When it comes to your manicure, winter is the perfect time to experiment with dark shades. Black, navy and burgundy are some of our go-to colours for the colder months, but if you’re not a fan of an all-over dark design or want a way to combine the deep wintery shades with a more classic design, Zara McDermott’s chocolate French tips are the perfect combo.

The documentary maker and former Made in Chelsea star showed off her chic new nails on Instagram earlier this week and had opted for a deep, chocolate-brown tip – and it’s safe to say we’re obsessed.

Zara McDermott's chocolate French manicure is perfect for winter

Zara’s nails had been filed into a short, rounded shape that’s been trending lately as a more practical and low-maintenance alternative to the longer styles that have dominated our manis over the last few years.

Although a French manicure typically relies on following the natural white tips of your nails, a shorter length doesn’t mean you have to forgo the classic design. Instead, you can simply create a dainty edge that follows your nail’s natural shape, as perfectly demonstrated by Zara’s dainty micro tips.

Rather than a thicker line, she’d opted for a much finer, thinner style tip that gives the classic French manicure a more modern, minimalist look, and although she’d stuck to the design’s signature nude base, she’d swapped the traditional white tip for a rich chocolate-inspired shade of brown.

This TikTok hack from Ducarebeauty shows how to create a french tip quickly

If you want to copy Zara’s look, a French manicure is actually incredibly easy to duplicate yourself at home, especially with the abundance of hacks available on TikTok that show how to create a neat, smooth tip using a beauty blender.

To DIY the look, you need to start with a neutral base that matches your skin tone. You can either stick with a clear base coat, or for a more polished, professional look a nude base coat is preferred; Nails Inc. has a whole range of skintone-based nude shades to choose from as part of its Caught in the Nude range, £8 here.

Mylee's Mother Nature Gel Polish is the perfect chocolate brow shade

Once your base is done, it’s time to move onto the fun part – the French tip. To start with, cover a beauty blender with cling film and paint a swipe of nail polish across it. For Zara’s chocolate shade, use either Rimmel Super Gel Nail Polish in Venus, £6.99 here, or if you prefer an at-home gel manicure, Mylee’s Mother Nature Gel Polish, £8.99 here.

Then simply press the edge of your nail into the wet polish to create a quick, easy tip. Don’t worry if you get the nail varnish on your fingers – you can use a cotton bud and some nail polish remover to clean up the edges once you’re done. And voila! One chocolatey take on the French manicure with no steady hand required.

By Editor