Beauty DIY: Chevron Reverse French Manicure

January 17, 2012
Confession: I never really loved French manicures.  They are certainly delicate and lovely, but sometimes, the opaque edges just looked like long nails to me.  But I am obsessed with the edgier manicures today that play off the contrast between two colors on one’s nail.  I saw a chevron manicure in a magazine and knew I had to try it for myself.  This look can be easily created with materials you have at home, including an unexpected one (I’ll share below) to prevent the nail color from ruining your cuticles.  I also love the endless possibilities of colors and shines; while I paired matte and glossy gray nail polishes this time, there is so much that you can do with different colors as well.

Here are my steps for creating a chevron reverse french manicure:

1. Gather all of your materials and colors.

2. Push back your cuticles, buff, and apply a lip balm or vaseline to your cuticles and around the edges of your nails where nail polish may spill.  This will make cleanup much easier!

4. Apply the base coat and then your base color all over the nail.  Let dry.

5. Design the chevron top coat but starting about 1/3 to 1/2 from the bottom of your nail.  Apply broad quick strokes from the center of your nail going down to each bottom corner in a “V” shape.  Fill in this shape even if some nail polish gets onto your cuticle.

6. Apply a top coat and quick dry drops as appropriate.  Peel off any excess polish.

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  • Kim (A Very Sweet Blog) January 17, 2012 at 07:04

    Looks really good girl. I’ve never been a french mani girl either. Love this look. Very chic! 🙂

  • Girlie Blogger January 17, 2012 at 07:48

    Nice job! Looks great.

    http://www.thegirlieblog.com

  • Katie January 17, 2012 at 07:54

    That looks great!

  • honey my heart January 17, 2012 at 08:51

    this turned out great!! chevron is one of my favorite patterns. your nails look great.

  • The Dainty Dolls House January 17, 2012 at 09:54

    Love this..was looking at some the other day, might try it, hopefully won’t make a mess, lol!! Looks marvelous! xx

  • Diana Mieczan January 17, 2012 at 11:24

    Oh my goodness, it looks so beautiful:) Have a great day, sunshine. xo

  • LyddieGal January 17, 2012 at 13:08

    What a cool manicure!
    I’ve never had a French one either, just not my style – but these are a fun twist.

  • MosaMuse January 17, 2012 at 13:12

    i really like the look of reverse manicures. the ebst part is being able to mix ur colors
    xo
    MosaMuse

    MosaMuse.blogspot.com

  • JIN @ Love,Loss + Lacquer January 17, 2012 at 13:59

    very cute – I love it!

  • Melissa Blake January 17, 2012 at 14:49

    These are beautiful!!

  • Kim January 17, 2012 at 14:52

    Very cute! I used to love French manicures but find the look to be a bit dated now. This is a fun, modern version of it. And the lip balm idea is genius!

  • amy b.s. January 17, 2012 at 16:57

    i am loving this!

  • navy and orange January 17, 2012 at 17:39

    Love this manicure.

    xoxo navy & orange

  • Style, She Wrote January 17, 2012 at 17:44

    So neat! I love this look. Thanks for sharing how to do it. xo style, she wrote

  • Style Servings January 17, 2012 at 17:53

    Great tutorial with a fab result!

    http://styleservings.blogspot.com/

  • rolala January 17, 2012 at 18:23

    It’s chic with abit of an edge. I like!

  • Dancing Branflake January 17, 2012 at 19:25

    That bit about lip balm around your cuticles is genius!

  • Shia January 17, 2012 at 19:48

    Super cute!!

    Thanks for the idea!

    ♥ Shia

  • Alena: Oh, It's Just Perfect! January 17, 2012 at 20:27

    This. Is. So. Cool. Although I can’t paint my nails to save my life, so you are gonna have to come over and help me (by help I mean..do it for me 🙂

  • Dirt On The Rocks January 17, 2012 at 22:34

    Great tutorial. I’ll be trying this. I also love the color combo. It’s simple.

  • Sam January 17, 2012 at 23:21

    Love this idea, so unique and something I haven’t seen before, also the colours you’ve selected are great

  • FRANKIE HEARTS FASHION January 17, 2012 at 23:42

    I love this and adore the colors you chose! This will be next on my must try mani list! x

  • THE ALTERNATIVE WIFE January 17, 2012 at 23:42

    Look at you!!! I love it! 🙂 xoxo

  • BlueVanilla January 18, 2012 at 00:11

    This is fab! Love the vaseline tip! More people should use that!
    xx

    Hot Pink Day
    Shop Blue Vanilla

  • Tanvi January 18, 2012 at 00:33

    Looks so good!

    ♡ from © tanvii.com

  • Jaime @ La vie...J'aime January 18, 2012 at 00:37

    awesome job! i love it but wouldn’t have the patience…lol

  • Johanna January 18, 2012 at 02:01

    Stop it! That’s one rad mani!

  • A Heel in Mint January 18, 2012 at 04:06

    Love it! I love blue gray colors and matte-glossy mix.

    xx
    Heel in Mint

  • melindaaa January 18, 2012 at 05:07

    great tutorial, it looks so cool! i want to paint my nails in those sameee shades, love it.

  • Bravoe Runway January 18, 2012 at 05:07

    This looks great and you did a really even job! I may need to try this out, I get impatient waiting for nail polish to dry 🙁

  • Wander.Lust January 20, 2012 at 04:44

    amazinggg, never knew baseline makes it easier to clean excess nail polish, thanks for sharing.

  • Karina January 21, 2012 at 04:56

    I LOVE what you did with your nails girl!! They look great!

    xoxo

  • Lady G January 23, 2012 at 11:36

    Very nice work, I might need the help of some tape to mark the lines if I ever wanted to do this looks. Hoped to check out some new nail colors soon.

    http://lady-g-blog.blogspot.com/

  • Kimberlee February 1, 2012 at 20:24

    Very nice! Is that Zoya’s “Dove”? I love that gray color 😉

  • designedbyann February 3, 2012 at 08:11

    Love this manicure! I always want to try out new designs in manicure,but I’m alwasy sort of time 🙁 this looks pretty easy!
    Anna

  • Vhing February 5, 2012 at 13:51

    Good job!! 😀 I will follow your DIY and do this on my nails. Thanks!!

    new follower here! ♥
    kaarttehan.blogspot.com

  • woodstockwardrobe.com February 8, 2012 at 05:29

    Great idea…this would look amazing with bright colors for spring!

    http://woodstockwardrobe.com/

  • Tamara B February 8, 2012 at 05:45

    I LOVE the lip balm trick!! I find it fun doing my nails but im not the best at staying in the lines :(, so I think this is the perfect solution for me…

    Best,

    Tamara B.
    LilMissStyleBlog.blogspot.com

  • Lisa Griffin February 16, 2012 at 16:16

    This is really cute! i love funky manicures but this includes rather simple colors in a fun design
    in dramatic fashion

  • […] week looks!  I was definitely inspired by looks on the runways and magazines when I did my chevron Reverse French Manicure and polka Dot Manicure.  When I saw these simple and bright nails (colors can be interchanged so […]

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