alittlenailobsession : The Vintage Half Moon Manicure

For my first nail tutorial, I have chosen to show you all a fairly plain, nothing-too-crazy design known to many as the Half Moon Manicure, or Reverse French Manicure.

Historically, the Half Moon Manicure was often sported by femme fatales in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, with modern day women such as Dita Von Teese continuing the beautiful trend.

The Half Moon Manicure has many variations such as the classic 'Half Moon' section at the bottom of your nail painted in a modest nude colour and the remainder of your nail painted in a sassy dark red, as well as modern day variations with bold and contrasting colours.

The beauty of this nail trend is that one is able to choose whichever colour combinations they desire.

The products I will be using for this tutorial are the following:

China Glaze First and Last: I used this multi-tasking nail varnish as both my base and top coat.
Revlon's Gray Suede Nail Enamel: A beautiful natural yet opaque nude nail varnish.
OPI's Die Another Day from the Skyfall Collection: A brilliant shimmering red
Paper Hole Reinforcement Stickers: Who would have thought that stationery could be so useful in matters of cosmetics. These handy little circles will help you create the perfect half moon shape.

Ready?

Step 1: Paint your nails with a base coat. I tend to use China Glaze First and Last as it dries very quickly.

Step 2: Paint on two coats of a nude coloured nail varnish. As I previously mentioned, I am using Revlon's Gray Suede as it is a beautifully natural colour.

WORDS OF WARNING: I am an impatient person, and not afraid to admit it. The first time I tried this manicure, I did not wait until my nude colour had dried properly. This results in the colour being lifted off when you pull the reinforcement stickers off - not a good look. Find it in yourself to wait a while before applying the reinforcement stickers. Yes, it may be time consuming but trust me, it is worth the wait.

Step 3: Apply the reinforcement stickers to each nail, so that the upper inner rim of each circle touches your cuticle. You can either leave the sticker whole, or cut each one in half in order to maximise the usage of each sticker.

Step 4: Using your red nail varnish, paint the remaining portion of your nail, except the 'Half Moon', which you have covered up. There is no need to be extremely neat here, as the sticker acts as your barrier from ruining the nude nail varnish.

Step 5: Again, try to be patient and wait until the red nail varnish is completely dry. This will ensure that it does not drag when you remove the sticker.

Step 6: Once the nail varnish has dried completely, use tweezers or simply your fingers to remove each stickers, pulling the sticker back away from your nail.

Step 7: Lastly, paint one coat of a top coat over your entire nail. This will provide the manicure with a great shine and prolong it's duration.