Knowing how to do French nail tips may seem daunting for beginners, but it is a skill that anyone can learn with practice! Pink-and-white acrylics are beautiful and last much longer than painted tips—they are worth the work it takes to master them. Gather your supplies as we dive into the art of French tip nails for beginners.
Preparing the Nail
First, push the cuticles back with a cuticle pusher. After that, grab your electric file and set it to a low speed… just 3,000-5,000 RPMs. File the shine off the nail with a “tickling” motion. Then, use Swipe and a manicure brush to brush away the oils and contaminants from the nail. Follow up with two coats of Protein Bond. With the right prep, you will have the ideal surface for building your French tips.
Perfecting the Pink
Building gorgeous acrylic French tips is all about mastering your “smile lines,” or the curved area where the pink and white acrylics meet. Start off with building your pink acrylic base. You want to gather a bead on the tip of your brush that is approximately half the size of the nail bed.
Soak the brush in monomer and bounce your brush in the powder at a 45-degree angle to get the right size. Now, this is an important step: mentally count to four before placing the acrylic bead down on the nail, otherwise the product will run, and you will have zero control of it. Waiting gives you a perfect, self-leveling consistency that is effortless to mold, sculpt, and manipulate.
Use the tip of the brush to “walk” around the perimeter of the nail. With the finger pointing down, the self-leveling characteristics of the powder will start shaping a teardrop (or smile line!) for you. Use your brush to “walk” your smile line back and tuck it back, which will be easy if you have achieved the right consistency on your bead. If you are not happy with your smile line, you can use a hand file to shape it perfectly.
Working With the White
At this point, you need to apply a nail form under the free edge of the natural nail to sculpt out the white extension. This form should fit flush up under the natural nail with no gaps. Proper position of the nail form will help you achieve perfect shape on your tips. Again, you want to wait a few seconds between gathering your white acrylic bead on your brush and trying to apply it to the nail form. When you're working with the white acrylic, you want to bring the product to a "clay-like" consistency. Especially with the form being convex, acrylic that is too runny is going to fall right off.
After picking up your bead of acrylic, gently press the back of your brush onto your table towel for a mental count of five to draw out the excess liquid. This will ensure that the bead you set will be shapeable and able to be controlled. It will move where you want it and not stick to your brush.
Submerse your brush and gather your bead, just like you did with the pink. After draining the excess liquid onto your table towel, turn your brush over and set the bead right against the smile line. From the top,”walk” it even with the sides. Continue this way until you get the white all the way down to the corner. Work over the surface, using the side of your brush to tuck the white right up to the top of the smile line, but not below. Once you have the smile line down, you can take your time to sculpt your tip into a coffin, stiletto, or whatever shape you want. Make sure that, from the side, your sidewalls are straight. You don’t want a claw shape!
Time to File
Once the nail is complete, get your dust collector in place. If your white is done well, you can use your hand file to get your free edge just the way you want. Turn your hand to the side and file the sidewalls neat. Next, get your e-file. Put a safety bit on and dial your file up to 12,000-15,000 RPMs. You will start at the upper arch, where the bulk of the upper nail is. File behind the smile line and through the body in one direction, leveling the enhancement. Back to your hand file to file around the cuticle area, focusing on the pink area to feather it into perfection. When the nail is wiped clean, your pink and white nails will be perfect.
Finishing Up
Clean the surface of the nail with Swipe to remove dust. Add Protein Bond, and apply an even but generous coat of top coat. You will be left with a sculptured, flawless French tip that will drop jaws. In time, you’ll be turning out perfect acrylic French tips that are just as good as a salon’s!