Get Yourself a Frenchie

Fri, Jun 27, 2008

A French manicure looks great. So does a French pedicure. Bit it is not always convenient to get it done at a salon. Nor is it economical. So why don’t you consider doing it yourself at home? Self Service! It really is not all that tough.

French Manicure

You can’t give yourself a French manicure without removing your old nail polish. Always exfoliate. Use sugar or salt and scrub them but you have to rinse your hands really well afterwards. The exfoliation process will remove all dead skin and your hands will not only look smooth but feel really soft as well. Then use a little almond oil or some cuticle cream to your cuticles. Leave this on for a couple of minutes and push back the cuticles with a cuticle stick or a wooden stick on which you get your orange ice candies. Once they are even, rinse them with luke warm water. Trim your nails according to the shape you want and then shape them with an emery board. The best way to shape them so that they do not chip is to cut them straight across and have just the edges rounded. Shape in one direction and never back and forth. This will only cause your nails to break.

Now for the colour. Use a clear base coat. Not only will this add shine but also strengthen the nails. Use nail guides if needed and then draw a line with white nail paint across the whites of your nails. Use a light shade of pink polish on your nails and top it with another shade of nail paint.

French Pedicure

Once again start by removing all old nail paint. Soak you feet in warm water adding some almond oil as a softener. Give your feet a good exfoliation with a pumice stone or a foot scrubber. Use some olive or almond oil to soften cuticles which you can push back with a cuticle pusher or a flat wooden stick. Trim your nails across absolutely straight without doing the edges. Cutting the sides can lead to getting ingrown toe nails. Smoothen edges that are raggedy or harsh with a nail file or an emery board.

Before painting your toe nails, place a toe separator or stick cotton balls between your toes. Once again, a base coat is very necessary. Draw a white line across the nail whites and then a coat of light pink polish or any nude shade that you fancy. Top this with some clear polish for added shine and for durability too.

If you don’t really like the smell of nail paint, you could always use a nail white pencil to smudge some white colour under your nails. Your nails will look naturally white. This is great for people who don’t have enough time to go the entire way with the manicure and for pregnant women to whom the smell of varnish is nauseating.

Once you’ve got your newly taken cared of nails, why hide them to the world. There’s nothing left to stop you from showing them off.