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Beauty | Home | Southern Living

The Perfect French Manicure Smile Line

September 7, 2020 · Beauty

I love the look of a classic French manicure. It is my go-to look for my nails. For the longest time, I never had my nails painted because nail polish always peeled or chipped off within a day or two. I can still hear my Mom telling my sisters and me that if we were going to wear polish it should look nice. She did not like it when we had “half-worn” polish on our nails because we were picking at it. I remember watching my Mom paint her nails all of the time! Her nails were always done and always looked nice.

So, when the newest trend started a few years ago of gel polish it worked out perfectly for me! Regular nail polish peeled right off of my nails but gel polish will stay on my nails until I either remove it or it grows out. I very rarely wear color on my fingernails, I love the look of a classic French manicure. It is my favorite but it is not the easiest to do yourself. It has taken me some time to perfect my technique and I have it down now!

My top pick for gel polish is OPI, I have tried several other brands but OPI has performed the best for me. I have also tested out many different shades of pink for a base color and my top pick for that is, OPI, Let Me Bayou a Drink. For my white tip, I always use, OPI, Alpine Snow.

If you want your manicure to last I have learned by trial and error that prep is extremely important (see #2 &3). Below I review all of the main products that I use for my French manicure. I am not going to review every step on how to use gel polish only how I do my French tip along with a short video example.

Some links may be affiliate links. That means I may make a commission if you use my links to purchase, at no extra added cost to you! I only recommend products that I personally love and believe in.

CND Shellac Brisa LED light

I have used a few different lights and this is my favorite I have had it for a few years now without having to replace any lamps in it. This is something that I would not try to save money on unless you aren’t sure if you are going to continue to do your nails, in the end, it will pay for itself. There are many brands just do your research for what will work best for you. I have linked an OPI LED light on my “favorite things” page which is a great option.

OPI Bond Aid

This is a pH balancing agent. This will aid in balancing the pH in your nail bed so it will help the polish to adhere and last longer.

Protein Bond by Young Nails

This is a non-acid adhesion product, it is a proprietary polymer that bonds to the keratin structure and creates a stickier surface. It bonds to the natural nail and provides an anchor to the gel polish. Since starting to use this I have not had hardly any lifting of my gel polish.

Gelish Brand Structure Gel

This is not an OPI product but I have recently started to use this and it has worked wonders since using it. Gelish brand structure gel, it needs to be cured under the LED light. It provides a great base and gives your nails an extra sturdy feeling.

Files

Files, I use several different types depending on what stage of the process I am in. I use a Cuccio Pro Zebra 100/180 (grit) for when I am filing down my nails and getting ready to soak them off. This is good for roughing them up quickly. You would NOT want to use this on your natural nail. Harmony 240/240 (grit) for filing the tips of my nails and any detailing that I need to do. Harmony 100/180 (grit) I will use this for various things including buffing down the residue left after my nails soak in acetone. Silver cuticle pusher with a flat head, I use this to help scrape off the gel polish after soaking in acetone and also cleaning up my cuticles before applying new polish.

OPI gel polish, base coat, and topcoat in the black bottle.

I spoke about finding my favorite shade of pink for the base coat and that is OPI, Let Me Bayou a Drink, white tips Alpine white.

French Tip

I think one of the most difficult parts of a French manicure is perfecting the French tip. I have tried so many different things and have found the best and easiest trick! You will need a small glass dapper dish, a small oval nail brush, and Isopropyl Alcohol. I will add a quick video below that will show an example of how I do mine. You polish the tip of your nail with the white polish, you can try to get it looking as good as you can, you then dip your nail brush in the alcohol and dab it on a paper towel to remove the excess, you use the brush to make the perfect white smile. The alcohol removes it from the nail without messing up the under color you already placed.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/671e1a_06c20cc9f5474ab399e0bd9dc5785968/720p/mp4/file.mp4

I also double cure my nails at the end after the final coat of topcoat. I have just found this works best for me.

Removing Gel polish is never the fun part! This is when I use my Zebra heavy grit file and rough up my nails. I use cotton balls soaked in acetone and foil to wrap each nail for about 15 minutes and then use the cuticle scrapper to scrap the rest of the gel polish off. If needed I will use the buffer to remove any residual polish and shape each nail and then I am ready to go!!

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Hello South Blog
Beauty | Home | Southern Living
Shine from the inside out ๐Ÿ•Š
Letโ€™s age ๐’ˆ๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’†fully together ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿป

๏ผช๏ฝ•๏ฝŒ๏ฝ‰๏ฝ…  ๏ผญ๏ฝ๏ฝŽ๏ฝ‘๏ฝ•๏ฝ…๏ฝŽ
โ€ข You might be noticing that I am getting a litt โ€ข
You might be noticing that I am getting a little sentimental as moving day approaches! ๐Ÿก The movers are arriving in less than one week to help pack us up and move us onto our newest adventure! 
โ€ข
Today over on ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐  I am discussing what I will miss most about the Charleston area: ๐‘ฐ๐’•'๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’๐’†๐’”๐’•๐’๐’ ๐‘บ๐’๐’–๐’•๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’ ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’Ž ๐‘ฐ ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐‘ด๐’Š๐’”๐’” ๐‘ด๐’๐’”๐’• ๐ŸŒฟ
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If you have never visited the area you really should! It has so much to offer and we are going to miss it a lot! But stay tuned as we share some of our newest adventures in Florida! ๐ŸŒด
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Just head over to my profile and click the link to check it out! 
โ€ข
~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
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#discovercharleston #charlestoncharm 
#christianblogger 
#beautyblog #lifestyleblogger #hairblogger #charlestonblogger #almost50 #shinefromtheinsideout #hellosouth #summervillesc
โ€ข ๐‘ถ๐’๐’† ๐’˜๐’†๐’†๐’Œโ€ฆ โ€ข In one we โ€ข
๐‘ถ๐’๐’† ๐’˜๐’†๐’†๐’Œโ€ฆ
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In one week the movers will be showing up to help us pack up our house and we will be on our way to our new adventure! ๐Ÿก
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โ€œ๐‘ป๐’‰๐’†๐’šโ€ say without change there isnโ€™t growth, with this past year I must me growing like a weed! Lol! 
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Trying to keep perspective with all the change, anyone that knows me knows that I love routine and I donโ€™t do well with change but I am working on it! 
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BTW โ€ฆ making sure I pack all of my tank tops including this one which is still available at Target! I have it linked over on my LTK page ๐Ÿ›
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~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
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#tanktops 
#shinefromtheinsideout #charlestonsc #summervillesc #thisis50 
#lifestyleblogger #charlestonblogger #outfitideas #getthelook #fashionover40style #outfitoftheday #hellosouth 
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โ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ข
๐‘ป๐’‰๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’Š๐’” ๐’š๐’†๐’• ๐’•๐’ ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’† ~๐‘ญ๐’“๐’‚๐’๐’Œ ๐‘บ๐’Š๐’๐’‚๐’•๐’“๐’‚
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Planning on moving soon? ๐Ÿก I have recently been on both sides, getting my house ready to sell and scouring the market for a new home. People sometimes make the mistake of not being able to overlook easy cosmetic changes in a new home. I love to decorate so I can look past that. My wheels start turning with all kinds of ideas! ๐Ÿคฏ
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Today over on Hello South Blog I am sharing: ๐Ÿ“ ๐–๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‡๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ
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These ideas are easy and you donโ€™t even have to be selling a home to use some of the ideas! I even have a super handy shoe organizer linked that you might want to check out! 
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The link to Hello South Blog is in my profile! 
โ€ข
~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
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#movingtips #moveinready #prepyourhomeformarket 
#christianblogger 
#beautyblog #lifestyleblogger #hairblogger #charlestonblogger #shinefromtheinsideout #hellosouth #summervillesc
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๐‘ด๐’‚๐’š ๐’˜๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’Œ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’‡๐’“๐’†๐’†๐’…๐’๐’Ž, ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’‚๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’“๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’• ๐’•๐’ ๐’…๐’ ๐’‚๐’” ๐’˜๐’† ๐’˜๐’‚๐’๐’•, ๐’ƒ๐’–๐’• ๐’‚๐’” ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’•๐’–๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š ๐’•๐’ ๐’…๐’ ๐’˜๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’Š๐’” ๐’“๐’Š๐’ˆ๐’‰๐’• ~ ๐‘ท๐’†๐’•๐’†๐’“ ๐‘ด๐’‚๐’“๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’
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Memorial Day is quickly approaching and I found this cute sweater tank on Zulilly. They still have some available. You can head over to my LTK page, screenshot this photo.
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~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
โ€ข
โ€ข
โ€ข
โ€ข
#shinefromtheinsideout #charlestonsc #summervillesc #thisis50 
#lifestyleblogger #charlestonblogger #outfitideas #getthelook #fashionover40style #outfitoftheday #hellosouth 
Follow my shop @JulieManquen_HelloSouth on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!
#liketkit #LTKSeasonal #LTKsalealert #LTKunder50
@shop.ltk
https://liketk.it/3Ewoi
โ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ขโ€ข
๐‘พ๐’๐’“๐’“๐’š ๐’…๐’๐’†๐’” ๐’๐’๐’• ๐’“๐’๐’ƒ ๐’•๐’๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’“๐’๐’˜ ๐’๐’‡ ๐’Š๐’•๐’” ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’๐’†๐’Ž๐’”. ๐‘ฐ๐’• ๐’“๐’๐’ƒ๐’” ๐’•๐’๐’…๐’‚๐’š ๐’๐’‡ ๐’Š๐’•๐’” ๐’”๐’•๐’“๐’†๐’๐’ˆ๐’•๐’‰. โœจ
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We are trying to remember the blessings behind the stress & worry while on our house hunting trip down here in Florida. How blessed are we that we have the opportunity to go on a house hunting trip let alone in such a beautiful location! ๐Ÿค I am amazed by how beautiful the beaches are ๐Ÿ˜
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~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
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โ€ข
โ€ข
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#stpetersburgflorida #bradentonbeach #bradentonflorida #bradentonarea 
#shinefromtheinsideout #createyourhappy #beyourbestself #gratitudeattitude #createalifeyoulove #selfgrowth #godsgotthis #purposedrivenlife #simplyblessed
Did you know that as we age our skin loses elastic Did you know that as we age our skin loses elasticity & collagen? Do you know what that leads to? ๐…๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿซฃ
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Most women have a skincare routine but end up forgetting about 3 areas that can make you look older than you are. Do you have any ideas what areas those are? Today over on ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐  I have shared those 3 forgotten areas along with ways you can get ahead of the aging process with them. 
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Check out today's blog post on Hello South Blog: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Œ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐…๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ง ๐€๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐’๐ค๐ข๐ง ๐›๐ฒ ๐–๐จ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง
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You can find the link in my profile! 
Please don't forget to sign up over on ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ ๐’๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก so you don't miss out on anything! 
โ€ข
~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
Follow my shop @JulieManquen_HelloSouth on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!
#liketkit #LTKunder100 #LTKbeauty #LTKunder50
@shop.ltk
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โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข Do you have a trip planned soon to โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข
Do you have a trip planned soon to Charleston, SC? ๐ŸŒด
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If you do, I have 3 things that you need to add to your list of things to do! 
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Are you a sit back and relax kind of person or let's go sightseeing? I typically like to relax but my 3 must-do ideas involve horses, shopping, and pineapples, so what could be bad about that?! I promise you will enjoy all 3 of them! 
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Check out today's blog post on Hello South Blog: 3 Must Do's on Your Next Charleston Trip
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You can find the link in my profile! 
Please don't forget to sign up over on Hello South so you don't miss out on anything! 
โ€ข
~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
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#vacationideas #charlestonsc #discovercharleston 
#beautyblog #lifestyleblogger #hairblogger #charlestonblogger #almost50 #shinefromtheinsideout #hellosouth #summervillesc
๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’Š๐’” ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Š ๐‘ช๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’Š๐’” ๐’„๐’๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’ˆโ€ฆ Some periods in our lives are stormier then others. Honestly it has been a stormy year for us. What is it that they say, get knocked down 9 times, get up 10 ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿป
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I debated sharing this most recent storm with yโ€™all but I thought some of you might eventually notice a change in scenery! My husband found out in February that his company was going to eliminate his entire department. Unfortunately he has not been able to find a new job in the Charleston area. We were blessed that he was offered a position with a new company in the St Petersburg, Florida area. So as much as we love Charleston and had long term plans here we will be moving. ๐Ÿก
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Things that I know for sure:
โœจ God has something different planned for us and we need to trust in his plan. ๐Ÿค
โœจ I can handle a lot more stress then I ever thought I could. 
โœจ Things could always be worse, we have our health. 
โœจ People judge, they think they know what is going on but they really have no idea. So let them judge and think they โ€œknowโ€ but only one opinion really matters and He sees your heart. ๐Ÿ•Š Just keep shining โœจ
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So stay tuned friends! Lots of changes are coming in a very short period of time! Weโ€™ve got this! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป
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~๐‘บ๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’† ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’”๐’Š๐’…๐’† ๐’๐’–๐’•! 
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#stpetersburgflorida 
#shinefromtheinsideout #charlestonsc #summervillesc #createyourhappy #beyourbestself #gratitudeattitude #createalifeyoulove #selfgrowth #godsgotthis #purposedrivenlife #simplyblessed #godsgrace #godisgood
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