35 French Tip Nail Designs
French manicures are probably one of the first designs you tried. It is a timeless classic that will forever look stylish and classy. It gives you so many color choices and styles without losing its simplicity and sophistication. We are here to give you top tips on how to perfect that manicure but also help you find inspiration for a stylish and clean design.
1How To French Your Nails
1) Prepare your nails: grab a coton pad and a remover and take off all your old polish, even the tiniest bits, because obviously you will be able to see everything through the clear nail varnish.
2) Trim your nails into your desired shape. If you are not sure, check out the shape chart we have found! Don’t forget to file and buff them too, this is a vital step that will determine the outcome for your manicure!
3) Soak your nails in a bowl of warm water to soften your cuticles, this will make it easier to push them back. Then, dry them off with a towel.
4) Gently push back your cuticles and trim off any dead skin.
5) Apply the base coat by painting the first stripe down the center of the nail, then two more stripes on either side to make sure the application is even. After this, fill in the whole nail with the same polish.
6) Paint your nail tips with white polish, the amount of white you use should correspond to the amount of whiteness you have on your real nail, otherwise it will look super tacky and make your nails look tiny!
7) Finally, add a clear coat of varnish over all the nails to protect them and also help them last longer.
2Neon Lights
This design allows you to add a bit of color without going overboard. Paint your tips every color of the rainbow for a bright yet simple design! OPI have all the neon polishes you need to perfect your tips. Shades such as Down To The Core-al and Life Gave Me Lemons are vibrant enough to use for this look!
3Strawberry Tips
4Navy Blue
Navy blue, like the French manicure, is a timeless and classy color. If you are looking for a sophisticated but colorful look for that job interview or just a chic look for every day, then we really recommend this one! The color is rich and stunning, and will go with literally everything – we are thinking this manicure with a striped blouse and bright red jeans! This shade is #NYFW by Mischo Beauty.
5The Sky’s The Limit
You can never have too much blue! This turquoise is gorgeous and makes a great polish to use for the spring and summer. This style involves super large tips for a special bright neon look! You can leave the rest of your nail bare or use beige/nude polish to finish off this design! This color is really popular right now and many brands have it, including Mischo Beauty, their shade is called Jackie and it is the perfect match!
6Gold Stripes
7Gold Finger
Gold tips are perfect way to change things up for a special occasion like a party or a certain anniversary dinner! It remains subtle and classy making it suitable for any outfit choice you may make. China Glaze has so many metallic or glittery polishes for you to use for this look – we have our eye on the shades Mind The Gap and Lug Your Designer Baggage!
8Intergalactic
Create an out of this world look with black lacquer polish and blue glittery polish! Your design will definitely blow everyone’s mind as it totally changes from your standard white tips! For the galaxy effect, you will need a glittery blue polish – there is China Glaze’s Dorothy Who? And Formula X’s Transformer Top Coat in Cobalt Confetti.
9Matching Tips
We love this design, and in particular the matching tips! Having your nail tips painted on makes your look a lot more elegant and gives you an instant salon-quality. The gorgeous color used here is Raspberry by Formula X, a brand created by Sephora to give you a wide choice of on-trend colors at a cheap price!
10Floral Tips
11Burberry
Burberry has got to be one of our favorite brands, but let’s face it, we couldn’t possibly afford everything! A low-cost way of getting that checkered look is by replicating it on your nails – for the base coat, we advise using Formula X’s shade Monumental, along with their shades Curiosity (dark red), White Matter and Dainty (black) to get an expensive look!
12Swirls
A stencil kit is the ultimate tool to get this design! Moyou London has a stencil set with similar shapes especially for your nail types – their sets Frenchy 03 and Frenchy 04 will be just what you need to get this gorgeous look! As it remains simple and stylish, it will be perfect for an everyday look!
13Layering
14Lilac Dream
Purple is a luscious color that will pop out against a white or off-white outfit, especially with a lace top and cute cropped jeans. You can never have too much purple and that is why this look with two different shades totally works – for the base coat we recommend trying Zoya’s shade Marley, and for the tips they have a stunning shade called Mira!
15Triangular Tips
16Mix It Up
17We Love Manicures
Why not add a little extra something to your tips? We do love lovehearts, you can draw them on with a stencil set or if you have a steady hand, you can paint them on yourself! Whether it is for your first day back at school or for a fun picnic at the park with friends, this look can work for any occasion!
18Double Manicure
19Ombré Tips
Ombré tips are a fun and different way of doing your French tips. Plus, it keeps your style classic and classy, if bright colors and loud designs aren’t your cup of tea! If you want to know how to do an ombré then click here to find out!
20Zig Zag
21Spots & Bows
Navy blue is one of our favorite colors right now, as you can probably guess, but it is hard not to love it when you see such designs! The bows are so cute and add an even girlier touch to an already feminine style. These would look great with a nautical-style outfit – we are thinking high-waisted sailor shorts and a white sleeveless blouse – for a perfect summer style!
22Watermelon
You have probably seen from some of our previous articles that we do love a good fruit design, but this watermelon looks good enough to eat! This combines some of our favorite things – ombré, fruit and French manicures! To add a finishing look to your nails, the tips must be bright fruity green to keep to the French manicure tradition.
23Wild Thing
24Fake Lace
25Real Lace
26Zebra Print
Zebra print is pretty and is a trend that you can wear all year round. The zebra print tips add a little bit of the wild to your French manicure, and would look super cute with a neon colored outfit in the summer, or a grey cable knit and dust pink pants for the winter! Believe it or not, this style is timeless!
27Cherry Blossom
Work your design into the tips like the blossom of this tree! Simple and easy to do, you definitely don’t have any excuses to not try this one! This is the classic French tip that everyone loves with the most cutest design over the top. Plus, cherry blossoms represent hope, so they are a wonderful design to get!
28Double Monochrome Manicure
29Princess Style
30Heart-Shaped Tips
If you are in a romantic mood, then this is a pretty design to try out at home! This would be ideal for a romantic date, or for Valentine’s Day. Red glitter polishes are rarer, and that is why we have found the best for you! You can try Essie’s Leading Lady or Zoya’s Oswin Ultra PixieDust for your pretty lovehearts!
31Fall Leaves
32Beautiful Bows
33Marble Tips
The water marble effect is huge right now and you have probably seen it splashed all over Tumblr, we know we have been admiring it! We love this as it looks dark and mysterious – during the chillier months or even at Halloween this could look amazing! If you want to know how to do it yourself, click here to see a tutorial!
34Fairy Tips
35Bunny Tips
36Princess Jasmine
37Statement nails
This square french tip design is so unique! jazz up your nails by adding a cute statement or a favorite quote to one of the nails!
You just read Girlterest list of the top 35 French Tip Nail Designs!