Gallery nails

Round · Abstract

Salon or steady hand

Oat Milk carrying an off-centre Terracotta Hour form and a Studio Black stroke across it, arranged rather than repeated.

3 bottles: Oat Milk, Terracotta Hour and Studio Black. Oat Milk and Terracotta Hour sit a comfortable distance apart: the motif is clearly legible without shouting, which is the easiest range to freehand in. The bottles are not all the same finish (sheer and crème), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.

It sits on a round nail, filed to follow the fingertip, which is the shortest shape here and the one that chips least, so the motif gets a soft frame rather than a pointed one.

Make it yours

Pick a part of the nail, then a shade
Base: Oat Milk · Sheer Open the bottle

Bottles for this nail

Tap a bottle to open it on the shelf

What you need

Cream base one coat
Gel paints rust, black
Liner + dotting tool shapes and lines

How to paint Gallery nails

  1. 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Oat Milk over the whole nail, cured.
  2. 2 Block in the Terracotta Hour shape first, off-centre, then lay the Studio Black line across it once it has set.
  3. 3 Finish with one small dot and a gloss top coat.

Questions about Gallery

  • Is Gallery hard to do at home?

    It is the hardest tier on the site. It is doable at home, but the technique is the point rather than the colour. Budget an hour or more for a full set, and three colours means three chances for something to bleed, so cure between each one rather than working wet on wet.

  • What polish do I need for Gallery?

    3 bottles: Oat Milk (sheer), Terracotta Hour (crème) and Studio Black (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.

  • Does Gallery work on short nails?

    Round is already the shortest shape here, so yes, this is one of the designs that works at almost any length.

  • How many coats does Gallery need?

    More than you would expect. Oat Milk is translucent, so the colour builds over three thin coats rather than covering in two. Stop wherever you like the depth — that is the point of a sheer.

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