Half Teal nails
A straight colour block, half Milk Bath and half Deep Teal, which is the easiest way to wear two shades at once.
2 bottles: Milk Bath and Deep Teal. Milk Bath and Deep Teal 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 (sheer and crème), 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 Half Teal nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Paint the Milk Bath half first and cure it.
- 2 Tape the divide, fill the second half with Deep Teal, and pull the tape while the gel is still wet.
- 3 Top coat to hide the ridge where the two halves meet.
Questions about Half Teal
Is Half Teal 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 two colours keeps it simple: cure the first before the second goes near it and nothing bleeds.
What polish do I need for Half Teal?
2 bottles: Milk Bath (sheer) and Deep Teal (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Half Teal 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 Half Teal 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.