How to Professionally Apply Acrylic Nails and Classic French Manicure

To achieve beautifully shaped acrylic nails with a classic French manicure, follow the professional steps manicurists use. Apply fake nail tips to your natural nails only if natural nails are short. Be careful when applying fake nails to natural fingernails to prevent damage to the natural nail. Never use crazy glue to attach fake nail tips. Use nail glue made for acrylic nails. Professional nail glue is purchased at most beauty supply stores.

Take a cotton ball and remove nail polish from natural nails with nail polish remover. Push back cuticles gently with an orange nail stick. The fake nail should never cover the entire real nail. Size fake nails to your real nails. Place glue to the inside bottom of the fake nail. Press the nail onto your nail halfway down your natural nail or to where the tip of the fake nail fits perfectly onto your own nail. Hold nail in place for a few seconds. Continue these steps until every fake nail is glued in place.

Take a nail clipper or small scissor and carefully cut the ends of the fake nails to desired length. Take a strong nail file and file the entire fake nail. Start with the end of the nail, and file across the section that blends with the natural nail. The fake nail doesn't have to be perfectly flat with natural nails. Do not over-file. The section just above the moon shaped area of the nail will be filled in with nail filler powder.

Spread a small amount of glue to the section of nail just below the fake nail. Be careful not to apply glue in the cuticle area. Take filling powder and shake it over the newly glued section of nail, so that nail powder covers the line of the fake nail and blends in with natural nails. Let the powder set into the glue. Take a soft file and buffer the nail until the entire nail is smooth. At this point fake nails should look real.

Use a q-tip dipped into nail polish remover to remove excess glue that may have formed around nail, skin or underneath. Once nails are shaped and filed apply French base coat in either natural beige or pink colors that are used for French manicures. Apply two coats. Let the first coat dry before applying a second coat. Once the two base coats are dry, take white tip nail polish and apply a single rounded edge. Use French tip strips that go over fake nail if needed. Let dry and apply a second coat of white. Once the white tip is dry apply a shiny top coat sealer to protect new manicure.