Cocoa Cream Horseshoe nails

Oval · Horseshoe

Doable at home

A horseshoe in Vanilla Cream over Cocoa Cream, open end down, dotted for the nail holes.

3 bottles: Cocoa Cream, Vanilla Cream and Chestnut. Cocoa Cream and Vanilla Cream 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 an oval, with walls that follow the finger and a tip rounded off, which flatters a short nail bed without needing much length and keeps the motif undistorted.

Make it yours

Pick a part of the nail, then a shade
Base: Cocoa Cream · Crème Open the bottle

Bottles for this nail

Tap a bottle to open it on the shelf

What you need

Base colour cured
Striper brush clean lines
Gloss top level the paint

How to paint Cocoa Cream Horseshoe nails

  1. 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Cocoa Cream, curing each one.
  2. 2 Draw the Vanilla Cream U in one stroke, thickening it slightly, then dot Chestnut holes along it.
  3. 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.

Questions about Cocoa Cream Horseshoe

  • Is Cocoa Cream Horseshoe hard to do at home?

    Yes, with a steady hand. The motif is freehand, so the first nail is usually the worst one. Budget around 45 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 Cocoa Cream Horseshoe?

    3 bottles: Cocoa Cream (crème), Vanilla Cream (sheer) and Chestnut (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.

  • Does Cocoa Cream Horseshoe work on short nails?

    Oval is one of the better shapes for a short nail: it lengthens the look of the bed without needing free edge to do it, so the design carries over unchanged.

  • How many coats does Cocoa Cream Horseshoe 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.

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