How To: The Double-French Mani

French tips will always be a classic, but the same old same old can get boring. And the French is easy to update! Right now, we're loving the double-French mani—that’s a French tip with an extra stripe of color between the tip and the base shade. It’s a simple add-on that’s been in the spotlight recently. We spotted it on the models at Kate Spade’s Spring 2014 show, and in a different variation, the reverse-French, in the latest Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics campaign (love the metallic green + black!). The stripe adds depth and a pop of unexpected color. The sky’s the limit in terms of combinations: try adding a neon stripe to a basic white tip, or square off a glittery tip with a bold black line.

No matter what you choose, it's easy to create this modern mani at home. Follow along! 

You will need

• 2–4 different polishes; you want one base color, or you can do a natural base coat; a color for the tips, and then a color or two for the stripes.
• base and top coat
• cellophane tape

We used the following:
base, for the whole nail bed: Inglot O2M Breathable Top Coat
one tip color: Mischo Beauty Nail Lacquer in Invite Only
two stripe colors: RBG Nail Polish in Sea and Fuschia

Steps

1: Apply a base coat. Once dry, follow with two coats of your all-over color, if desired (we went with base by itself). 

2: Peel a short piece of tape off and stick it to your nail bed, so that just the tip is exposed. Repeat on all nails.

3: Paint one to two coats of your tip color over all tips. Allow the polish to set for 2 minutes before peeling the tape away. 

4: Peel another short piece of tape off and stick it to each nail bed no more than 1/8th of an inch below the lines you just painted. For thinner lines of color, go closer.

5: Wipe excess polish off your brush and paint between the tape on each nail, following the line of the tip you already painted.

6: Let dry 2 minutes, then peel the tape away.

7: Finish with a top coat, but let everything dry first so you don't smudge your lines.
Oui, love it!

Tip

You can also use Band-Aids instead of tape to create the tips, which have a built-in curved shape on the ends. It works!