Sassy western-inspired French tips to level-up your next manicure

For the first time in two years, I walked into my nail appointment with no idea what I wanted, and according to my nail tech, Leanne Haycock, everyone’s been feeling the same.

Usually I have an event coming up with a pre-planned outfit that I’ll match my nails to, or I’ll see a set on Instagram that I fall in love with. My festival plans for the summer had fallen through, along with any nail ideas I’d planned around them. But one thing that’s really important to me is having my nails feel like an extension of my personality – and nothing was jumping out at me.

Luckily, Leanne has been painting tiny masterpieces onto the keratin growing out of my fingers for two years, so she knows my style despite always wanting something different to anything I’ve had before.

After a quick scroll through her saved Instagram folder of nail inspiration, Leanne went ahead and got a few colours together and I was already obsessed with the mustard and neutral colour combo. We took inspiration from a set by Petit Nail Studio – but Leanne had a great knack for making things her own. The set featured mustard, light yellow, nudes and whites, and was decorated with leopard print, cow print, snakes and eyes.

To make these nails more individual, and something I’d not yet had – we opted to make them frenchies! I’ve never had a French nail design, so it ticked all the boxes so far in terms of wanting something different, but still feeling like they matched my personality.

I went for a fairly short, almond shaped nail instead of my usual round to make the French tips more pointed. Leanne prepped my nails and added the Glossify Naturabuild Nude as a builder, before cracking on with the design.

Leanne used the Glossify One Coat White and One Coat Black, as well as a brand new unreleased shade, alongside The Gel Bottle’s Queen Bee and Mustard. She mixed and matched the art on each hand to switch things up, meaning my left hand has a leopard print on white tip, cow print on mustard tip, a snake on a nude tip and two Queen Bee tips. Meanwhile, my right hand has leopard on mustard, leopard on white, a snake on nude, as well as a Mustard tip and a Queen Bee tip.

It would be easy to dismiss the French Tip as a waste of money – I mean, why pay upwards of £50 to have only a quarter of your nail painted? But trust me, it’s such an effective look that’s constantly evolving. It’s no longer your basic white tip. You’d be surprised at how much nail art a good tech can squeeze into that small space – and the mathematics involved in creating the perfect curve is so satisfying to watch. Not only that, but having a French tip makes your outgrowth less obvious, so you can get away with your manicure for that extra week or two – totally makes up for any pricetag concerns you might have had.