Once a bead of product is placed onto the nail, the first time you press it immediately moves or ‘squishes’ the bead into a different position. So if you place your bead onto the smile line, the first press will immediately push it above the smile line giving the nail bed a shortened appearance … so place the bead onto the nail just below the smile line because when you position it there, the first press will move up to the smile line where you want it to be. This puts you in control instead of the bead being in control of you. Ok. That sorted; there is another thing you need to know … the quicker you accomplish making the smile line the easier it will be. Don’t worry at first about covering all of the tip … just get that smile line created and worry about the rest of the tip afterwards. If you need to add more product, because your bead was to small, then it is always easier to add it to the tip than to the smile line. As you get more competent at judging the correct size of the bead and work faster, you will do it all in one go.


You can work your smile line in a variety of ways. Here are 2 of them. Remember to keep your brush angled so that the thickest part of the white is only at the smile line getting thinner toward the free edge.

This means you either have to raise the finger a little OR lower the handle of your brush. Do one thing or the other to get the right angle.

The most common fault of amateurs and students is that they use the point of the brush to stab or prod the product into place when creating the ‘smile line’, which gives an uneven surface both in texture and in colour. Remember to lay the flat of your brush onto the bead and gently press and push a little at a time … this goes for both methods below. A light touch is the key.

• Working the bead evenly from side to side

Place your medium sized bead of white powder in the center of the smile line and just below it. Still using the flat side of the brush at the correct angle, lightly make baby presses and push the bead first up and to the right (just a little) and then up and to the left (just a little), then back to the right and then the left working from side to side in turn, keeping the bead soft and pliable and always nudging it a little further up and into the corners as you go from side to side. Eventually up into each corner using the edge or side of the flattened brush, which effectively gives you a point to work with. You need to use the point in the corners so that you do not touch the skin with the wet brush. Once you get your corners in place, you can gently smooth the product from the smile line over the rest of the tip keeping your brush at the appropriate angle and remember to do this gently or you can spoil the nice line you have made. If you haven’t enough product to cover the tip, just add more at the tip and smooth. With practice, you will learn to gauge the right amount.[list]