Plum Wine Half Moon nails

Coffin · Half Moon

Doable at home

Plum Wine with a Milk Glass arc at the base of the nail rather than the tip.

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.

Coffin nails give the most surface of any shape here, which is why the heavier finishes tend to live on them; they also need the most length to work at all.

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

What you need

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

How to paint Plum Wine Half Moon 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 Draw the Milk Glass crescent at the cuticle following the curve of the nail fold, then fill it.
  3. 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.

Questions about Plum Wine Half Moon

  • Is Plum Wine Half Moon 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 Half Moon?

    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 Half Moon 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 Plum Wine Half Moon 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.

You might also like

Try it on a hand Try it in your hand Start a design from this one