A butterfly in Vanilla Cream and Burnt Umber over Terracotta Hour, wings drawn as four filled shapes.
3 bottles: Terracotta Hour, Vanilla Cream and Burnt Umber. Terracotta Hour and Vanilla Cream sit a comfortable distance apart: the motif is clearly legible without shouting, which is the easiest range to freehand in. The bottles are not all the same finish (crème and sheer), so the pattern picks up light differently from the ground.
On a squoval the design has real width to work across, and the rounded corners are what stop the straight walls catching on things.
Make it yours
Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Terracotta Butterfly nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Terracotta Hour, curing each one.
- 2 Block the four Vanilla Cream wing shapes first, then add the Burnt Umber markings and the body last.
- 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.
Questions about Terracotta Butterfly
Is Terracotta Butterfly 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 Terracotta Butterfly?
3 bottles: Terracotta Hour (crème), Vanilla Cream (sheer) and Burnt Umber (crème). Plus a base coat and a gloss top coat, which every design here assumes you already have.
Does Terracotta Butterfly 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 Terracotta Butterfly need?
More than you would expect. Vanilla Cream 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.