How to Do a French Tip Manicure, Pedicure at Home

French tip manicures and even pedicures are easily done right from the comfort of your own home. No need to visit a salon and spend extra money that you might not have just for beautiful nails. All you need to do a basic French tip manicure and pedicure are a few items that a woman most likely already has around the home.

You will need:

White Nail Polish

Clear Nail Polish

File

Clippers Or Sissors

My favorite way to start the process is by taking a nice long soak in a hot bubble bath. This softens the nails before clipping and filing. Softening the nails saves some work, especially if its been awhile since the last manicure or pedicure. If a hand scrub or body scrub is available, go ahead and use it while soaking in the tub. It will remove dead skin cells and renew the skin. If none is available, some coarse sea salt or epsom salt will work just as well.

Once out of the tub, or the first step if soaking was skipped, clip and file the nails to desired length and shape. No worries about being perfect here, the more practice, the better the results. I prefer an oval or rounded shape to go with my long fingers, but your results will vary. Do whatever feels comfortable and looks good. Wash hands to remove any dust particles that might be on the nails, and to remove the natural oils that can make polish chip faster.

Now for the fun part! Coat nails with one or two coats of clear polish. One works the best on my nails for this step. Allow to dry fully, even between coats. This can take a few moments. Ideally you should wait until you can no longer smell the polish, as that signifies that the polish is completely set on the nails. As long as the nail polish is no longer tacky to the touch, and feels hardened the next step can be started for those of us who hate waiting.

Take the white nail polish and with a wet but not full brush trace over the natural nail. The best way to do this is to brace the elbow and lower arm as much as possible and use a light touch. Use the shorter end for short nails and the wider end for long ones. There are guides available in most nail sections at department stores as well as beauty shops, if needed. For those who go for airbrushed nails, the guides will give you a closer look then just applying the nail polish. Allow to dry fully, or at least until the nail polish is not tacky.

Once the white nail polish is dry, throw another coat of clear on top to help seal it in. A top coat polish can also be used if the clear owned is not a base/top coat mix. Once dry, its done! Add hand cream for a real pampering experience. Savings of about $10-15 dollars for the first manicure or pedicure if lower end products are used. My total cost was about $3.25 for the nail polishes, file, and clippers. Considering manicures run about $15-$20 and pedicures $20-$25 here, that's quite a savings each week!