French manicure at home (Rimmel London Nail Tip Whitener with Lycra)

Member Name: k8eh

Product:	Rimmel London Nail Tip Whitener with Lycra
Date:	07/08/09 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: more natural than using a pinky colour too, lasts ages

Disadvantages: bit pricey

French manicures in my opinion, are the most sophisticated and stylish nail look. However, I always find that "Do it yourself" kits don't always give you the professional results you wish for and often the pink colour is too pink. I prefer a more natural look so thought I'd try buying just a tip whitener rather than wasting my money on a kit which included something I always threw away (the pink polish).

I'm not a beauty buff and I don't spend loads of money on beauty products, but I do like my nails to look nice. They all grow pretty evenly and I trim them down to about 1cm each. They're not very strong and chip quite easily so I have to be careful not to paint them too often.

I bought the tip whitener on offer, it was 3-for-2 on Rimmel products and since I was buying Rimmel eyebrow pencil and a Rimmel Clear Polish I thought I'd give this a go.

As mine was part of an offer, it was almost a freebie, but usually it retails at around £3.90 which I think is quite expensive. However it's widely available and you can get it from Boots and Superdrug as well as some supermarkets and chemists.

For a smooth and professional result you can buy stencils to make sure you create an even line. I always cheat and use small bits of cellotape, why buy something you're only going to use once when you can use something you already have? However, if I'm feeling slightly lazy I'll just freehand paint and tidy up with a cotton bud and varnish remover.

The consistency of the tip whitener is quite thick but it's smooth and not at all gloopy. This is good as you don't have to do lots of coats, sometimes only one will do the trick. You apply it as you would normal nail polish except just to the tips.

If you're painting freehand I find the best way it one swift stroke from right to left (but I am left handed so it may be vice versa to righties) but if you are using a stencil of some sort you can do small upward strokes.

As I've already said, you sometimes only need one coat, but you need to allow your nail tips to dry before deciding if you need to do another as painting on wet or tacky tips could ruin the look completely.

After my nails are completely dry, I seal the tip whitener in with a few coats of clear polish and voila! La French Manicure au professional!

So overall, I think that this is quite a good product. The polish isn't gloopy or too thick nor is it runny. It's not as expensive as other products nor is it the cheapest but it does the job brilliantly. If you're careful, you can achieve manicure perfection for ages but thankfully if you do chip any you can easily repair your nail.

A must have for polished perfection.

Summary: Polished perfection