the half moon manicure is everywhere right now. a staple at the various fashion weeks in february, it has quickly worked its way onto the nails of every beauty editor and fashion follower, and now us.

a reversal of the classic french which has been banished into the annals of beauty history (for the moment at least) the half moon is unexpected, chic, and can be as fun and quirky or paired-back as you wish.

to perk up a relentlessly rainy week in london, i painted on happy mint green crescents beneath a pretty purple.

the trick to a no-muss, no-fuss, perfect half moon manicure is a little secret from the stationery store. sticker ring reinforcements for binder paper … who knew!

allow your first coat to dry completely. (when dealing with strong shades i tend to concentrate just on painting the base of the nail bed where the crescents will be, otherwise it can compromise your top shade too much – see picture below)

stick the rings on to your hand first – this is the important bit. the oil from your skin will get rid of some of the excess glue on the sticker so it doesn’t pull away the polish. i dab the stickers a few times on the back of my hand so the glue is just the tiniest bit sticky.

carefully place the stickers on your nails as shown (i also find it easier to snip the opposite side of the ring to allow you to shape it around your finger) and paint on the second colour.

leave to dry, then carefully pull the sticker away. you will have (hopefully!) perfect half moons. finally, paint on a top coat to even out the ridge where the two shades meet.

try any combination you like. my favourite half moon looks are black crescents on a bare nail with just  a slick of clear polish, gold crescents on a black nail, or contrasting pastels like this.

don’t smudge, and wait for the compliments on your beautiful half moons.