French Tips

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Sherry2k

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Just wondering if any of you ladies/gents out there could tell me exactly how to use 'french tips'? Do you use pink acrylic over the whole nail? Do you still apply white and pink as normal or do you just apply clear?

Also blending..... if the whole tip is white and you file down the well for application, doesn't the white go too far up the nail bed and look silly?

Sorry for my ignorance but I've never used these. I have used natural and clear but the white has got me a bit puzzled.

Any feedback and tips (no pun intended!:p ) would be greatly received.

Cheers, Sherry. x
 
Hiya


If i use them, which is extremley rare, i firstly take as much of the well out as possible, i then apply to the nail. If the nail bed is very small then i wouldnt use them because as you say they are too far down the nail.

I then shape and lightly buff the tip so that the product will adhere. I then apply clear on the tip and pink to the nail bed itself, then i shape and buff to a high shine.

Hope i explained it ok for you, everybody does it different, but that is how i do it.

Amanda
 
Hi there,

I was taught to use white tips with just a clear or pink overlay and because the smileline is already there for you, you do not need to blend the tip (if you do you will probably spoil the smileline).

In my opinion it is pointless really applying white L&P over the white tip as they normally do come in quite a brilliant white.

However, as you mentioned before they are a bit oo faake as they bring the smilline down too low!

Anyway, hope that helps....
 
I've just came across some new white tip, that are pre etched and well-les, so you can glue the tip wherever you would like the smile line to be, i don't know if the absence of the well will make the enhacment less strong but i'm guessingit wont. The only thing is that when the natural nail is growing out there will be a small step under the nail. And yes i agree, to get a nice looking the nail should either have a long nail plate (so you can take the smile line back without looking unnatural, with the advantage that the natural smile line won't show for a while), or there should be a little bit of free edge on the natural nail so that the tip when placed only cover up to the natural smile line.
Even thow i haven't tried them i saw some tutorials and the final result was great, i've ordered some and as soon as i try them i will say something :)
 
I had this problem last week...or was it this week...I'm working full time and doing nails before my assesment..Its crazy...anyway I rang my tutor who is fab (Debbie @ Leeds Designer Nails) and she told me to put a bit of white on the tip...and then the pink on the rest..

I tested this out on my very good friend, putting only 2 nails on, one with the white and one without..I liked it with the white..without I got a funny line just above the natural edge..BUT...my friends nails who are fab doesn't have the white on...I think it depends on what the customer like and what you are happy doing....

x
 
i use french tips with white acrylic powder as it is helping me perfect my smile lines when i am confident with my smile lines then hopefully i wont need to use them..........they just give me a little confidence when doing pinks and whites. and lots of practise
 
Lily said:
Hiya


If i use them, which is extremley rare, i firstly take as much of the well out as possible, i then apply to the nail. If the nail bed is very small then i wouldnt use them because as you say they are too far down the nail.

I then shape and lightly buff the tip so that the product will adhere. I then apply clear on the tip and pink to the nail bed itself, then i shape and buff to a high shine.

Hope i explained it ok for you, everybody does it different, but that is how i do it.

Amanda
Yep Amanda me too if I need to............
Removing the well area, even from a French tip makes for a nice shadow free enhancement........
I hate those ghost lines that are a dead give away that tips have been used............

When I first started out with L&P I used the french tips as a guide to perfect my smile lines and there is nothing wrong with using any tool, trick or tip in the book to get you to learn this !!!! Well as long as it is safe that is.........and you dont mix your monomer with a shot of vodka lol!!!!
 
:) - Thanks so much ladies for letting me know. I still need practise on my smile line too (will it ever be perfect??!!) so this may be an option for me. I may invest in a set of French tips just for the practise option.

Now, another thing that puzzles me - humour me here ladies.... tips that don't need blending??????? What's that all about? Wouldn't you be left with a little step on the nail? I've heard this before about 'no need to blend' - the mind boggles. Please explain?

Thanks, Sherry.x
 
Sherry2k said:
:) - Thanks so much ladies for letting me know. I still need practise on my smile line too (will it ever be perfect??!!) so this may be an option for me. I may invest in a set of French tips just for the practise option.

Now, another thing that puzzles me - humour me here ladies.... tips that don't need blending??????? What's that all about? Wouldn't you be left with a little step on the nail? I've heard this before about 'no need to blend' - the mind boggles. Please explain?

Thanks, Sherry.x
Ok babe, here it goes.................
A no blend tip is usually a tip that has micro contact area.........the stop gap fits snug to the nail and it just lightly buffed to give a seamless extension of the nailplate for the coating to sit on..........

You can make any tip a non blend tip by pre-blending it ..............either reduce contact area with a file or a pair of little curved scissors.............de-bulk the tip by buffing it lightly with a 240 grit buffer.
With the opaque and clear tips you wont have a step, as it is lightly buffed flush after adhesion............

Now here is how I use a french tip ..........
I still pre-blend, just leaving a tiny bit of well area, just enough for the tips stop point to fit snugly against the free edge, this reduces the ghost line you can get if you use the tip straight out of the box............take the tip hold it between thumb and index finger, take a file 180 grit and just file out the well area evenly in an away from you motion, going in one direction only, this refines the smile line to a deeper smile or a more suitable look smile line.........

If I use Fibreglass as my system, I use the fabric# system, boost resin to adhere the tip and any steps are filled in by using the brush on activator in tiny circular motions on the resin that has squished out a little, this fills in the step... Then I proceed with my overlay..........

If I was to use L&P or gel, I would use pink gelbond to adhere the tip and then buff the tip lightly ready for L&P or Gel overlay............gelbond pink, gives you a 10 second timer to ensure correct tip placement, instead of instant bonding......and no ghost shadows under the coating..................

Hope this helps a little and hasn't confused you even more..........
I know how to do it, but writing about it is harder then doing it lol..........

For the complete well free tip, place the tip where it is visualy correct. Use a thick viscosity resin again I would use boost and then fill in the step with the use of the brush on activator or gelbond if you are using L&P or Gel...
 
Phew! That was alot!! Ha ha. Thanks Ruth.

I do know what you are talking about re. filing down the well to create a micro contact area. I was taught how to do this at my Creative Conversion Course and have found this to be much better for blending and ghostlines etc.

Thanks so much for all your advice. Hope I become as advanced as you in my coming Nail Tech Years....... well impressed! :biggrin:

Right, Chinese has arrived and bottle of wine is chilling - hic!

Thanks again. Sherry. x
 

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