July 11th, 2012 
Popular in the 20s, 30s and 40s, this vintage manicure – also known as the “Gatsby,” the “Cuban” and the “Moon”– has made a huge comeback in the recent years. Often worn by burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, the trend takes the French manicure, which accents the tips of your nails, and reverses it! Instead of white tips, the classic Half Moon Manicure featured a white or bare-nail crescent shape at the base of the nail and red tips. Nowadays, any color combination goes.
(Photo Credits: the cherry blossom girl & popstar online)
To easily achieve this retro nail look, all you’ll need are two nail polishes of your color choice and French-manicure guide stickers (or 3-ring binder hole reinforcement stickers).
Steps to The Half Moon Manicure:
- Apply a base coat to your nails.
- Once dry, apply the polish color you want featured as the “half moon” (at the bottom of your nail) to your entire nail.
- Once completely dry, place the guide stickers near the base of each nail.
- Apply your second nail polish color on the top portion your nail making sure to not paint below the guide sticker.
- Once the polish has completely dried, carefully and slowly remove each sticker to reveal the half moon manicure.
- Finish with a fast-drying, glossy top coat.
Note: If you want to take this trend to the next level, you can feature both the Half Moon (at the base) and French Manicure (at the tips) on your nails.
