Oh Là Là!

I couldn't sleep, no surprise there, so in the early hours of this morning I decided to start my very first French Manicure. Well, a slightly different version as the original, as I used a pink shimmer variation nail polish for the main color.

Below is my own step-by-step guide. Not just to help me remember how I done it, but also for reference for anyone that would like help doing their own for the very first time.

Step 1

I used Kiss "French Manicure" Tip Guides - BK132 to start off with. I applied them to my left hand first, as I am right handed. Then I used Catrice "Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion! to paint the tips of the nails of my left hand.

(Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion!.)

I took a few pictures when the tips of my nails had dried.

 (Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion!.)

 (Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion!.)

(Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion!.)

Step 2

I carefully peeled off the Tip Guides from my left hand, then I took a few more pictures.

 (Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion!.)

(Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 470 Snow Motion!.)

Step 3


I repeated 'Step 1' and 'Step 2' on my right hand.

Step 4

I applied one coat of Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 210 Just Married on all of my nails, including over the white tips.

(Above picture taken indoors at night with flash: Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 210 Just Married.)

Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 210 Just Married is a nice slightly shimmery opaque shade of pink that changes to a nice light blue color when the sun/light hits it. Which I did not find out actually until after I applied it to my nails. I actually chose the color because I preferred it to the plain pink French Manicure polish that I had picked up original in preparation to do this type of manicure. What a nice surprise to find that the color turned out to be nicer than it looked in the bottle! You should know that I am not a huge fan of pink either. The total opposite in fact, so to use anything pink on my nails is a reluctant step for me.

(Above three pictures taken indoors at night with flash.)

Step 5

I applied a second coat of Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 210 Just Married on all of my nails, again including over the white tips. As this coat started to dry I started to notice the blue color shift change when the light touched the surface of my nails.

(Above two pictures taken indoors at night with flash.)

Step 6 / or scroll down to 'Step 7'

Finally I applied a top coat of NYC "Expert Last Nail Polish" 138 Classy Glassy to finish off my version of a French Manicure.

(Above two pictures taken indoors at night with flash.)

As you can see from the above two pictures the sky outside was starting to get light, so they came out a bit differently to the previous ones I had taken.

Anyway, that was my first ever French Manicure. I'm still not sure if I like it a lot on myself. But I think that is just because I wasn't perfect at doing my white tips on every nail. And my nails aren't perfect either, so that doesn't exactly help.

Maybe for future French Manicure's I'll try not so sheer combinations where you can really tell up close that I have a few gaps where the base of my nail bed/base ends and the 'white tip' begins.

I did line all the Tip Guides up correctly, but I guess I have a few small parts of my nail that aren't attached to my finger where they should be. Which I think stand out with this kind of manicure, and I put down to my combination of medication for my Crohn's, and the disease itself which manages to have changed unexpected little things about my body in its progress. If anyone has any suggestions on how to rectify my little problem then please let me know below. I would be really grateful, thanks.

UPDATE

Step 7

Late Saturday night I ended up adding a third coat of Catrice"Ultimate Nail Lacquer" 210 Just Married.

 (Above two pictures taken indoors late at night with flash.)

Step 8

I applied a top coat of NYC "Expert Last Nail Polish" 138 Classy Glassy to finish off my new version of a French Manicure.

(Above two pictures taken indoors late at night with flash.)

I actually prefer how my mani looks now, as it makes my white tip lines appear more softer and not look so harsh like before. The blue color shift in my nail polish is still visible also, so yay!

Manicure lasted until: Early evening of Monday 1st August, as unfortunately I chipped it in a few places when I was sorting out my recycling.