From Hollywood to Paris’ Broadway model shows, the French manicure had a big impact on fashion and is still widely used to this day. However, why is it called the French manicure if, in reality, the famous nail painting style was created by an American working in the film industry in the 70s? We will answer all of your questions in this complete French manicure guide.
Why is it called the French Manicure if it’s not French?
Let’s start with a little history lesson, shall we? In 1975, Mr. Jeff Pink was kind of in a pickle while he was working on a movie set. You see, matching nails with a wardrobe is easy when you do that during the weekend, but when you’re on a time limit because you have 10+ actors waiting for their manicure to be done, now that’s a lot of pressure!
Pink was constantly getting a lot of flack from movie directors because it was taking too long to match all the actors’ nails with their respective wardrobes, so he had an idea. Instead of making complex and time-consuming nail polish, he decided to use white polish to paint only the tips of the nails while the rest of the nail would have a flesh tone color.
Fortunately, this strange and unique way of painting nails was matching with almost anything and took half the time a common nail polish would. The movie director was pleased, and the actors were loving the new, simple, and fresh nail style they had on set.
Our dear American beauty supplier didn’t stop there, however, and saw an interesting business opportunity. From this happy accident was born the Natural Look Nail Kit. This nail polish kit was selling like hotcakes, so Pink decided to bring the new look to Paris and present it to Broadway fashion show managers.
The kit was an immediate success, saving a lot of time and money for the ones adopting the new trend. The French loved the stylish nail polish so much that Pink started calling the latter the French manicure. Finally, when he came back from his trip, the name stayed and the French manicure was officially born.
How to keep your nails healthy?
If you want to get your game on with the best French manicure there is, first you need to know how to keep your nails healthy. Here are a few tips to follow:
- Be careful when you wash dishes, clean your house, or use harsh chemicals. It’s always better to wear gloves, if possible.
- To keep good nail hygiene, we recommend using manicure scissors or clippers. With these tools, you can trim and round the tips of your nails in neat-looking curves.
- Once in a while, using a moisturizer inside your fingernails and around the cuticles is a very good habit to keep in mind.
- Many people love using a nail hardener as a top coat after a nail polish or French Manicure. If you are not sure of what product to use, let a professional do it for you instead.
- Having a nice and balanced diet rich in fibers and biotin can also help strengthen your fingernails.
What is usually included with a French Manicure in a nail salon?
Generally speaking, the person working in the nail salon will ask you to sit down in a soft and comfortable chair. He or she will then start by scrubbing your feet in warm water and pushing back your cuticles. Sometimes, a small foot massage is also in order.
Then, this is followed by the trimming and cleaning of your nails. Finally, the nails are shaped perfectly, and ready to get the base coat, the nail polish, and the topcoat for the finish. Of course, your fingernails will usually follow shortly after, with sensibly the same process.
You can usually choose if you want both your feet and fingernails being done or just one or the other.
What are the different types of Manicure?
There are so many different types of manicures that you might confuse one for another. To shed some light on what the main manicure styles are, we made a list below:
- Standard Manicure
This is your most common and standard manicure that typically includes what we described above: nail trim, nail buffing, and finally, nail shaping. - Shellac Manicure
This is often done by a professional nail salon. It requires no dry time and is applied like a nail polish but feels like a gel manicure. - Gel Manicure or Sculpted Gel
A gel manicure is primarily used to shape your nail nicely. This type of gel is pretty hard, which makes it easy to shape. That being said, there is also a softer version, but that one will usually be harder to shape. - Gel Extension
This manicure is quite simple as it requires you to only put artificial nails over your nails to then finish them with a clear gel. To recognize this type of manicure, this is usually the one you see in nail salons when they use a LED (ultraviolet) light at the end to dry the gel. - Dip Powder Manicure
For this one, you only need a dip powder specially made for manicure purposes. To apply the powder, you simply dip your nails in the powder to create the desired color. - Vinylux Manicure
This manicure uses a very fast process that doesn’t require any base nor any topcoat. Therefore, it is quite useful for people who don’t have much time for a manicure but still want a shiny fresh look on their nails. - Acrylic Manicure
Finally, an acrylic manicure uses a mix of polymer and monomer ingredients to shape your nails. This manicure style is widely used and pretty popular but it is recommended to not abuse its use since it can weaken your nails over time.
In Conclusion
This concludes our complete guide on the history of the French Manicure and the different types of manicures you can get in a nail salon or do yourself at home. No matter what’s the best manicure style, your nails will look beautiful if you take good care of them.
