Pretty (cheap!) DIY French tip nails



Photo Credit

Feature by Jessica Rugg

      Many brides are going to expensive salons to get their nails done for the big day and adding anywhere from 20 to 50 dollars for each person in their wedding party!
      Robin Moses has done nails for almost 10 years. She tells about a quick and easy way to do your own nails and your bridal party's nails on your own! "This could be a fun bridal shower activity for the night before!" Moses said.
      "If you don't already have polish in the colors needed you can get kits for between five to 10 dollars at your local retail store," Moses said. "Many of the kits have guide stickers in them so you won't need the tape or paper reinforcers." Of course, getting each polish individually is a viable option. You can also get French tip pens for under five dollars. These can work well, but require more precision and a steadier hand than the other options do.
      Any of these options will work for a beautiful pedicure as well!

What you will need:

1. Nail polish remover and cotton balls.
2. White or cream nail polish.
3. Clear top coat.
4. Tape (for square tips) or paper reinforcers (for round tips).

Optional: glitter or rhinestones, base coat, a bottle of a transparent nude or pink polish.

Step 1:
Remove all existing nail polish with nail polish remover and cotton balls. Push back your cuticles if desired.

Step 2:
After you have applied your base coat (if desired), place a piece of tape or a paper reinforcer along the free edge of your nail so that the base of your nail is covered by the tape or the paper rienforcer and the tip of your nail is exposed. Press down firmly so that no polish seeps under the adhesive.

Step 3:
Paint the tip of your nail the white or cream color and let dry. You will probably want two or three coats depending on the opacity of your polish. Make sure you let each coat of polish dry completely before you add another coat.

Step 4:
When the polish is dry, remove the paper reinforcer or the tape to reveal a beautiful French tip!
You can simply put a top coat on now or you can put a transparent coat of nude, pink or cream polish on over the entire nail.

Step 5:
If desired you can have a little fun with some glitter and rhinestones! While the last coat of white or cream is still wet you could sprinkle a little white or silver glitter over the nail to give it a pretty sheen. The glitter should be as fine as possible to avoid being gaudy (I recommend something like this). Or you could place rhinestones along the edge of your French tip with a little bit of clear polish on top to seal it in. No matter what extras you add onto your look make sure you seal the look with at least one coat of clear polish top coat to make sure that you don't get any cracks or chips on your big day!

     "You could also try bringing in the colors of your wedding into the polish designs in subtle ways," Moses suggested. Something like this would be gorgeous if the color of your wedding is purple, as an example.

Here is a video on YouTube that shows each step in detail.
Remember to get creative and have fun!