Dots of Studio Black on Vanilla Cream, spaced by eye, which is why no two nails in the set are the same.
2 bottles: Vanilla Cream and Studio Black. Vanilla Cream against Studio Black is a hard contrast, so the motif reads from across a room, and any wobble in the line reads with it. 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 squoval, meaning square walls with the corners filed off, which gives the flattest and widest canvas here and the least distortion at the edges.
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Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Ink Dots nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Vanilla Cream, cured.
- 2 Dot a loose grid in Studio Black with a 1.5 mm tool, varying the sizes as you go.
- 3 Top coat to flatten the dots back into the nail.
Questions about Ink Dots
Is Ink Dots hard to do at home?
Yes. There is no freehand work that has to be accurate. Budget about 30 minutes for a full set, and two colours keeps it simple: cure the first before the second goes near it and nothing bleeds.
What polish do I need for Ink Dots?
2 bottles: Vanilla Cream (sheer) and Studio Black (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Ink Dots work on short nails?
A squoval works short: you lose canvas width rather than length, so the motif just sits closer together.
How many coats does Ink Dots need?
More than you would expect. Vanilla Cream 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.