French Manicures - a followup...

[jbsegal]

Rather than answer everyone individually...
I can't explain what it is about the 'French Manicure' that really bugs me.

I don't hate manicures overall - I've never had a full one, but I've had bits of one and there's something to be said for the whole 'pampered by a body-servant' sort of thing.

But there's something about the french manicure that makes me go 'Ewww'. The whole 'nails floating off the end of the finger' thing - or trying to...Merde notes what happens when the colors are wrong and I've never seen the colors be right.

What prompted this? Just a woman wearing one on an episode of Queer Eye For The Straigt Guy...

Comments

[pookfreak.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the fake french manicure. I love American Manicures however because they use opaque white/ivory color and a clear red gell looking polish for the nail bed. Basically when you use those it looks like normal nails, just nice neat and clean. Much more realistic.

[drglam]

Huh.

I've seen 'em around for years. Mostly done in natural nail colors, so they look like unpolished nails. But polished.

I think they look kinda goofy. Why not just do clear nailpolish?

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Hm. I don't think I've never seen a french manicure that looks like that...the 2-tone aspect of them is fundamental...

[drglam]

They are two-toned. Flesh-colored nailbeds, white tips. Like unpolished nails; pink where the nail is over flesh, white where it extends past.

[pookfreak.livejournal.com]

I think what you are describing is more the american manicure - when it looks very natural. The french manicure has pink (not opaque) polish on the nail bed and bright whiteout white polish on the tips. Very over the top.

[drglam]

Huh. I've seen that very look described as a French manicure. This is the first time I've heard of anything called an American manicure.

[xeger.livejournal.com]

Odd - I've always seen the natural coloured nailbed and the white nail described as a french manicure. I've also never heard of the 'american manicure'. The entire point behind a french manicure (as I know it) is that it basically looks natural.

If I was to describe -anything- as unatural in nails, it would probably be the american tendancy for ultra long artificial nails in surreal colours and colour combinations.

[avram]

Here are some photos Google Image Search gave me for “french manicure”:

Photo 1, from a UK domain
Photo 2, from some kind of French manicure product packaging

I also found a bunch of cached results from a Canadian site that’s probably a portfolio for handmodels. The site’s changed its structure without redirecting, so all the cached links are broken, but Google’s results page shows cached photos of some weird, exotic-looking painted nails that also seem to be called “French manicures”.

I’m guessing that the term originally referred to the pink-and-ivory simulation of natural nails, and has more recently been drifting to cover more exotic two-toned patterns.

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

I'm with drglam. What I know of a french manicure is that they match the polish to your natural nail bed tone, and then use an ivory tone on the tips. Very natural looking.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

I'd kinda go w/agrumer - that may be what they started out as, but these days, noone wants to or cares about matching the natural nailbed color and the cream and white tones they now use on the tips screams 'artificial'.

[xeger.livejournal.com]

...so in other words, we're back to the traditional question of quality ;>

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Never had one done but had considered it, as I have spatulate nails that will never in my lifetime look like model's fingernails. They're utterly shaped wrong. And the non-over-the-top-French-like-manicure seemed the only way to go to get them to look model-esque.

End of the story is that I watched a news special (see this .pdf) a few years back about infections and fingers going gangrenous and all other manner of Evil Things I Never Want To Have Happen to My Fingers, and thus I will never be getting a manicure of any kind. .02 -H...

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

I saw a girl with a most interesting French manicure the other day. (I can't be arsed to do it myself). It was perfectly traditional in every respect, except instead of the bleh pink colour at the end she'd used a brilliant metallic blue. It was a great improvement.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Actually, that does sound pretty flashy. I don't like fakey French manicures, but I think I'd like that, too.

[iamlisabee.livejournal.com]

I don't mind french manicures too much. I've never had one, but they don't move me either way.

BUT, when it's done on the toe nails... oh my god, THAT makes me squick.

EW

(toe nails should be short, dammit)

[zogathon.livejournal.com]

Huh! Actually, I've had it done on my (short) toenails, and really liked it. It was just the tiniest sliver of ivory, covered with pink to match my nail bed. When you saw it, was the "tip" exaggerated?

(I should take this opportunity to say that I'm not a fan of long nails however they're done, but like a natural-looking french manicure done on short-ish nails.)

Nail tip shaping

[akrissy.livejournal.com]

I never liked the square-ish aspect of many of the manicure style. I believe the curved, our slightly round filed nails, accentuate the fingers and hands better than square tips. IMO .

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

Huh.. this is strange - I read your post about disliking french manicures. Later on I saw the Queer Eye episode and noticed one of the women at the party with the "French Manicure" and thought, "I think I agree with JB. THAT manicure looks awful!" I had no idea that's where the comment came from, though. Hee!