Nails: Acrylic, Gel, Natural, Builder Gel: Share your designs here:

[Big Miss Steak]

I paint my nails about twice a week. my toes could be left for longer but I like to keep my fingers and toe polish uniform.

I've heard good things about holographic indie polishes. Do you have any brands that you would recommend? I have a couple of Color Club halo hues ones but I hear that indie brands are a lot more refractive.

Holographics are a blast and I am immensely tempted to send you some pics I have of my holographic polish with the flash on. You need a good top coat to keep the final product from being textured. I get all my indie polish from Polish Pickup (PPU) nowadays. They have a group on FB and they follow a monthly model. Theme for the month is chosen, creators tease their polishes, store opens on X date, stuff is up for a limited time and for limited quantities so you gotta jump on it. Quite a few makers participate in there and there are only a couple makers I avoid.

Some examples of holos you see in the group (these are seller pics so of course the job is impeccable):



That last one has magnetic particles which I have never had any luck with.

I do nothing to my nails except cut them and clean under them. My skin/cuticles are absolutely horrendous, idk if it's me getting older or what- but never have my fingertips looked and felt so awful. I swear I have between 1 and 3 hangnails on each finger and I dont know how it got this way. What can I do about the health of my nails/skin around them? I dont care much for nail polish etc (though I did make custom press ons for a bit and that was so much fun)

Cuticle oil multiple times a day, and cuticle butter before bed. Cuticle trimmers to trim off hangnails so you don't pick at them.

Has anyone tried water marbling before and/or have any tips? I tried to learn how to do it several years ago but my results were awful and it felt like a waste so I gave up.
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I tried a few times years back and it never worked out well.

 

[Friend of Dorothy Parker]

nails that have a deep C-curve

Tf is that?

I also cannot say enough positive things about Hard As Hoof. It really works. I’m very anti nail hardeners. I think they do more harm than good.

How is Hard as Hoof different than a hardener? I realize it self-bills as a nail strengthener, not hardener. How does it operate to strengthen, and how is that different to hardening?

*I have historically had very strong and well-shaped and -colored nails, so I’ve never needed to use anything beyond general moisturizing/occasional oil for health of the nail beds, and they grow like weeds, with or without polish. With age, though, I see more bendiness and sometimes less bright white tips, so I’m thinking maybe I could benefit from [something] to ensure my usual enviable nails continue that way.

In general, I tend to rounded square neutral-toned fingernails of medium length, usually with a gel polish, and a season-relevant color on toes. Occasionally have done brighter colors on my fingers (again gel is nice), but not a fan of acrylics or high-maintenance or overly long nails, because I am active with my hands (life in general, typing, gardening, cleaning, home stuff), and don’t like monthly appointments for anything.

And I can’t paint my toes for shit, so it’s salon or nothing. Ok, same for fingernails, so if I do it at home it’s a buff, clear, or faintest neutral. No matter what, efforts to do color on any nails at home result in smudges and smears and nicks. I’m too impatient to wait for things to dry fully, I guess. I might also be a decade behind in nail tech, but “fast dry” stuff never worked for me - either a lie or so thin it was useless.

 

[deputydogshit2.0]

@Friend of Dorothy Parker

By nail strengtheners I’m talking about shit like OPI Nail Envy or Sally Hansen Nail strengtheners. They ordinarily have formaldehyde and lots of other chemicals in them. They seem to work short term, but IMO all of a sudden you’ll notice your nails are really brittle and they almost shatter. Hard as Hoof works by keeping your cuticles moisturized. It all begins with the cuticles. Healthy cuticles also reduce your hangnails big time.

One caveat. One of the nailtiques strengtheners didn’t make my nails brittle, but it did give them a funny orange-ish tint.

 

[Waifuwars]

I do gel on my natural nails and usually copy Japanese or Korean designs. Korean and Japanese gels are just so good in terms of coverage and quality. I haven't encountered a bad brand yet. To avoid making a super long post, I like From the Nail, Fiote, and Presto in terms of color gels. I swear by Jin.B's crazy fix gel for nail art. It's a non-wipe clear gel and the thick version secures rhinestones and embellishments extremely well. Plus, you can put a coat on just to help strengthen your nails as well.

I use a peel off gel base coat and then a regular no-sanding base coat for easier removal and to minimize any damage to my nails. What you do is apply a bit of base coat in the center of your nails then go over it with regular base coat to increase the longevity, otherwise just using the peel off base will result in your gel peeling off within a few days, even with proper prep. My gel can last a good two weeks this way and removing takes less than 10 minutes. The most popular peel off gel base coat is the Jello Jello peel off base coat that popular Korean YouTuber Journal uses, but I honestly prefer Diami's since it leaves less residue (you can find it here). I usually buy the bulk of my nail art supplies from AliExpress since it's so cheap. Here's some nail art from some of my favorite nail artists on Instagram.

Spoiler: Nail Art Dump

@pintorde_mar_azul


@naildewhat_studio


@ashopnail


@__dacci__


@drawing__show

 

[Velvanot]

Seconding Polish Pickup. It takes a bit to get to you since it's a preorder service but almost everything I've gotten from them has been fantastic. My favorite makers right now are Ethereal, KBShimmer and Fair Maiden (rip) but I keep adding new ones to the list. Holographics are great but these days I tend to go for flakie polishes and shimmer bombs.

 

[Big Miss Steak]

Seconding Polish Pickup. It takes a bit to get to you since it's a preorder service but almost everything I've gotten from them has been fantastic. My favorite makers right now are Ethereal, KBShimmer and Fair Maiden (rip) but I keep adding new ones to the list. Holographics are great but these days I tend to go for flakie polishes and shimmer bombs.

I've had maybe one or two stinkers from PPU in years of buying from them.

Where else can you find anything remotely like this?

 

[Aiōn]

Yeah indie polishes do have some unique glitter combinations. I may have to pick up a couple once I have finished some of what I already have.

China Glaze are pretty good at bringing out some interesting polishes for a mainstream brand and even better you can get certain collections very cheaply at Sally's the following year. I was lucky enough to pick up most of the Sesame Street 50th Anniversary collection and The Arrangement collection (the ones I liked) for 50c a piece. I also bought extras and sold them so my habit could pay for itself.

I have my polishes organized by brand and I keep labelled swatches that are organized by color + glitters and toppers on loose leaf rings. I paint the reverse of the swatch stick so they last longer.

It may look excessive to some but I have been collecting for quite a while.

 

[Aiōn]

It looks like the image in the above post was lost in the rollback.
These are my swatches.

 

[smegma enthusiast]

I’ve been into the “jelly nail” trend recently. It’s just sheer polish but I like the glassy, translucent effect.

The effect is best with fake nails but I like my natural ones most.
Currently I use ORLY bonder base coat and the Essie Gel Couture top coat, both are great. For the polish itself my favorite are Korean brand Romand’s “Mood Nail” polishes but they’re hard to find in the states. I tried Cirque Colors but their jelly polishes are very streaky unfortunately. Any suggestions?

 

[Aiōn]

Any suggestions?

Essie are usually pretty good and they released a range of jelly polishes in 2019 called 'Glazed Days' which are still available on their official website. I tend to watch swatch videos like this one to check out whether there are any duds in a collection before I buy them.

I personally do not like a visible nail line but I do enjoy jelly sandwich manicures and I have heard good things about OPI sheer formulas. They released a Sheer Tints collection, followed by Color Paints to be worn over a silver base almost a decade ago and people spoke highly of them at the time.

 

[Big Miss Steak]

I’ve been into the “jelly nail” trend recently. It’s just sheer polish but I like the glassy, translucent effect.
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The effect is best with fake nails but I like my natural ones most.
Currently I use ORLY bonder base coat and the Essie Gel Couture top coat, both are great. For the polish itself my favorite are Korean brand Romand’s “Mood Nail” polishes but they’re hard to find in the states. I tried Cirque Colors but their jelly polishes are very streaky unfortunately. Any suggestions?

My nail lines are uneven so I don't do jelly over my natural nails, but I will do jelly sandwich manicures, or use a jelly polish that has strong effects like glitter/holographic/flakes. A lot of jellies don't have great formulas IME. I am slowly cataloguing my nail polishes and if I come across some good jellies I will let you know.

 

[Bowl of Ramen]

I paint my nails once or twice a week. I don’t do makeup, I cut my own hair, and pluck my own chin. But DAMN I love polish. Sometimes I’ll randomly pick three or four colors and randomly apply them. I’m a hoarder of two things: polish and glitter, and I’ll sometimes use craft glitter if I’m feeling particularly goofy.

However, my favorite combo was a dark metallic green - Blitz, the Sally’s brand - and add makeup grade gold glitter near the cuticles, then blow the glitter forward, the most white trash way of making an ombre of sorts.

 

[Stan]

I started getting my nails done in high school as a way to deter myself from biting my nails. Applying gross-tasting oils to my fingers didn't work, but not wanting to mess up my manicure did work. After a stint of back-to-back polishes I usually take a break for a few months. My nails can grow quite long if I do not cut them, but I like to keep them short (2-4 mm overhang) because of my background in science and medicine.

Spoiler: why does that matter?

Most hospitals specify in their dress code to trim one's fingernails short. They also ban acrylic nails. It's an infection control issue. Long, pointy nails can poke through vinyl disposable gloves.

Around 2016 or so I read an article in the New York Times that said most nail technicians in NYC are paid slave wages and have unsafe work conditions (the chemicals, the fine dust particles.) After that I started doing my nails at home, and only visit nail salons on special occasions.

I am not much a fan of gel nails. In order to apply the gel the technician (or you) rough up the surface of the nail, damaging it. The gel is only marginally longer-lasting than traditional polish and it's a bitch to remove on your own. my mom likes them.

I'm boring and I only know how to apply solid colors to my Becky-grade short nails. My favorites are black, red, wine-like reddish purple, and semi-transparent pink.

 

[Aiōn]

Just as I said I wasn't going to buy any more polishes.. I saw some cat eye gels on clearance and ended up buying a load of them. I got witchy colors mostly like greens, purples and blues to wear over black. I plan to wear them over the Hallowe'en season.

Not this exact brand but similar.


I like the fact that they are gel because you can keep working with them over and over before curing them. I've been watching nail art tutorials for different techniques including stamping with them.

 

[Waifuwars]

Currently I use ORLY bonder base coat and the Essie Gel Couture top coat, both are great. For the polish itself my favorite are Korean brand Romand’s “Mood Nail” polishes but they’re hard to find in the states. I tried Cirque Colors but their jelly polishes are very streaky unfortunately. Any suggestions?

For Korean syrup gels, I like Mayour a lot. Their coverage is very smooth and their bottles are really cute. Zillabeau carries most of their collections here. F Gel puts out a lot as well but the one bottle of syrup gel I bought from them applied very streaky so I wouldn't recommend. People really like Tiny as well but they're on the pricier side.

For Japanese brands, Presto can't be beat in terms of quality and cost. Nail Labo carries them and their syrup gels are some of the best. They've done some collaborations with Japanese nail artists. Unfortunately their website sucks since there's no actual swatches so you'd have to look on Instagram or other sites for them.

 

[Anne Hyroe]

I have an appointment in the morning and I want autumn-y and Halloween-friendly without just being purely Halloween. Help

 

[Aiōn]

I have an appointment in the morning and I want autumn-y and Halloween-friendly without just being purely Halloween. Help

I don't know your personal style and but I would suggest you go with a Halloween palette if you don't want overly Halloweenesque art. I see a lot of people using colors like browns and burnt oranges on their nails during this time of year but make sure that the colors suit your natural skin tone.

Spoiler: Fall/Halloween Designs

I have quite a few Halloween stamping plates and my skintone is cool so I will be mostly wearing duochromes stamped over black and also cats eye.

[/]SPOILER

 

[nonnita]

i drew strawberries and ladybugs on my nails the other day with a painting brush lol i’m happy that i somehow managed to make them look professional

 

[behavioral swamp thang]

trends and their caveats
(as they relate to acryllics)

magnetic dust/cat eye - difficult to get perfect angle of magnetic dust streak on every nail
jelly - so cool but you cant get them dirty, everyone can see it
chrome - chips off in like two days. looks bad ass tho

 

[Major]

Is it weird to have nails that are flat and do not fold under the skin at the sides and almost cover the whole fingertip width? I've never seen nails like mine on anyone else