'I hated doing my own nails. Then I came across the viral French manicure hack.'

A thing you must know about me: I suck at doing my nails. But also, I hate going to the nail salon.

Meaning? My nails always look very sad.

But recently, I got my nails done at a beauty event — and I did what I do every single time and opted for a pinkish colour I thought would give me that cool, chic 'old money manicure' vibe, along with some tiny cherry nail art (because ICYMI, Pinterest said cherry nail art is 'in' for 2025).

Watch: Speaking of beauty, here's what happened when I tried the glycolic acid hack for cracked heels. Post continues below.

However, just like every other time, it made my nails look like... skin because I'm too pale. And every time I looked down at my nails I couldn't help but notice my hands looked like an actual corpse.

So! I was looking at what I could do because it's a fresh manicure and I don't want to take it off.

That's when I came across this French manicure hack. And it looked so doable — so you know I had to try it out.

What is the French manicure hack?

It involves — wait for it — Glad Wrap, a beauty blender, and nail polish. Yes, it sounds crazy, but supposedly it gives you that perfect French manicure with minimal effort.

Here's how it works: you wrap your beauty blender in a piece of glad wrap, then paint a little stripe of nail polish on the wrap. Next, you press the tip of your nail into the polish, and voilà — it's meant to give you an even, crisp French tip without the shaky freehand struggle.

For reference, this is the vibe:

@lifeprettyhacks

Good idea for girls😃#foryou #diy #idea #beautiful #tipsforgirls #beautyhacks #tutorial #lifehack #try #foryoupage

♬ Victoria's Secret - Jax

How did you go with it?

Okay, but I was nervous about this because I SUCK at nails — but I took it step by step.

I started by wrapping my beauty blender in a piece of glad wrap, then painted a stripe of blue nail polish on the wrap. I grabbed Sally Hansen 'Sugar Fix' in 370, $13, from Chemist Warehouse — I love this colour! So bright! Summery! Cute!

Next, I went through and pressed the tip of my nails into the polish, and the right hand looked SO GOOD, like literally professional stuff — even, crisp and perfect.

When I moved to the left hand and switched, however, the cling wrap kept catching on my fresh tips (ugh!) — so I'd recommend waiting for one hand to dry properly first. It took a bit of trial and error with the other hand and the nail polish was kind of getting all over my fingers.… But I used a Q-tip and nail polish remover and cleaned all the smudges up.

Image: Supplied. 

Then, I rinsed them under cold water to set — and applied a top coat of nail polish. I used OPI Infinite Shine Gel-Like Top Coat, $24.95.

Here's what my nails looked like before and after:

Thoughts and feelings, please. Image: Supplied.

The verdict.

I have to say, after cleaning everything up — my gosh, it looked GOOD. The left hand was a bit jankier than the right, but it almost looked pro and made my manicure look SO much better.

The lighting above (and below) doesn't do it justice, but my nails looked brighter.

She's so smug! (And yes, I fixed the polish on my left thumb). Image: Supplied.

Honestly, this would be sooo good for event season when it's usually impossible to get appointments this close to Christmas. It's also a clever hack if you're on holiday and want an easy way to up your nail game — you can either keep it simple and use clear nail polish as the base and add a simple pop of colour to your tips, or play around with different colour combinations.

If you're looking for some inspo, we pulled together some of the top nail trends for 2025 — so check it out!

Want to read more on nails? We've got you sorted.

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• Is BIAB actually good for your nails?

• 'I'm suddenly obsessed with press-on nails. Here's 4 of the best brands to try.'

What are your thoughts on the above? Would you try it? Share with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Supplied.