Nailene Hard & Healthy French Manicure Review

Long time no see!

So where have a been? Nowhere. About a month ago my nails all went bleurgh. And snapped. So I couldn't be bothered posting pictures of them on my blog. That's all. They've not regrown fully, but are no longer a complete embarassment.

Ah, the french manicure. I've never been a fan of it myself. It was big in the 1990s, so I bought some cheapo polishes and tried it. I couldn't do it, made a big mess and then gave up. Towards the end of the decade we had the double whammy of fake tan with fake french-manicured nails. Ick. The tanned skin didn't look good against the pale nail, especially when the tip was painted Tippex-white. It all looked a bit synthetic.

So why the change of heart? I was at someone's house when I spotted that they had left out their Rimmel french manicure polishes. I swatched my little fingernail. It looked good; it seems I am more dextrous as I've aged. Figuring it was rude to do the whole lot using someone else's polishes, I made a mental note to rummage around and find any suitable polishes from my own collection.

Later that evening, I came across two french mani sets, complete with the stickers you'd use for the tips. I didn't actually want these kits, they were just part of some bundles I bought off Ebay. One kit is Nailene, the other is Kiss Colors, a US brand I've never heard of. I decided to go with the Nailene, as it's a brand I know!

I did my usual preparation of OPI Chip Skip, followed by a base coat, and then got going with the tips. The white polish didn't give great coverage, so I had to do two coats. I was surprised how easy I found it, even painting with my left hand! I didn't use the stickers- yup, I did it all freehand! My tips looked a bit ropey, but the nude coat hid all my mistakes:

Not bad, eh? I quite like how it make my pale and pasty complexion look a little warmed up.

Then an odd thing happened. My partner was looking on the camera and saw these pictures. He doesn't know I'm doing this blog. He said,

"Why do you have pictures of hands on the camera?"
"For my blog."
"Oh, they look nice for your hands!"

Is that a compliment? I will take it as one! The manicure has lasted 4 days so far, without retouching. I was concerned that the thick white polish on the tips would have smudged by now, but it hasn't! I think I should give this 'tips' manicure another go.