Dotted French Manicure

Hi Tory,

I went ahead and invested in a set of dotting tools. You can make do with old pens, and pins on the ends of pencils, and they do a perfectly good job too, but given the number of nail tutorials I do I figured it was time to go pro!

this French manicure is a nice little twist on the traditional technique costs
£2.00

I got mine for £2.50 and no shipping on eBay - just do a search for nail dotting tools. I got a set of five with different sized heads and they are fab. I usually keep a bottle of nail polish remover on hand just to dip the dotting head in and keep it clean between applications. You get about three dots or so before the nail polish starts to go gloopy and you need a fresh blob, so bear that in mind.

This French manicure is a nice little twist on the traditional technique and gives it a bit of interest with gradients of dots leading down form the white edge.

You could also ring the changes by having a bright colour as the base and making the free edge black or metallic - try different combinations!

Steps

• Apply a clear base coat and let it dry completely
• Paint the free edge of the nail with a white or off-white polish using the rubber band technique, and let this dry completely
• Using a dotting tool (or an old pen) make a line of large dots in the same white or off-white polish half on the free edge and half on the bare nail
• Make a second row of slightly smaller white dots below this, and then a third row of even smaller dots
• Seal the whole thing with the same clear coat you used for the base. Done!

Products Used

• MUA Nail Polish in Clear
• MUA Nail Polish in All Nude
• Dotting tools or pens
• Rubber band
• Prices based on what I paid for the whole look from scratch, and correct at the time of posting

Hugs and kisses,
xxx