Pistachio Micro Check nails

Squoval · Micro Check

Salon or steady hand

Pistachio with a fine Milk Bath chequer — the same idea as the checkerboard at a third of the scale.

3 bottles: Pistachio, Milk Bath and Fern. Pistachio 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.

It sits on a squoval, meaning square walls with the corners filed off, which gives the flattest and widest canvas here and the least distortion at the edges.

Make it yours

Pick a part of the nail, then a shade
Base: Pistachio · 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 Pistachio Micro Check nails

  1. 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Pistachio, curing each one.
  2. 2 Rule the Milk Bath grid with a striping brush in both directions, then fill alternate cells.
  3. 3 Two top coats to level the grid without smearing it.

Questions about Pistachio Micro Check

  • Is Pistachio Micro Check 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 Pistachio Micro Check?

    3 bottles: Pistachio (crème), Milk Bath (sheer) and Fern (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.

  • Does Pistachio Micro Check 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 Pistachio Micro Check 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.

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