With nail salons closed for the most part of the last 12 months, many of us will have dusted off our nail filers and polishes at some point during lockdown. From neatening up your skills for a salon-grade manicure, attempting to follow a nail art tutorial or just giving your cuticles a bit of TLC, there’s a lot you can do at home.

Thankfully, there are plenty of trends emerging on social media for inspiration, too. Enter: black-tipped French manicures.

Yep, the classic French manicure has been given a revamp, with many beauty influencers and nail artists opting for black polish on their fingertips instead.

“There has been a French Revolution recently and the emphasis has been on ‘French but with a twist’,” says celebrity nail artist Jenni Draper. “The black line gives the classic look a harder, grittier edge.”

While it’s achieved in the exact same way as a traditional French manicure – bar the colour change – it can be fiddly to create a neat finish. So how do you paint a French manicure yourself?

“The look can be done easily at home, just make sure you have a tidy up brush and acetone to hand, alongside a thin nail brush and your nail polish,” says Draper.

“Leave the nail clean with no polish, this makes mistakes easier to clean up,” explains Drape. “Use a thin nail art brush to draw the ‘smile line’ and then fill in the rest with your nail polish brush.

“Or, if it’s a skinny French you want [meaning the coloured tip is thin or you have short nails] then just use the nail art brush for the line.

“Use the tidy up brush dipped in acetone to clean up the edges and then apply a base coat over the entire nail. Once that is dry, apply a top coat for high shine and to make the design last.”

Seems simple enough, right? If you aren’t quite sold yet, here’s some inspiration. We know what we’ll be doing this weekend…

Main image: Imarni Nails