Nail glossary

Tip depth

How far down the nail a French tip's colour band reaches — micro, classic or deep. Also called: Smile line depth.

Tip depth is the hidden variable of every French manicure: the same design reads minimalist at two millimetres and editorial at a third of the nail. Salons increasingly treat it as a booked specification rather than an improvisation, and design tools now let you set it explicitly.

Rules of thumb: short nails favour micro; deep tips give art (chrome, glitter fades, colour) room to perform and hide tip-wear longest; classic is classic for a reason.

Now on the App Store

Now go design it.

Vocabulary is the map; a real set is the territory. Design your exact nails in Nailly and send them to an artist who can make them — live on the App Store for the US and Canada.