page_title: Manicure
section_title: French manicures
hierarchical_section_title: Manicure / Types / French manicures
caption_attribution_description: An example of a French Manicure, acrylic nails with white tips.
context_page_description: A manicure is a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed at home or in a nail salon. A manicure consists of filing and shaping the free edge of nails, pushing and clipping any nonliving tissue, treatments with various liquids, massage of the hand, and the application of fingernail polish. When the same is applied to the toenails and feet, the treatment is referred to as a pedicure. Most nail polish can stay on nails for 2-3 weeks before another manicure, if there is no deliberate damage to it.
  Some manicures include painting pictures or designs on the nails, or applying small decals or imitation jewels. Other nail treatments may include the application of artificial gel nails, tips, or acrylics, which may be referred to as French manicures.
  In many areas, manicurists are licensed and follow regulations. Since skin is manipulated and is sometimes trimmed, there is a risk of spreading infection when tools are used across many people. Therefore, having improper sanitation can pose serious issues.
context_section_description: Jeff Pink, founder of the professional nail brand ORLY, is credited with creating the natural nail look later called the French manicure in 1976.
  In the mid-1970s, Pink was tasked by a film director to come up with a universal nail look that would save screen actresses from having to spend time getting their nails redone to go along with their costume changes. Inspired by the instant brightening effect of a white pencil applied to the underside, Pink suspected that the solution was to apply that same neutralizing principle to the top of the nail. "I got one gallon of white polish for the tips, and pink, beige, or rose for the nail," he recalled in a 2014 interview with The National.
  The Natural Nail Kit, as Pink called it then, was a hit among movie stars and the studios who found the time-saving strategy indispensable. "The director commented that I should get an Oscar for saving the industry so much money," he said. Eventually Pink took the trend to the catwalk crowd in Paris, and they liked it, too. The only thing it needed, he thought, was a kickier name. He came up with the whole "French" rebranding on the flight back home to Los Angeles.
  
  Nails that have undergone a French manicure are characterized by a lack of artificial base color and white tips at the free edge of the nail.  For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as "French tips".  The nail tips are painted white, while the rest of the nails are polished in a pink or a suitable nude shade.  French manicures can be achieved with artificial nails.  However, it is also as common to perform a French manicure on natural nails.  Another technique is to whiten the underside of the nail with white pencil and paint a sheer color over the entire nail.
caption: Example of an acrylic French manicure
exif: {}