Studio Shapes nails

Squoval · Abstract

Salon or steady hand

Shapes rather than a motif: Studio Black mass, Clay Pot line, Oat Milk ground, and no two nails in the set identical.

3 bottles: Oat Milk, Studio Black and Clay Pot. Oat Milk against Studio Black 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 (sheer and crème), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.

The squoval shape means straight sidewalls and a soft tip: anything built on a grid or a straight line sits truest here.

Make it yours

Pick a part of the nail, then a shade
Base: Oat Milk · Sheer Open the bottle

Bottles for this nail

Tap a bottle to open it on the shelf

What you need

Cream base one coat
Gel paints rust, black
Liner + dotting tool shapes and lines

How to paint Studio Shapes nails

  1. 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Oat Milk over the whole nail, cured.
  2. 2 Block in the Studio Black shape first, off-centre, then lay the Clay Pot line across it once it has set.
  3. 3 Finish with one small dot and a gloss top coat.

Questions about Studio Shapes

  • Is Studio Shapes 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 Studio Shapes?

    3 bottles: Oat Milk (sheer), Studio Black (crème) and Clay Pot (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.

  • Does Studio Shapes 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 Studio Shapes need?

    More than you would expect. Oat Milk 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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