The hottest application technique since the Forever French nail enhancement was introduced is causing a dramatic shockwave among consumers and nail professionals alike. The Custom Blended Manicure brings an entirely new level of nail artistry to our profession and is set to have as strong an impact on our industry as permanent colour had to the hair world.

The Custom Blended Manicure (CBM) is a technique of blending different Creative Nail Design coloured powders to create a completely new custom colour to compliment the client’s skin tone and camouflage imperfections. In my last tutorial, I went through some key principals of colour theory (read here) so in this tutorial I am going to specifically be discussing the CBM as it relates to transforming the look and the length of the nail plate in Zone 2 and Zone 3.

Why bother? Why not just stick to the Perfect Color Pink or Intense Pink? While I love both Perfect Color Pink and Intense Pink for their workability, vibrancy and clarity, there is one big thing that a CBM will do that the other powders won’t: Give you complete design freedom! What is exciting nail professionals the most about the CBM is the ability to create an opaque powder that completely covers the free edge of the natural nail. For the nail professional, that means the ability to hide imperfections in the nail and the ability to place the smile line where it looks best (at the pad of the finger) without that manky free edge showing through. What’s even better is that when your clients return for a Rebalance you still wont see the free edge! That’s right brothers and sisters, the longer you go between French Rebalances, the longer and more elegant the nail becomes! Be gone those grotesque French jobs where the smile line starts half way down the nail like some freaky cannibalized bridal set just so the nail tech doesn’t have to go through the ‘extra work’ of conducting a French Rebalance next appointment. Hallelujah, the world already seems a much sweeter place.

Let me preface this next part by mentioning that this is not the only way to skin this cat. In fact, there are thousands of ways to mix, match and blend to perfection – this however is a great way to get into the groove of Custom Blended Manicures quickly and easily with proven, consistent results. While you will most likely want to start experimenting with small batches, be forewarned that small batches are far trickier to peg than a large batch. The tones of a small batch can quickly be over done with a few extra grains of powder while a large mix will blend more smoothly and more easily.