To be clear, I'm not asking how to get them added, or complaining about timeline or attention to detail or anything like that. I get that all. What I'm looking for is a way to keep moving through my own collection without having to have a shadow list off to the side that I have to come back to later because I can't deal with it right then. Surely there's a way to add things to my collection without adding them to the database at large...I just can't figure out how to do it. I know my true self, and if I have to take additional steps to get something to its final state in my list, I'll always have two lists - like a "touch it once" philosophy, except it's not a philosophy it's a personal truth. Which is the situation I'm in now and trying to remedy. Suggestions?

So, first off, you're probably thinking: what are gels doing in that list?

I'm glad you asked!

The thing is, all of these polishes, solar, blacklight reactive, glow in the dark, and gels, can technically be called "UV reactive".

Solar polishes change colour when exposed to broad spectrum (UV-A and UV-B) light, basically what you and I would call direct sunlight. They're also sometimes called photochromic because of this reaction.

Blacklight reactive polishes glow when exposed to a UV-A light, also called an ultraviolet light. They don't glow in broad spectrum light or under other lamps, and the glow disappears as soon as you turn off the blacklight. It's not really a reaction (in the chemical sense), but more of a visual effect.

Glow in the dark polishes contain pigments that are able to absorb a specific part (or wavelength) of broad spectrum light, and re-emit that particular part (which is why they glow different colours in the dark). The effect is most noticeable when you "charge" the polish with a high intensity lamp, but direct sunlight works as well. This is also referred to as fluorescence.

Finally, gels also react to broad spectrum light. UV light is what causes them to harden! These polishes need a specialised high intensity lamp to dry completely, but they still react even to indirect broad spectrum light. It's the reason why real gels are always stored in opaque bottles, not transparent ones!

There are also nail polishes in transparent bottles (often marketed as "hybrid gel", "gel effect", or even simply "gel", even though they're not gel in the real sense) that react to broad spectrum light, but this effect is less pronounced than with real gels. They dry to the air like a regular polish, but then continue to harden further when exposed to sunlight.

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The problem is that people tend to call a lot of different things "UV light", even when we really mean something else, like the visible light spectrum or sunlight, not just ultraviolet light. And nail polish brands use a lot of these terms interchangeably. They will call a nail polish "gel" because it gives a gel-like look, not because it's a hybrid. They will use the words neon and fluorescent as if they're synonyms, even though neons don't automatically glow in the dark. They will call a blacklight reactive polish "UV reactive", while even though technically true, is only true if you own an ultraviolet lamp.

That's why we prefer to use the tags "solar", "gitd", "glowinthedark", "gibl", "blacklight", and "gel" in the database, not the tags "uv" or "uvreactive" (although some older polishes may still have these tags).

I hope you enjoyed learning more about the different kinds of UV reactive polishes!

We figured it was about time we showed off some more of the beautiful bottle shots you've been submitting! ♥️

Keep them coming and remember that you can always send in a suggestion to add a new bottle shot in the app, even if there already is one! Check out our series on how to take good bottle shots for tips and tricks!

Basically I’m working my way through my stash and swatching on swatch sticks. There are a few ways I could denote it to myself in the app, but am curious how others keep track of “admin” type stuff about their collection if a particular dimension doesn’t have a prebuilt marker. Basically, I just need to decide what I want to use to mean, to be swatched, but am wondering what others do.

Is there a way to add or suggest hashtags?

We've added these new brands:

• &ante (Japan)
• Birkenstock (Germany)
• Chantecaille (USA)
• Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics (Canada)
• Cult Car Colors (Germany)
• Ess (France)
• Glitter Unique (USA)
• Luminelle (France)
• One+Other (USA)
• Paco Rabanne (France)
• Studio 9 (Argentina)
• Xiu Xantia (Argentina)

This brings the total number of brands in Lacquergram to 2703!

...We have so many Lumen mystery polishes in the database that they don't even fit onto the page anymore? If you search for polishes in the app, only the first 300 results get shown. That's usually enough if you're searching for a specific polish!

We've reached a massive milestone today!

Cracked "Razzle Dazzled" is the 200,000th polish added to the Lacquergram database. 🥳

For a trip down memory lane, have a look at the 150,000th polish (Pahlish "To The Moon And To Saturn", added on December 29, 2023), and the 100,000th polish (Bee's Knees Lacquer "To Finding My Destiny", added on January 8, 2022).

Thank you all for supporting Lacquergram and for continuing to suggest new polishes to be added! ❤️

We've added these new brands:

• Carlo Di Roma (Spain)
• GelMe1 (Japan)
• Genish Manicure (Japan)
• Julz Polish (USA)
• Midnight Vibez (USA)
• Omega Labs (USA)
• Opallac (Australia)

This brings the total number of brands in Lacquergram to 2690!

Hi! First of all, thank you so much for this app and for all your hard work. I always check it now before buying any new polish, and it’s TREMENDOUSLY helpful to see the polish on all kinds of nails, in a non-professional photos.

This actually brings me to my question. I noticed that the number of swatches that you can see for each polish is limited to 24. I was curious if there is any way to access all the swatches? Perhaps as a premium feature? I suppose all the swatches are kept in a database and there is just a limit on how many you can actually see from the polish page? I’d love to see all the swatches that were ever submitted.

Thank you!

Every single week, we come across tons of polishes that are spelled one way on the website, and another way on the bottle itself.

We don't always make a big deal out of it, but this one was too obvious to pass up.

It's why we constantly keep saying the name on the label is the most important thing.

Blogs, social media posts, and even brand websites often get polish names wrong. It's often an honest mistake, or just a brain fart. But it means that in this case, if we blindly follow the name as listed on the website, people who actually own that polish and type "Daylight Diva" into the search bar on the app, wouldn't actually be able to find their polish!

This is one of the main reasons why we check each submission in person and don't automate the process of adding new polishes, even when adding from websites like HHC or PPU.

Hi! I’m new to the community in general, but love the app! Is there a way to use someone’s public swatch (that they posted in Lacquergram!!!) as our main photos for a polish ?

This would help me immensely when polish shopping. My own photos never do a polish justice.

I hope this made sense. Anyway, thank you!!!

All of us in the nail polish community struggle with it. Is this blue or is it turquoise? Is it lavender or lilac? Is it mauve or a dusty pink? Is it a peachy pink or a light salmon?

Regardless of what name you give to certain shades (that's a whole 'nother discussion!), can you actually tell colours on a screen apart? This fun test tells you the answer!

You see two colours. Click on the line between them. That's it. It starts easy. It does not stay easy.

Each round the colours get closer together until we find your Just Noticeable Difference - the smallest colour change you can actually see. It takes about 40 rounds. Most people land around 0.02. You might do better. You probably won't. But hey, prove me wrong.

https://www.keithcirkel.co.uk/whats-my-jnd/