French polish are driving me mad!

[showson]

Hi

I have been practising really hard at french polis but still have a few issues with it.

The first issue i have is that i a m left handed and have tried several ways of applying the white ie starting at one side into the middle and then the other side, using my brush starting at the where the smile line is to be and pulling back to the free edge, working around the nail that way (Hope i have explained that so you understand) sweeping all the way across from one side to the other (which looked the worse) and dont find any of the ways comfy or easy.

The second issue i have is i use CND Nailfresh but when using it if i have put a pink of colour on before the white when using the scrubfresh it remove the colour that i have use for the base.

So just wondered if any of you have any othe ways that i might be able to try to see if i find apply the white any easier and if you could advise me what i am doing wrong with nailfresh.

I have been practising lots and have been using people to practise on but just dont seem to be getting there if any thing i think i am getting worse and it is really getting me down as i want to do it right and turn out a professional job :Scared:

 

[Ophala]

Hey, I'm a leftie too but I don't think it's as much as a problem with french as it is with other techniques, it's just a question of getting your own way of doing it.

The way I do it and was taught is to do the white first - before any base coat or anything, that way if you need to correct it or start again it's easy to wipe off! I tend to start on the right side (as client's hand is facing you) of the nail, pull back sidewalls with my right hand and then either sweep straight across, or to centre and then same from left side, depending on the nail!

I then use an OPI corrector pen (I guess you could use a small brush also, I do when I'm doing french gels) and then dip it in nail varnish remover and lightly swipe over to neaten up the line if it's a bit wobbly. Once you're happy - base coat, then pinky colour then top coat!

With practise you won't need to correct so much and will have a straighter line!!

HTH x

 

[*sarah*]

I'm a lefty to and find doing the white in one sweep does not give me a very nice smile! lol
I apply base coat to tip, then paint white on up the way in about 3 strokes, instead of side to side iukwim lol then use a small brush dipped in nail plate cleanser to swipe out smile, then repeat process. After this I apply base coat up to smile, then french colour either up to if client likes bright white look or over whole nail if more natural look is required. tops coat, then solar oil to dry and finish.
Hth's hun I dunno if I do things awkward and back to front because I'm a leftie or its just me.....lol xx

 

[showson]

thanks for your replies,

sarah how do you do in three strokes!

I think things are alot harder to do when you are left handed when i was at college i struggled with the most simplist of things just like holding a file lol i think us lefties just seem to find our own way of doing things lol:biggrin:

 

[geeg]

f you use just the very tip of your brush delicately and Nail Fresh to improve the smile line, you wont remove any noticeable amount of the pink AND when you apply your top coat it will all melt together seamlessly. Done it thousands of times. You just won't see it.

 

[*sarah*]

thanks for your replies,

sarah how do you do in three strokes!

I think things are alot harder to do when you are left handed when i was at college i struggled with the most simplist of things just like holding a file lol i think us lefties just seem to find our own way of doing things lol:biggrin:

Your so right I struggled so much trying to keep my brush down when doin my L&P tutor would be going round the room and all i'd hear was sarah down ha ha
just apply white to tip as you would polish if u get me? xx

 

[yaut]

look at this vid: YouTube - How to Do French Manicures : Nail Shaping for French Manicures
the lady even isn't trying to get her lines perfect when painting them on. She shapes them later with the brush dipped in acetone instead. I just tried it here the first time ever and my lines are almost perfect! I never liked french manicure but today I decided to give a go, and I found it being quite fun to do actualy. Just keep practising and don't give up!

My french man first try ever:

 

[showson]

thanks for that i have watch the video and going to give it a go,

your manicure looks really good, i want to be able to do them that good lol X

 

[Red Ruby]

Hi Yaut your french polish looks really lovely

 

[geeg]

This is a professional site ... does anyone honestly think that that way of doing a French Manicure is a professional way of doing it?

I would say that video is a DIY consumer way of doing what a professional can do in half the time and with much less mess. Lordy, what happened to nail techs with skill?

 

[ccm]

Hi yes french is hard to do but i cant help but think the reverse way of doing it white first then clean up with acetone looks really un professional if i went to a salon and it was done this way i would really doubt the skill of the manicurist....... is this a recognised way of being trained in how to do french as i was not taught this way and my tutor would have gone into one if i had told her this is how i had done my french manicures !!!!!! its all about having enough white on your brush ensuring your base is totally dry no short cuts here you have to allow enough time to dry or it will drag and not flow let your brush flow when you dip into white take out brush and wipe one side on neck of bottle this should ensure the perfect amount of white to make great smile line let the brush do the work slow and steady look where you want the line to be ...... keep practising its great when u get it.....xxx :wink2:

 

[showson]

thanks ccm i am practising lots and lots, when you do it do you go side to centre or straight a cross, i leek practising both and when i go straight across the smile just looks strainght and when i do side to centre it just looks like a V. i will keep going and going until i crack it, i find them so much easier in acrylic.

I think when we are training that we should be shown how to do a french manicure professionally, we were only ever taught how to polish. Wish a professional would do a video that we could watch as when you look on you tube they all seem to be untrained people X

 

[geeg]

thanks ccm i am practising lots and lots, when you do it do you go side to centre or straight a cross, i leek practising both and when i go straight across the smile just looks strainght and when i do side to centre it just looks like a V. i will keep going and going until i crack it, i find them so much easier in acrylic.

I think when we are training that we should be shown how to do a french manicure professionally, we were only ever taught how to polish. Wish a professional would do a video that we could watch as when you look on you tube they all seem to be untrained people X

I'm pretty sure that nailzoo has done a French video on you tube and you can trust he is an expert! :Love:

If you do a V application you are supposed to take your brush and fill in the notch so that the V becomes a C .. :biggrin:

Here it is: YouTube- French Polish Note how well he controls the brush and uses it. A different way to the way I do them but still does a great job.

 

[ccm]

hi i do one continuous sweep i rest my little finger on my other ring finger
of hand that is holding clients hand so you dont shake then and you kind of naturally roll around the nail..... sorry but i also hold my breath sad i know but i find it helps!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just dont hold it for too long lol !!!!

 

[showson]

just a quick one i know that this may make me sound daft but when you clean the smile line up with nail fresh do you do it when the nail polish is still wet or do you wait until it is dry :biggrin:

 

[mum]

As a response to the original poster, you have had lots of suggestions on here so far. I really don't see how being left handed makes any difference? Nails have 2 sides so whatever technique described, just reverse it?!

 

[showson]

been left handed does make a difference as we hold things in a different way, the way right handed people hold a file us lefties find that hard and have to get our own way of doing things.

As for french polish i have practiced all weekend and just cannot seem to get to grips at doing it :-(((

 

[catiebloo]

Like others I also use one sweep of the brush working from left to right, holding the nail wall back with my fingers to expose all of the free edge (especially if the nails are short) and roll the nail/finger as i go.

I apply basecoat, do the white then pink then top coat. If after doing the white, it's a bit wibbly, i use the pointy end of an orange wood stick dipped in remover & neaten up, like geeg said, the next coat of polish will smooth out any small ridges you've caused.

Whilst at college there's another technique i've learned, and although it's quite quick, i don't think it's very professional so really for home use only! You apply a horizontal stripe of white polish to your thumb and press the free edge of the chosen nail into the white, then roll/press your thumb around the nail to get a white tip! I've probably not explained that very well, but it impressed me when i learned it!

 

[geeg]

You can use Nail Fresh to neaten the smile line whether the polish is wet or dry. Of course it is easier and quicker to correct when not perfectly dry, but the Nail Fresh will remove it either way.

Try using a brush instead of a cuticle sick wrapped in cotton ... so much easier and faster.