Tangerine Pinstripe nails

Round · Pinstripe

Doable at home

Tangerine ruled with thin vertical Milky Ochre lines, evenly spaced.

3 bottles: Tangerine, Milky Ochre and Rust Ember. Tangerine and Milky Ochre 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.

Round nails are the setting: minimal length, a curve that matches the finger, and the least fragile free edge in the catalogue.

Make it yours

Pick a part of the nail, then a shade
Base: Tangerine · 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 Tangerine Pinstripe nails

  1. 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Tangerine, curing each one.
  2. 2 Rule each Milky Ochre stripe cuticle to tip in one pass with a long striping brush.
  3. 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.

Questions about Tangerine Pinstripe

  • Is Tangerine Pinstripe 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 Tangerine Pinstripe?

    3 bottles: Tangerine (crème), Milky Ochre (sheer) and Rust Ember (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.

  • Does Tangerine Pinstripe work on short nails?

    Round is already the shortest shape here, so yes, this is one of the designs that works at almost any length.

  • How many coats does Tangerine Pinstripe need?

    More than you would expect. Milky Ochre 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