Espresso Tortoiseshell nails
Espresso as a jelly with Bare Rosé and Bitter Chocolate blotches suspended in it, blurred rather than drawn.
3 bottles: Espresso, Bare Rosé and Bitter Chocolate. Espresso against Bare Rosé 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 (crème and sheer), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.
On a squoval the design has real width to work across, and the rounded corners are what stop the straight walls catching on things.
Make it yours
Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Espresso Tortoiseshell nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two coats of Espresso. A dark base shows every ridge, so the ridge-filling base coat matters more than usual here.
- 2 Drop Bare Rosé and Bitter Chocolate into wet Espresso and feather every edge with a clean brush.
- 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.
Questions about Espresso Tortoiseshell
Is Espresso Tortoiseshell 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 Espresso Tortoiseshell?
3 bottles: Espresso (crème), Bare Rosé (sheer) and Bitter Chocolate (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Espresso Tortoiseshell 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 Espresso Tortoiseshell need?
More than you would expect. Bare Rosé 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.