Frightened of French Manicures. HELP!

[crazyblonde7896]

well i had to be the only idiot that went and bought one of the manicure magic pens and it its like putting tipex on the nail and the nib it so big and hard no detail can be done....

it takes age's to dry and if you try and put a top coat on before it is completly dry it just comes straight off

in my words CRAP lol

and it cost me £10 to find this out

do your self a favour sassy and don't give your self the hassle of getting one of these...

I agree! My mother in law bought one of these Manicure Magic things off of tv. IT SUCKS! It gets hard and the bristles seperate and just makes lines in the french. I ended up using the off white base for the french tip. It looked way better. Save your money! THe best thing i found is not to try too hard. the harder and longer you work to make it perfect, the worse it will come out looking. Try on a rubber hand, thats what helped me! No longer have the frenchie fear!

 

[fingertipsuk]

hi

I paint my on as you would normally then with a brush and polish remover get my client to turn their hands round facing me, so they are resting on their elbows with hands faceing me...............dose that make sense, I then create the smile line using small circular movemts its brill.you can create some lovely deep smile line by making your white deeper. i use to hate doing french manicures but two nail tech showed me how to do it and now I dont shy away any more.thanx guys x

Michelle X

 

[star chic]

so i learned how to do french in school , after much practice i could do a good one but it took an extra 15 min.then i graduated and learned that there is a fool proof method for the perfect french polish every time!!!!.....1; apply clear base coat such as sticky by creative 2; take white or a cream for a more natural look and apply 2 coats like you were doing the sloppiest french smile line ever ....3; get an old or cheap l&p and dip it in remover not too wet or dry, then in a sweeping or circle motion, whatever works for you, refine your smile line 4; apply your 2nd color then clear....PRESTO perfect crisp smile lines and in less time....it takes a little practice but its super easy that youll feel your cheating

If you apply the base coat, then the white and clear up with the scrub fresh or remover, doesn't it remove part of the base coat?

 

[rachp]

I feel comfortable a confident when applying a French with gel, but am nervous as hell with a French mani. My smiles go all wonky and I end up with white polish all around the fingers and over myself and I feel a failure. Did a bride and bridesmaid a week ago, and although they said they were satisfied, I don't think they were happy. I know I wasn't! I have another bride and bridesmaids next weekend (all wanting French) and I don't want to disappoint them. I have just done a French mani with pink shimmer on my 11yr old daughter and it looks lovely but I was like a commanding officer barking orders at her and it took me ages to do. I can't treat my clients like that. Any suggestions or similar feelings please?

I saw that Bourjois were selling a french mani white polish with a special shaped brush which is flat and curved especially for french manicures, i bought it and used the brush with my creative polish to do 2 x french manicures today and WOW! its fab, really quick, neat and sooooo easy to do, its the answer to all your frenchie fears - try it!!!

 

[sharron]

Hi ALL, Ive read through most of your threads and im hopeless at doing french but one question,
when you do your french do you put the white onto bare nail or do you put a clear base coat on first.......????

 

[scattyfox]

base coat on first hun
x

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

I saw that Bourjois were selling a french mani white polish with a special shaped brush which is flat and curved especially for french manicures, i bought it and used the brush with my creative polish to do 2 x french manicures today and WOW! its fab, really quick, neat and sooooo easy to do, its the answer to all your frenchie fears - try it!!!

I bought a bottle of the bourjois with special brush and have to say I was not happy with the result. took the first bottle back to Boots because I thought it was just a dud brush, but the replacement bottle was the same. I'm doing French manis now with OPI for the white and having a far better result. The viscosity of the opi is just right and I find the polish just glides on.

 

[ADiva1]

I bought a bottle of the bourjois with special brush and have to say I was not happy with the result. took the first bottle back to Boots because I thought it was just a dud brush, but the replacement bottle was the same. I'm doing French manis now with OPI for the white and having a far better result. The viscosity of the opi is just right and I find the polish just glides on.

Sounds like an almost 'break through', lol! Results, well done!
I have Orly French manicure, I used it the other day and it was sooo gloopy!

 

[star chic]

So doesn't using the nail fresh or scrub fresh or whatever to clean up the smile line remove part of your base coat?

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

So doesn't using the nail fresh or scrub fresh or whatever to clean up the smile line remove part of your base coat?

As was explained to me, don't worry about the base coat coming off with the nailfresh or polish remover because it comes off in an area where the first sign of chipping or peeling will not occur. Peeling always begins around the free edge or cuticle area and this is where your base coat will not have been removed. Makes sense when you think about it.

 

[Northern Nails]

It was my first day renting a table in a hair salon today, and a lady wanted a french manicure...Aahh!! Mr hand was shaking like a docking, the more i was aware of it the worse it was. The end result wasn't bad. Bu t could have been alot better i thought. Thinks can only get better with the more i do.

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Well I set myself a goal that I was going to have Frenchies on my service list by the end of this month. I stocked up with Creme Puff, Negligee and Moonlight & Roses (thanks Mrs G for your help at EC) and have been practicing away ever since. Oh and Nailfresh, what an invention, perfect smiles, not a grimace in sight!

Anyway today a girl came in for Brisa toes for her hols, half way through she said could I do a file & French polish. So, feeling brave (and skint) I said yes of course I can! And I DID IT! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOO, and it looked pretty good too. So I have conquered my fear fairies - I said to her, blimey you've tested me, feet (my other big fear) and a French mani all in one go - I think I'm cured!!

Just had to tell y'all!

 

[*JOANNE*]

well done sass...woo hoo

 

[Jaydee]

I think the reason most people worry about doing French Manicures is cos they think about them too much.....whenever the client says, 'Can I have a FM', you spend the rest of the treatment worrying about it hence setting yourself up for a whole load of unnecessary stress to yourselfs and the more you think about it the more it turns into a disaster. The most important thing is that you are comfortable and the client is in a comfortable position then just get on with it. If your smile line is wonky, just tidy it up with an old l+p brush and scrubfresh. Clients love to see you paying attention to detail, they feel you are really giving them a perfect manicure which you are doing. C'mon girls....get rid of those demons....you can do it, you know you can.

David

 

[Sassy Hassy]

My demons have left the building.

I did like you said David, just got on and did it without thinking too much, I also took your previous advice on another thread by not putting too much polish on my brush et voila la Manicure Francais and no "nil points" for me!

Just the comp chicken suit to go and I'm done!