French manicures can be made with artificial nails, which are designed to resemble natural ones and are characterized by lack of base color, or natural pink base nails with white tips. The nail tips are painted white, while the rest of the nails are polished in a pink or a suitable nude shade. However, it is also as common to perform a French manicure on natural nails. Another technique is to whiten the underside of the nail with white pencil and paint a sheer color over the entire nail.