Fancy Pants Nails: Reverse French Tip

I got another cheat for ya! I love the reverse french tip manicures but I was looking up tutorials and these crazy women are free-handing this stuff! I think I have established that I can do no such thing. But fear not! If there's a cheat, I will find it....and I did.

Ok, so there are two different types of reverse french tips from what I can tell. There's the crescent that goes along the shape of your nail bed. And there's the the semi-circle that goes out from your nail bed. I know I'm terrible at articulating this stuff so here's some visuals...

   Crescent                                            Semi-circle 

       via Mosa Muse                                           via Colette Hayman

I decided to go with the semi-circle because I wanted more of an impact for all of my hard work but I imagine the crescent could be done the same way just by flipping it upside down. For both looks you just need 2 colors of polish, a top coat and some circle reinforcement labels. 

I used Sally Henson polish in Grey Area and in Plume. The pictures just do no do justice to the Plume color. It's gold but it has an iridescent bluish green hue to it. Definitely one you need to try for yourself!

Start by cutting the labels in half. You could use the entire circle but you don't really need it. Waste not, want not right?

Paint your nails with the color you want as your "tip". I painted my entire nail but you could just paint  the bottom half. Let this dry completely before moving on.

Then use your half circle label at the base of your nail. I stuck the label to my skin first just to get some of the "sticky" off so it wouldn't peel my polish.

Paint the rest of your nail with your second color. This color needs to be opaque enough to cover in one coat because you don't have the opportunity for a second coat. Immediately pull the label off. If you let the polish start to dry with the label on, the polish will create a seal over it. Then the label will pull of the polish off with it. Each label needs to come off before moving on to the next nail, while your polish is still wet.

Add a top coat after your polish has dried completely and voila!

I really liked the way they turned out. I'm going to try the crescent next time...just for giggles. I promise you, even if you are totally inept at doing your nails, you can absolutely do this. Give it a try!

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