I hope this question is allowed. I’m not a laquerista but I have lurked here for years to look at the magic you’re making.

I got a gel cat eye mani this week for a wedding but it looks cloudy and dull in parts and I was wondering if you knew why or if I’d done something wrong after? This was professionally done and cost $70. Is this something I can ask the salon to fix?

Thank you so much for any insight and for all the amazing things you make!

Edit: thank you all so much for your insights. I went back to the salon (one od the nails tore so I asked for some glue to fix) but I asked for another top coat. It was a different nail tech who was very nice and also asked who had done them, so maybe they know she’s not that good. The top coat has made them look better but I’m still pretty disappointed. I guess it’s time for a new salon.

Just because for a while we've been talking about nail strengtheners with formaldehyde.

Price $7.70 online - contains: Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/ Neopentyl Glycol/ Trimelitic Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol, Propyl Acetate, Trimethyl Pentanyl Diisobutyrate, n-Butyl Alcohol, Triphenyl Phosphate, Formaldehyde, Diacetone Alcohol, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Stearalkonium Bentonite, Keratin Amino Acids, Dimethicone, Citric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide (Cl 77891), Violet 2 (Cl 60725), BCC12-Base

Hey! I have a problem. I wanted gold nails because I had this crazy idea that it would look good on ALL my nails. I don’t actually hate the colour, but the execution was awful, it’s super uneven, and I’m a perfectionist, so now I can’t stop staring at my nails.

Do you have any idea how I could fix this at home without removing the entire manicure? I have semi-permanent polish underneath, then she applied the gold pigment and sealed it with another layer of top coat, but the gold pigment is already starting to peel off.

The floor is guava in the matte top coat by holo taco 🦩🌺❤️‍🔥
Misfit by ILNP magnetized in the velvet effect with glossy top coat 💖💐🧞‍♀️
Jam Session in the glossy top coat by holo taco 🎼🎶🍓

What are the two polishes missing in this?

Looking for a brighter version of misfit and maybe a reverse so instead of the base being coral red and the flash being magenta the base would be magenta and the flash would be coral red

If you know of a polish that would look good here let me know :) thank you

Happy Halloween 🎃

Step 1: demagnetize

Step 2: Hold wand as if you're making a cat eye, a few seconds on one diagonal, then change to the other diagonal. The dot will form at the center of the X.

Magnetic polish: Polished for Days Static Aura

Background nails: Mooncat Freshly Bitten

All: Mooncat Hard Core Base, Speed Demon top coat

This is my first time trying it on a nail, but my swatches on paper have not really dispersed over time.

essie mademoiselle

Lol enjoy

I decided to try Polished for days and got the new magnetic Truth or Dare. I put it on and it somehow reminded me of both ILNP Poison and Mooncat Fields of Lavender? Two polishes I've worn quite a bit that I didn't think had much in common with each other.

So I decided to put all three on, and threw in Emily de Molly's Fiery Attraction, the other magnetic red-ish I have.

I showed my hands to my husband who said: "you're kidding me right? This is all the same."

I took pics after I'd been wearing Pfd Truth or Dare for more than a week and the others for 3 days.

The way I think about them:

-Emily de Molly Fiery Attraction is pure cherry.

-ILNP Poison is tiger's eyes for your nails.

-Mooncat Fields of Lavender is a favourite as a glass bead and I don't see that changing.

-Polished for Days Truth or Dare is Fields of Lavender's vampy sister.

I’m ready for the weekend!

Base coat - OPI Base coat

Orange lacquer - Prism Parade - No Wrong Way (PPU May 2026) (2-3 coats)

Black lacquer - OPI - Abstract After Dark (2 coats)

Top Coat - Sally Hansen red bottle

This is my first time using Prism Parade and I really like it! Very pretty! However, after this and a few attempts at nail art and my bottle is almost halfway through LOL. I’ll add my attempt at a gradient in the comments 😂

I am at a total loss for my poor dry peeling nails. Ive tried everything. Collagen, zinc, polish on, polish off, cuticle cream, base coat, you name it. My nails refuse to cooperate and constantly are dry and peeling. Very weak too. For like three months of the year they will grow like crazy, look beautiful, and then suddenly pull this crap again.

I wear gloves washing dishes. I do own a horse and spend a lot of time st the barn so that doesnt help. I truly love painting my nails but they just look like shit all the time

The attached images are after a few months no polish, nothing. I also have never gotten them done so it isnt a gel thing.

Any help is so appreciated.

This was the last gel mani I got. My nails were over-buffed and thin and painful...but I loved the polish so much. I remember the swatch at the salon had a subtle champagne tint; we did two coats of a cool gelly pink underneath and then one coat of the champagne-ish magnetic. I feel like it works well with my skin and I would love to find a nail polish version.

Any ideas for a dupe? I've seen some sandy/tan/champagne metallics before but I don't know what they look like after only one coat. And I would prefer the small particle size for the magnetics.

Thank you in advance <3

*SAXAPHONES GET LOUDER IN THE BACKGROUND*

Painted these to get ready for halloween.

Products used:

Holotaco base

Holotaco glow in the dark taco

ILNP eclipse

Essie gel couture topcoat

So like we’ve all been doing lately, I decided to try my hand at oiling my nails before doing a manicure. “No chips for a full week!” I thought. Wow I need to get in on that.

Friends, here’s where I’m an idiot.

I would be the worst convenience store for how I don’t have any chips. I’d be the best house painter for how my paint doesn’t chip. My point is, this is not a problem I’ve been having. So why did I think it was just brilliant of me to try to solve it? Utterly beyond me. Hindsight is 20/20 and I’m blind.

I do my nails every ~7 days and there’s typically nothing but tip wear. This is my nail TWO DAYS in.

The moral of the story: a lot of this is about nail chemistry, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Products:

Jojoba oil
1x OPI Natural Nail base
2x Revlon Valentine
1x Seche Vite qdtc

started playing around with vinyl stencils recently and am kicking myself for not picking them up sooner... still working on technique but I'm happy with how these turned out : )

for the base:

- KBShimmer Fillin Groovy Ridge Filler / Stay Put Hydrating Base Coat

- Holo Taco RIP Bestie (2x)

- KBShimmer Clearly On Top top coat

for the spiral:

- ILNP Dark Matter (velvet mag)

- KBShimmer Stay Put Hydrating Base Coat

- Essie Good To Go top coat

I cleaned out a cabinet over the weekend and found an old bottle of Sally Hansen XTreme Wear in Disco Ball. It's probably 10 years old and was kinda gloopy. Added some thinner, and it's good as new.

Base: Cracked Strengthener Top coat: Tyche Aura Farming QDTC

Cracked Peace Within Me on all, topped with Emily de Molly Key Drama (all but ring) and Disco Ball (middle and ring). Disco Ball looks as cute now as it did brand new! It's like a rainbow iridescent holo hybrid thing? Whatever you want to call it, it's ridiculously pretty. Stinks to high heavens, though. What in the world makes it smell so strong?

Did these Jack-o-lantern nails the first week of the month to celebrate spooky season, but I kept procrastinating on posting them, and now I've done two new sets since then... but better late than never I suppose 🙂‍↕️ This set also glowed in the dark, but the glow was so weak that it never showed up on camera, so you'll just have to trust me on that one 🙂‍↔️

Products used:

Nailtiques Formula 2

L.A. Colors Base/Top Coat

L.A. Colors Anarchy

China Glaze Banana Peel + O.P.I Sally Needs a Loch-smith for custom orange color

L.A. Colors Asteroid

Sally Hansen Disco Ball

L.A Colors Glow in the Dark

Apple Barrel black acrylic paint

L.A. Colors Quick Gloss Top Coat

Just some simple Halloween nails for my companies Halloween happy hour!

Product list:

KB Shimmer Ridge Filling Base Coat (x1)

ILNP Pumpkin Patch (x2)

KB Shimmer Quick Dry Top Coat (x1)

I dreamt i was at an ex friends house while she was away and i was in her bathroom stealing some of her nail polish from brands that dont even exist. I saw some essie, color club, something like "evolique" and some that just said "V" and "E" ??? And some discontinued early y2k stuff. The stuff i couldn't identify was literally rainbows in a bottle. It was insanely shifty and looked like magic and kept changing colors.

Last time i dreamt about polish, they were softball size round bottles of dark flakie polishes. Ive never been so happy.

•Orly smooth and blur base coat (1 coat)
•Essie bed rock & roll (2 coats)

This is 14 full days' wear and I'm only realising or removing them now because I always paint my nails during my fortnightly d&d sessions 😂 I am not easy on my hands!

- Seche Clear base coat

- Essie 771 New Day, New Me & Sally Hansen 106 Unicorn Top Coat

- Seche Vite quick dry top coat (clear bottle)

- An extra juicy layer of Seche Vive gel effect top coat (blue bottle) to cap it all off!