Give Yourself a French Manicure and Pedicure

Getting a professional looking french manicure and pedicure is nice, but can be pricey at the salon. Giving yourself an at-home French manicure and pedicure is much less expensive and easier than you think.

French Manicure

· Begin by removing any old nail polish with a cotton ball or pad.

· Next, exfoliate your hands with either a salt or sugar scrub and then rinse thoroughly. By exfoliating, you’ll remove any dead skin on your hands and leave them feeling soft and looking smooth.

· Apply a cuticle cream or drop of sweet almond oil to your cuticles. Leave on for a few minutes and then using an orange wooden stick, carefully push back cuticles until they are all even with each other. Rinse your nails with warm water.

· With a pair of nail clippers and an emery board, trim and shape your nails evenly. The best way to shape nails is to keep them straight across the tips and round on the edges. Never file nails back and forth across the nail. Doing so can damage nails. Instead, move the board in one direction when filing.

· Next, apply a clear base coat over each of your nails and allow a few minutes to dry. A base coat will help strengthen nails.

· Once the base coat is dry, apply one or two coats of a stark or off white nail polish on the nail tip and allow polish to dry between coats. If you’re worried about getting the polish past your nail tips, there are nail guides available to help you. Simply apply the guides to the edge where your nail bed meets the tip and apply your polish where the guide and tip start.

· Next, apply a translucent pink or nude polish over the entire nail and allow to dry completely.

· Finally, apply a clear topcoat for shine and added protection to your french manicure.

French Pedicure

· First, remove any old nail polish from your toes with a nail polish remover.

· Next, soak your feet in a tub of warm water. You can add a sweet almond oil to soften feet, if you’d like. While you’re at it, use a pumice stone to smooth away dead skin cells, then rinse feet thoroughly.

· Use a cuticle cream or oil to gently push back cuticles.

· Next, trim toe nails straight across with toenail clippers. Using an emery board, carefully smooth away any sharp edges.

· Place a toe foam separator between toes and apply one base coat of clear nail polish.

· Once the base coat has dried, apply a white nail polish across the tips of your toes. If you need to, use a set of french manicure guide tips to help you with this process. Apply the guide at the base of your toe just before the nail tip and polish starting at the edge of the guide where it meets the tip.

· Apply a translucent pink or nude nail color over the entire toenail. Allow to dry before apply a second coat.

· Finally, apply a top coat to give your new french manicure shine and protection.

That’s it! Now all you need to do is to go out and show it off to the world!
by:carefair.com