Dreaming Nails

Plum Wine Diagonal French nails

Stiletto · Diagonal French

Doable at home

A diagonal french: the Milk Glass tip set at an angle across Plum Wine rather than square to it.

3 bottles: Plum Wine, Milk Glass and Black Plum. Plum Wine against Milk Glass 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.

It sits on a stiletto, filed to a point from a wide base, which is the most dramatic shape here and the one that compresses a motif hardest toward the tip.

Make it yours

Pick a part of the nail, then a shade
Base: Plum Wine · Crème Open the bottle

Bottles for this nail

Tap a bottle to open it on the shelf
Plum Wine Base · Crème
Milk Glass Motif · Sheer
Black Plum Accent · Crème

What you need

Sheer base milky wash
Tip colour liner brush
Gloss top seal the smile

How to paint Plum Wine Diagonal French nails

  1. 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two coats of Plum Wine. A dark base shows every ridge, so the ridge-filling base coat matters more than usual here.
  2. 2 Set the Milk Glass line at an angle across the tip and keep the same angle on every nail.
  3. 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.

Questions about Plum Wine Diagonal French

  • Is Plum Wine Diagonal French 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 Plum Wine Diagonal French?

    3 bottles: Plum Wine (crème), Milk Glass (sheer) and Black Plum (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.

  • Does Plum Wine Diagonal French work on short nails?

    Stiletto needs length, because the point is most of the shape. On a short nail it files down to something closer to almond, and the design still reads, just less sharply.

  • How many coats does Plum Wine Diagonal French need?

    More than you would expect. Milk Glass 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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