did two coats of these and then pulled out a shot glass, a small rounded arts brush and some nail polish remover. Put some nail polish remover in the shot glass, dipped the brush and then proceeded to create lovely and even lines on my nails, erasing all the messy excess white nail polish. The result was fabulous! She then filled in the part below the white nailpolish with some clear/rosey polish and then did a top coat. I'm going to have to try this myself though I fear it's a tad more difficult than she made it look.
I thought I'd share this - I know this may not be news to everyone but seeing how long I have tried to figure out how to do a french manicure this was a breakthrough for me  |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:39 am |
| wow, I never knew either! I'm gonna give this a try as well! Thanks for the tip |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:14 am |
| I love getting my nails done. Whenever I attempt to try to do it myself, it never works out |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:04 am |
So that's how they do it!
I used to try to do my own years ago with those sticky things and you're right ... they never seemed to work very well.
Now I hardly wear nail polish on my finger nails ... it always chips off to quickly on me. I just use one of those buff things to make them shiny. I only wear toe nail polish which seems to last alot longer. |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:49 am |
| The last time I had a french manicure, they used one of those nail polish remover pens. |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 2:39 pm |
| Moonstarr wrote: |
So that's how they do it!
I used to try to do my own years ago with those sticky things and you're right ... they never seemed to work very well.
Now I hardly wear nail polish on my finger nails ... it always chips off to quickly on me. I just use one of those buff things to make them shiny. I only wear toe nail polish which seems to last alot longer. |
Same for me - a nice French manicure on the toes goes great with every sandel! |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:23 pm |
Welcome back, Mabsy I just had a french mani/pedi last week..I usually have it done once a year, at the beginning of summertime. The manicurist did mine the same way you described...it's amazing! My pedicure still looks as good as the day I had it done, but my french manicure only lasted a few days before it starting chipping  I've tried those stick-on guides, too, but made a mess of it..if you decide to try the brush & remover method, please let us know how it goes...and how much patience it takes  |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:41 pm |
| Yen wrote: |
| The last time I had a french manicure, they used one of those nail polish remover pens. |
I actually just bought one of these from Avon. I'm gonna try it in the next few days and tell you how it goes! |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 7:30 pm |
Ahhh...that's how they do it.
I tried doing my nails myself - it was so messy! I have such shaky hands. I'll have to go back to try the remover trick! |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 8:22 pm |
I love the look of a French manicure -- it's so elegant. And ditto about the strips. But how could one possibly use the technique Mabsy described without an extreme degree of ambidexterity? I'm somewhat ambidextrous but I still have trouble when I try to do a dark color -- which is why I almost always wear sheer, pale colors on my hands! Maybe if it's a special occasion and I know I'll be in a darker, ambient-lit room, I'll attempt something like red, but in daytime it would look like my nails were dripping with blood, I'm such a pathetic, pitiful manicurist. I only do bold colors on my toes and hope no one scrutinizes my handiwork.
I'd be interested (and jealous) to know if anyone can pull off Mabsy's technique on themselves! In my case, some things are better left to the pros. |
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Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:32 pm |
| sormuimui wrote: |
| Yen wrote: |
| The last time I had a french manicure, they used one of those nail polish remover pens. |
I actually just bought one of these from Avon. I'm gonna try it in the next few days and tell you how it goes! |
Please do.  The manicurist (spelling?) suggested that I could make my own nail polish remover pen by using a dried out highlighter and soaking it in nail polish remover. I haven't tried that yet. |
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Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:53 am |
| I think it costed me $40.00 including tips last time. My wallet won't allow me anymore, haha! |
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Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:25 pm |
I can never get my nails right they are always different lengths. I have no spatial awareness 
I would like to do my own nails but they just don't look great. I have friends who think I'm excessive but they also can't understand why I have my eyebrows threaded as you can pluck them yourself. They all have v thin eyebrows...no thanks!
To me two hours a month in a salon to have my eyebrows, manicure and waxing is well worth the cost of not worrying about it for the rest of the time.
BTW my personal opinion is that french manicures look a bit trying too hard, but that could be because the footballers wives have them. What about an American one? |
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Mabsy
Moderator
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 9644
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Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:07 pm |
| daisylondon wrote: |
| What about an American one? |
What is an American one like?  |
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Tue Jul 04, 2006 1:34 am |
| Sounds good, I am going to try it!! |
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Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:08 am |
| American manicures are a creamy pinky varnish with a cream tip (though there are variations). So it looks nice but not so sharp as a French manicure. |
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Mabsy
Moderator
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 9644
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Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:46 am |
| daisylondon wrote: |
| American manicures are a creamy pinky varnish with a cream tip (though there are variations). So it looks nice but not so sharp as a French manicure. |
Ah! See, this is what I actually wanted but thought it was French |
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Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:58 am |
I use an orange stick for my French/American manis and pedis. The one good thing about being left-handed is that it has forced me to become a lot more ambidextrous than the average person just to be able to conform to the right-handed world around me. Because of this, I’m able to do a pretty good job when it comes time to paint on the sheer-white or off-white tips for my pseudo-French manicures and/or pedicures although I do admit that I paint my toes a lot more often than my nails, but this is simply because my hands are in pretty rough shape and I don’t want to wear polish on them very often so as not to draw any more attention to them than is strictly necessary. I keep my nails short and buffed, but I’m definitely not one of those women who goes to get their nails done every other week.
Anyway, I’ve also tried those horrible stick-on guides for the french tips and the problem I always had was that when you peeled them off, some of the sticky residue from the glue would be left behind and it was nearly impossible to remove without also taking off the white polish I had just painstakingly applied. If it wasn’t the problem with the glue, then it was the fact that there was an obvious “ledge” between the white tips and the pinky area that just looked uneven and unnatural to me.
The first time I had a french pedi done, I went to the salon to watch how the lady did it and she sort of sloppily applied the white tips in the manner that Mabsy described, but instead of a small paint brush dipped in remover, my chick used the pointy-side of an orange-wood (cuticle) stick dipped in remover to even things out and make a clean “line” between the white and the sheer, pale color. When the time came for me to need to re-do my toes, I used the same technique and it worked great. Because the wood isn’t absorbent like a cotton swab (Qtip) or paint brush, you can’t accidentally apply too much nail polish remover and end up messing up the rest of my polish-job.
Another trick I learned with the orange-wood stick was to use the pointy end to swipe all the way around the nail base to remove excess polish. To me, there are two telltale signs for a homemade mani/pedi: 1) forgetting to use a topcoat to “seal” in the shine for your polish, and 2) having polish bled past the nail bed and up on to the cuticle area. The way to prevent this is to use the pointy end of the orange stick and wipe it around the cuticles on all three sides of the nail to remove the excess polish. It sounds like such a simple thing, but it makes a world of difference when it comes to providing more professional-looking results.
I also have a couple of other tricks when it comes to painting one’s tips or toes:
• After you’ve removed your old polish and cuticles, but before you apply your new basecoat, make sure that your nails are completely clean and free of any sort of residue by moistening a papertowel with a bit of vinegar (white or ACV, it doesn’t matter) and swipe it over each nail. This removes all oils or invisible soapy residues which will allow your polish to adhere to the nail more completely. You know when you can peel off your nail polish in a single giant hunk?  The reason it’s peeling like that is because there was some sort of residue on the nail that prevented the paint from adhering to the surface of the nail!
• To prolong your manicure or pedicure, apply 1 coat of your fave shiny topcoat (I love Seche Vite fast-drying topcoat or Essie’s Shine-e Polish Refresher) every 3-4 days to maintain the shiny, glossy look of your nails because they can begin to look dull in a very short period of time. The biggest culprit: simply taking a shower or bath can make ones tips or toes look dull, despite using a shiny topcoat. This is because of the dulling residue left by soap or shampoo/condtioner – remember those old “Zestfully Clean” bathsoap commercials where they demonstrated the soapy residue on a glass shower door? The same thing happens to your nails.
Don’t believe me? Next time you get out of the shower, make a point to rub down your polished nails with the towel on one hand or foot and compare them to the other set of nails and look how much cleaner and shiny the nails are on the side you wiped down! Because of this, I make it a point to swipe down my fingernails and toenails every other towel with a paper towel moistened with vinegar to remove all that dulling residue so my tips and toes look as glossy as they did the first day of my manicure/pedicure.
Okay, this concludes CareKate’s nail polish seminar for today!  |
_________________
Über-oily,semi-sensitive, warm/fair-skinned redhead, 38...Will swap/shop for members outside U.S. and/or make homemade skincare products upon demand-PM me for details. |
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Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:22 am |
Carekate, you really really really should write a book.
Even if you just compiled all your reviews, self-published, and advertised it on the web and received payments through PayPal, I believe you would do very well. I have purchased a beauty tips book that way, and trust me, the author did not even have 1/1000 of your talent.
I have followed - either slavishly to the letter or been creatively inspired by - so many of your reviews, both on here and on MUA. In fact I have been so busy running around finding ingredients and *brewing them up* and trying them out that I don't have much time to write about it. You have a very special ability to inspire people to want to try out your tips, and then the tips actually work.
Also, with a book, you shouldn't have to worry about legal issues as you would with a product.
Can't wait to go home and re-do my manicure with the orange stick technique . |
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Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:26 pm |
| Okay, I tried to do my french manicure as Mabsy described. I made a mess! I can't paint with my left hand, and I ended up swiping off too much on certain fingers. For me, I think it is best left to the pros to do. I'm so unco-ordinated!! |
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Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:16 pm |
I did it. I think it turned out well. One thing I realized is that in the first place, I don't have much problem making a pretty straight line on the tips or with getting polish on the sides of my fingers. But the orange wood stick still helped with clearing things up between the polish and the cuticle area.
I used No Miss Casselberry Cream on the tips, with 2 coats of No Miss Bikini Pink over it. Zoya Anchor and Armor for base and top coats. I did the wiping off the nails with vinegar thing, but my nails are so dry, I will have to go back to my regular use of Vit E oil, rubbed in and the excess wiped off.
Since a couple of my nails were in such bad shape, I used "Calisco Invisible Nail Bandages" for the first time. They are some little transparent plastic stickies for split nails. Mine were not all the way split, but were heading in that direction. The "nail bandages" are not perfect, they are still slightly visible under all the polish, but they are still better than my usual technique of pieces of tea bags glued to my nails. |
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Mabsy
Moderator
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 9644
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Fri Jul 07, 2006 11:29 pm |
| Well, I had to take the lovely French polish off today as it started cracking a few days ago. I got about a week out of it (a little more), which is good I think. I need to stock up on supplies for doing a French polish but as soon as I do have a go at doing one I shall report back... |
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Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:03 pm |
This is a great tip, Mabsy. I've had a few manicures and the french ones never last very long so doing them at home is a lot more economical.
I like the art brush better than using a Qtip, as well. Makes it easier with better control, I think.
Oh, and I'm the only one who hates french on the toes? Ick. |
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Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:31 pm |
I had an idea to use the "Calico [not Calisco  - the name is written in script and I couldn't read it correctly] Invisible Nail Bandages" as artificial tips for my nails. The nail bandages are small, clear ovals with adhesive on one side. Like labels, they come on a sheet of paper, to be peeled off. They range in different sizes to match the different sizes of nails.
While the nail bandages were still on the paper, I cut a concave shape into them so that the end result matched the shape of the tips of my nails. I then removed them from the paper, and stuck them, adhesive side down, to the tips. Then I did a French manicure, as above, painting over my new nail bandage tips with the cream color. Next time I will try to cut down on the number of coats of polish I used , but otherwise this turned out fantastically well, since my nails can now grow all I want, and most important, end up the same length.
Approx. $3USD at Longs Drugstores. |
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Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:07 am |
| Just found this thread. Thanks for sharing, Mabsy! Great tip. |
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