Chilli Lacquer as a jelly: sheer on the first coat, deeper on the third, and glassy at any thickness.
3 bottles: Chilli Lacquer, Milk Bath and Brick. Chilli Lacquer and Milk Bath 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.
It sits on a coffin, sometimes called ballerina, tapered at the sides and cut off square at the tip. It needs real length and repays it with the largest flat area of any shape.
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Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Chilli Lacquer Jelly nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Chilli Lacquer, curing each one.
- 2 Three sheer coats of Chilli Lacquer, curing between each — the depth comes from layering, not from opacity.
- 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.
Questions about Chilli Lacquer Jelly
Is Chilli Lacquer Jelly 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 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 Chilli Lacquer Jelly?
3 bottles: Chilli Lacquer (crème), Milk Bath (sheer) and Brick (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Chilli Lacquer Jelly work on short nails?
Coffin is the one shape here that genuinely needs length. On a short nail there is not enough free edge to cut square, and it will read as a squoval instead.
How many coats does Chilli Lacquer Jelly 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.