Terracotta Hour with a single Vanilla Cream horseshoe and Burnt Umber dots around its edge.
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 coffin shape there is more flat nail than almost anywhere else on the site, so a dense or textured finish has room to be seen.
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Bottles for this nail
Tap a bottle to open it on the shelfWhat you need
How to paint Terracotta Horseshoe nails
- 1 Buff, dehydrate and base coat, then cure. Two thin coats of Terracotta Hour, curing each one.
- 2 Draw the Vanilla Cream U in one stroke, thickening it slightly, then dot Burnt Umber holes along it.
- 3 Gloss top coat, cure, then cuticle oil once it is out of the lamp.
Questions about Terracotta Horseshoe
Is Terracotta Horseshoe 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 Terracotta Horseshoe?
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 Horseshoe 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 Terracotta Horseshoe 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.