Hand-painted leopard: irregular Honeycomb horseshoes on Studio Black, Sorbet Peach flecks filling the space so no two nails match.
3 bottles: Studio Black, Honeycomb and Sorbet Peach. Studio Black and Honeycomb 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 (crème and sheer), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.
The almond taper pulls anything vertical along with it, so swirls and sprigs suit it and evenly spaced dots need allowing for.
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Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Night Leopard nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two coats of Studio Black, cured hard.
- 2 Scatter broken Honeycomb rings: open horseshoes, different sizes, different angles, never closed circles.
- 3 Drop Sorbet Peach flecks into the gaps between the rings, then two top coats to level the paint.
Questions about Night Leopard
Is Night Leopard 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 Night Leopard?
3 bottles: Studio Black (crème), Honeycomb (crème) and Sorbet Peach (sheer). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Night Leopard work on short nails?
Almond needs a little length to hold its taper. On a short nail the shape reads closer to round, and the design still works, it just stops elongating the finger.
How many coats does Night Leopard need?
More than you would expect. Sorbet Peach 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.