Butter Yellow with a Milk Bath lace border, the pattern densest near the cuticle.
3 bottles: Butter Yellow, Milk Bath and Old Gold. Butter Yellow and Milk Bath are close in tone, so the design is tonal rather than graphic. It shows up in daylight and softens indoors. The bottles are not all the same finish (crème and sheer), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.
On a stiletto the nail narrows the whole way, so the pattern reads as tapering with it, which is worth allowing for before the first stroke.
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Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Butter Lace nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Butter Yellow, curing each one.
- 2 Draw the Milk Bath scalloped edge first, then fill behind it with dots and short arcs.
- 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.
Questions about Butter Lace
Is Butter Lace 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 Butter Lace?
3 bottles: Butter Yellow (crème), Milk Bath (sheer) and Old Gold (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Butter Lace work on short nails?
Stiletto needs length, because the point is most of the shape. On a short nail it files down to something closer to almond, and the design still reads, just less sharply.
How many coats does Butter Lace need?
More than you would expect. Milk Bath 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.