Cloud Nails

The mistake that kills a cloud nail is painting an outline. A cloud has no edge, so the shape has to be built by density rather than by line: pick up a small amount of white on a short, slightly frayed brush or a torn makeup sponge, and press it onto the base in overlapping dabs, concentrating the pigment in the middle of each puff and letting it thin toward the outside until it fades into the base colour. Work in two or three light passes rather than one opaque one -- semi-sheer white over a milky nude gives depth, while a single solid stroke gives you a white blob. Vary the size and placement across the ten nails so the set looks like a sky rather than a repeated stamp, and if you add a silver lining keep it to one or two nails only. A soft-satin top coat suits the motif better than high gloss, which hardens the edges you just spent time softening.

Cloud nails read gentle rather than dressy, which makes them a daytime set: weekend brunch, travel days, anything where the mood is unhurried. They photograph unusually well in overcast or window light because the diffused motif has nothing sharp to blow out, and unusually badly under hard flash. Blue-based clouds pair with denim and white cotton; the milky-nude version works with cream, oatmeal and silver. Short round or squoval suits the motif best -- a long pointed shape gives the cloud a triangular canvas that distorts it. This is also a forgiving set to grow out, because a soft irregular motif hides a growing cuticle gap far better than a French line or a solid dark colour.