Fanatic Feedback: French Manicures – Yay or Nay?
Earlier today the MTV Style blog tweeted, “Tired of French manicures for prom? SO ARE WE. We styled some nail ideas for EVERY high school clique!” with a link to a post where Celebrity Manicurist Lisa Logan gave some unique alternatives to traditional prom nail styles.
I tweeted in response, “French manicures are tired PERIOD.” That garnered quite a response from both French manicure fans and haters so I thought I would bring the discussion over here.
My take: I have never been a fan. To me, French manicures look fake and I rarely see them done well. The look was meant to emulate the perfect natural nail and thick or stark white tips are anything but natural looking. I also find the look very dated. The only time I’ve ever mentioned French manicures on this blog is when I discussed the difference between French & American manicures. Now colored/reverse/funky French’s are fun though I still don’t wear them often.
I remember talking to Deborah Lippmann about this very subject a year or so ago and we both agreed that we need to put a stop to French’s on fingers and don’t even get me started on French pedis. Just say no to stripper toes! Though, as Deborah joked, “As soon as we put an end to French manicures, they will come back in style again.” It would just figure, wouldn’t it?
The question I pose to you is… French Manicures – Yay or Nay?
I have to say im not firmly a yay or nay, either. I was in a wedding a few weeks ago and the bride decided to shuck her normal personality and hit up the acrylic french nails. The tips were way to long- Im not kidding when i say they were almost half an inch past her fingers. They made the elegant, classy gown she spent months looking for (because she didnt want to look dated in her portraits with something too trendy) and thousands of dollars on look cheap, and completely defeated the purpose of finding a classic gown. her nails, combined with the fake spray tan she just had to have on her olive skin four days prior definitely gave off the stripper vibe. that type of french is a no go, all the way.
However, the mother of the bride had a very classy french manicure with white- but not too white- tips on her short natural nails, as she has had for practically the entire 17 years I have known her. save for the classic red, or once a hot pink (gasp!)she got at the spa in St. Thomas when we were all on vacation- completely out of character because “well, it seemed tropical”. she always complements us on our daring to wear dark shades like LPAD or essie’s wicked. her type of french i could live with, but it would get old quick, because i love the darker colors.
as bridesmaids we got two choices, the french fake manicure like the bride had, or red- also on acrylics. I just had my nails shaped a bit more square to mimic the acrylic shape, and wore essie’s forever yummy on both tips and toes, to go with our black dresses and the red flowers that were pretty much everywhere.there was no way i was ruining my nail plate with acrylics, and no way i was wearing that kind of french manicure.
I definitely feel like French manis on acrylic nails need to go the way of the dinosaur. It’s so 1999 it hurts. I do, however, think American manis (on real nails) have a place in the world still – they are so much more natural-looking when compared to French, and after I’ve done my nails 43,9874 times in one day, each in a different color, I need something to cover the stains that isn’t just another color.
I also have to add that gradient manis with the jellies should be the new French, if it isn’t already. I am trying to master that look still, it’s not easy, but your tutorials are helping!
For myself, I prefer color.
For others, I like the look of French manis on short natural nails, and I like the look of French pedis on NO ONE.
French manicures are the only things that save my sanity. I LOVE bright, funky colors, but my work forbids any nailpolish. My nails feel naked (and get banged up way too much) when I’m not wearing polish, so I give myself a french manicure and nobody notices. I’ve done them enough that they look completely natural.
I can’t STAND colorful variations of a frenchie, though. They just look stupid and kind of cheap to me. Especially the black tips. And french pedicures… the point of a pedicure is to get some crazy color you can’t get away with wearing on your hands!!!
Funilly enough, one time somebody tried to lecture me about how I was wasting my money getting french manicurs and how they were out of style. My nails were completely bare that day (not even clear coat), and she’d mistaken my very white nail tips for a manicure.
That is a big N!O! Don’t like French manicures, HATE French pedicures!!
YAY! For the reasons following:
1. I’m a shocking nail biter from way back and I go back to it whenever I don’t regularly polish my nails. So for me painting the free bit of the nail is a celebration of having one!
2. I have tiny, round nails and will only ever have natural nails, so I don’t associate it with that crusty ‘spends too much time at the salon’, talon-ed look.
3. If the nail tip is so covered with polish that it’s UGLY thick you’re doing it wrong.
4. Sometimes I can’t pick from all the amazing colours and just want my nails to look done, and pretty.
I’m not really a fan, they just look very fake to me. Better to go with clear polish or a clean, buffed nail bed if you want a natural look. Though I do rather like french manicures done in other colors. A friend of mine gave me a gold manicure with black tips that looked pretty neat with a leopard-print outfit I had!
Nay! I’ve always hated the french manicure. to me it’s cookie-cutter, plain-jane, and pretentious. there is no personality to it and i always picture snobby rich girls with polo sweaters tied around their necks. LMAO at the “say no to stripper toes!”
I used to get acrylic sculptured nails and as much as I loved them, they only came in one style-french manicure! every now and then I would jazz it up with nail art (you know painted moons, tiger stripes, gel flowers, crystles-I used to go all out on nail art every Christmas)
Now I have natural nails, I have not had french manicure on my nails, simply because it is so difficult to do it yourself. I know I sound stupid but I just can’t do the french tips by myself, they come out blotchy and it looks like I’ve smothered my nails in white wall paint.
In recent years,I think French manicure looks a bit tacky and something only Soccer WAGS (that stands for Wives and Girlfriends in British) would have. Right now I think it is a Nay for French Manicure and I think it needs to be out of fashion because there are so many amazing nails trends out at the moment (look at Katy Perry and Lady Gaga- the pioneers of the non-french manis) and French manicure does look like it belongs in the late nineties/noughties.
French Manicure will, like most things come back in fashion and it will be back with a vengeance but for now I think it needs to out. Let the Crackle rebellion commence! xx
French manis are booooooooooooooring! And don’t get me started on French pedis…
french manis just scream bridezillas!!!! and yes, they originated with srrippers so their nails would not clash with their outfits like anyone is looking at a strippers nails!!!!!
that shatter coat sh** is ugly too!!!!! it looks like your polish is chipping vertically to me.
I’m very very lucky and have super white tips naturally so I just need a light pink over my nails to look like it’s french. I completely agree, Frenches are RARELY well done and thick white tips look terrible. I’ve heard of people putting white under the tips of their nails to brighten the white effect. Overall French on the fingers and toes can be a real hit or miss unless you have natural white nail tips.
NAY! Show me 1 French woman who has this so called “French Manicure” and I will eat their beret! So fake but sadly women are becoming so plastic looking with augmentation and botox. What are these women hiding? Insecurities?
I detest french manicures. I agree that they always look bad and super fake. Not to mention that they remind me of all the girls from high school whom I had no interest in knowing.
NAY x3!
I could not agree with you more. I remember my friends older sister always wanted to do french mani’s on us, lol. I hated it then and I hate it even more now. It looks so fake.
I am so in the NAY camp. What’s even worse than a French Mani is an acrylic French Mani.
Here in Australia though so many women still get it done, it drives me nuts!
I do nails at home on the weekend as a side business, and my policy is I don’t do French. Not on brides, or anyone.
For the past 20 years a bride’s uniform seems to be fake French nails, a fake tan, and a strapless dress. I absolutely cannot stand any of it! So, so, so, so, so passe.