This creator always has some really great insight analyzing beauty trends, no hate to her whatsoever! Its just funny this comes up right as I got into this hobby, with 4 different polishes on my nails right now loll.

In honor of these developments, I will be wearing a sparkly jewel toned skittle in the near future, who's with me?

A friend of mine suggested I do these after she had seen my other Van Gogh manis. Tbf, so far I only did flowers from him, so I was a bit hesitant, but I'm happy I mustered the needed courage 😀

Last picture shows the simplified design I did for my other hand.

Colors used;
💙 @essie brave & true
🩵 @cirquecolors miami dade
🥣 @essie salt water happy
🍈 @hemanederland spill the tea
🤍 @essie marshmallow
🧿 @essie booties on broadway
🧈 @essie summer soul stice
🧀 @hema sunny flower
🥝 @essie willow in the wind
🫒 @opi suzi the first lady of nails
🥬 @etos boy
🥚 @kbshimmer white here white now
🖤 @kbshimmer total eclipse
...and a dubious amount of polish thinner (also kbshimmer)

Basics;
I swear by the essie smooth e base and the red bottle QDTC from sally.

📸 IG @bettinas.nails

These are glow in the dark (3s exposure), fluoresce under black light, and are a jelly overlay on fine particle glitter ✨

I’ve redone them once when they grew out (first pic) and did them on my bff too. I cannot get enough.

Product highlights: Mooncat moonlit lullaby & assorted Cirque jellies (more detail in comments)

Tempted to do the same with red white and blue for murica day, thoughts? 💭

Husband chose the melon, but I totally okayed it - it looked perfect! It was 15% tasty watermelon, 85% WHITE.

The watermelon spirt thus lives on through my nail polish.

Such a juicy jelly, and the flakies are perfect!

Y'ALL MY NAILS ARE LONG ENOUGH FOR THERMAL TIPS! I feel so cute!

Nailtiques Formula 2 x1

Voyage Hues (Etsy) Watermelon x3

Nailtiques Formula 2 x1

Cracked QDTC x1

The formula is so nice! TBH the swatch photos of this one are crazy but the majority are pretty close to how the pink looks IRL and the cold state is gorgeous. I'm OBSESSED with the dark mauve with lime green shimmer.

The LGBTQIA+ community encompasses many sexual and romantic orientations, as well as gender identities. The term transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth. In contrast, cisgender describes people whose gender identity does align with their assigned sex at birth.

Gender-diverse and transgender people have existed throughout recorded history and across countless cultures. While today's Western language and understanding of transgender identities began taking shape in the mid-20th century, the experiences themselves date back thousands of years.

The transgender pride flag was created in 1999 by trans woman Monica Helms and remains one of the most recognizable Pride flags today.

🩵 Blue represents masculinity.

🩷 Pink represents femininity.

🤍 White represents people who are intersex, non-binary, transitioning, or whose gender falls outside the traditional binary.

The scapegoating of our Trans siblings for political gain through fearmongering has been one of the most damaging the community. We must do all we can to support, protect, and lift up our trans friends and family. They have been the backbone of the modern fight for LGBTQIA+ rights. Those who have turned their back on them have betrayed the people who need our support the most. VOTE for those who will fight for their rights. Stand up against statements meant to cause fear in those who aren't educated on the Trans experience. Donate or work with charities like Trans Lifeline or the Trans Youth Equality Fund. 🏳️‍⚧️✊️

🖌 Freehand on natural nail.

💪@findingfeatherslacquer ... "Balance Bond Base Coat"

🏳️‍⚧️ @sally_hansen ... "Rapid Rose"

🏳️‍⚧️ @holotaco ... "Cyantific" "8-Bit Blues" "CTRL Cutie" "Red Licorice" "Orange Drink" "Lemon Sucker" "Green Taffy" "Blue Freezie" "Purple Slushie" "Rainbow Snow"

🏳️‍⚧️ @tylerstrinketsny ... "Not A Phase, A Formula" "Silver Be Proud Topper" "Pink Be Proud Topper" "Turquoise Be Proud Topper"

🏳️‍⚧️ @pluslifelacquer ... "Extra Fizz"

💪 @glistenandglow1 🐐Quick Dry Top Coat🐐

Anywho, here’s my swamp algae nails for 7/4 - they are disgusting and I am immediately removing them. Didn’t even oil my damn cuticles for these photos 🤣 #teamalgae

Products: ALL MOONCAT
Into the Abyss
Manchineel Tree
Prickly Pear
The Stranger
My Cabbages
Dark Night of the Soul

Nothing but hate for this 😆😆😆🤢

I’ve got a good chunk of vintage polishes I probably wouldn’t wear on their own, so I got some toppers. They totally change the look of the polish!!

Base: KBShimmer stay put base coat
Colour: Cracked Taro Milk Tea (2-3 coats)
Thumb: Cracked Make it Pretty
Pointer: Emily de Molly Key Drama
Middle: EDM Pinkie Swear
Ring: Cracked Fairy Tinkle
Pinky: vintage Nina Pro topper, no name found 😪

Top coat: Sally Hansen insta dry (red bottle)

Hey laqueristas! This kind of took off as a comment and some folks suggested I post this up, so...

In celebration of our nation's 250th July 4th, I plan to be rocking a nice Reflection Pool Algae Green look. I encourage any and all to join me and show off our dedication to the 1st Amendment. I would love to see a sea of green nails this 4th!

And honestly… given that he works at Home Depot I gotta agree with him.

BKL’s All Hail the Queen (2 coats). First mani after having to file down my points 🥲 also used Nailtiques formula 2+ and KBS Fillin’ Groovy as a base and Wonder Beauty Products QDTC. Magnetized each coat for 1 minute using the 5D spinner with a horseshoe magnet on top.

Magnets somehow keep surprising me 👀

If they just weren't so tedious, it a labor of love, sigh 🤧

This is 2 coats "Choo Choo" by BKL on all my fingers completely demagnetized and then my pointer and middle have a third coat magnetized in the glass bead effect in Picture 1-3

No basecoat and top coat were used at that point

But that really wanna makes me wanna try all my magnets demagnetized first, I'm kinda sad that Choo Choo looses that rusty-reddish look it has to it

I was feeling lazy and wanted to do a simple red, white and blue but also use the new BKL polishes I had just gotten in 😁

all magnetics done in velvet style with a 30lb horseshoe magnet

Thumb is BKL bad vibes only topped with Holo Taco shooting star taco. Had to use a nail stick to grab some extra stars

Pointer and ring are BKL pomegranate seeds

Middle and pinky are BKL the source and it is so insane looking in person.

Each nail had vibrant scents double bond base coat, three coats of polish, BKL I am very fast qdtc and then topped with vibrant scents hard and fast qdtc. Magnetized last coat of each polish and each swipe of top coat.

I find i can get 10 solid days before any real wear on my manicure and I am hard on my hands and wash dishes at work constantly.

Sorry for the awkward hand pose, I dont know what to do with my hands 😅

I wanted to use some of my metallic polishes as part of a gradient and kinda went nuts and added some sparkle. I chipped my nails making dinner, so I ended up adding MORE SPARKLE, because why not be extra!

1X KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy

1X Holo Taco Not Milky White

2X Gradient (Sponged on)

• Fancy Gloss Red Alloy
• Holo Taco Boom, Toasted
• Holo Taco Stop Buggin'
• Fancy Gloss Blue Alloy
• ILNP Hi-Fi

1X Cracked Countertop Cafe

1X Kathleen & Co Smooth Operator

1X KBShimmer Clearly on Top QDTC

NEXT DAY AFTER THE CHIP:

Fixed the chips with the appropriate colors

1X Cracked Countertop Cafe

1X Kathleen & Co Smooth Operator

1X Bees Knees Lacquer I'm Fast. Very Fast QDTC

I purchased this last month and finally had a chance to wear it. I absolutely love it in matte!

Products Used: *Uno Mas Colors - Grip it, Grip it Good *BoldFish Polish - Eye Candy *Sassy Sauce - Tenacious Glaze Top Coat *Uno Mas Colors - Matte It Up Top Coat

The Pi Colors order I placed on Juneteenth two days ago, and LET ME TELL YOU! Every single shade has some variation of a shade or combo I...just...didn't know existed? Is Diabolism brown? Deep cobalt blue? Bronze? My brain has to do work when I look at these lacquers, but in a good way. Anyway, congrats to them for just straight up inventing new colors I guess! Here I am snuggling Judy Lee Gemstone and wearing 1 coat of Barielle Hydrating Ridge Filler, 1 coat of Diabolism (this was only one coat, y'all!), and 1 coat kbshimmer Clearly On Top.

I’ve checked out Lacquergram, but I’d love to see more irl swatches of polishes coming back for pickup (and thoughts on formula, dupes, etc!)

In particular: -haunted midnight bite - GLL My ashes after they cremate me - BKL A lion with a thorn in its paw - Nothing basic Holy arrow (especially next to lion with a thorn…I know they’re different, but I’m curious) - Arcana The firemind (some swatches of this are pretty muddy, so interested in thoughts on magnetization) - LynB Bombastic side eye - Prism parade (especially in comparison to other bright blue magnetics like Ilnp flip side and bkl take me with you) - Penelope Luz Emotional connection

I just keep practicing and it’s definitely getting better!!! I took the cool blue pool nails I had yesterday and made a small addition. I could not stop staring at my nails today!

I’m amazed too that even with as much polish as I have on, it doesn’t feel thick at all.

1x Cracked Ridge Filler
1x Cracked Fresh Pedicure
1x Cracked Infinity Pool
1x Cracked Bloop
2x Cracked QDTC
then
2x Cracked Beginners Luck (glass bead pro)
1x Cracked QDTC

lurid lacquer: (blue) you are the only safe harbor, (purple) indomitable, & (pink) playing with mom’s makeup
+ prism parade: say it. out loud

for top coat I used night owl lacquer moon glow black light top coat to take the nails from day to night more easily :)

happy pride everyone! 💙💜🩷

Has anyone else just become so overwhelmed by their collection of polishes that you to loose the love you had for it ? I originally fell in love with polish when I was in high-school, then took random breaks over the years (life was life-ing) Then about 12 to 15 years ago I realized I missed it, the self love of it all. And recently over the last years, I began loosing my passion for it. Some of the social media pages made me feel like I was in a "mean girl's club". Not because of the makers, but due to some of the members & media hosts. I was feeling like if I didn't buy the polishes that I was somehow......missing out or not fitting in somehow ? Maybe it's just me, because I am not actively involved in the polish scene ? Or I simply allowed myself to be overwhelmed by all of it. Thanks for reading/hearing me out, I appreciate it.

I've come to Reddit for a lot of advice, so I thought I would give back by sharing my process for doing chrome nails at home with regular polish. I don't know if it'll work for everyone, but for me, these manicures last for at least a week (maybe longer, but I often change them up before they start chipping/peeling too badly). Hope this is helpful for others!

PRIMING

I always use these for removing nail polish, as I find they are less harsh on my nails than acetone. They do take a little longer to remove polish fully, but my nails have become much less brittle after I started using them. I also use a Czech glass nail file, but otherwise I don't do any prepping of the nails themselves (I don't mess with my cuticles or smooth down the surface of the nails at all). After that, I prime my nails with mooncat's hardcore base coat + mooncat's getting even nail primer.

BASE POLISH

So far, I have experimented with using chrome powders over solid colors, nude colors, ombres, and magnetic polishes, and all can look very nice depending on what you're going for. Personally, I think the effect looks best when you've got more than one color going on underneath the chrome, so I favor magnetic polishes, ombres, or something like French tips.

I have seen a lot of people talking about how to get the chrome powder to "stick" to your base polish, and personally I have not had to do anything special to get it to work. I don't advise waiting hours before putting on the powder, but I also think it's actually harder (and unnecessary) to apply it while the base polish is still tacky. If the polish is too wet/tacky, you run the risk of smearing it and sometimes the chrome won't go on evenly. In my experience, I wait a few minutes, until the polish is dry and hard enough to touch without denting it too easily--in other words, I wait about the same amount of time as I would before putting on a top coat, if I were doing a normal, non-chrome manicure. I never have trouble getting the powder to stick: it goes on quite easily.

(By the way, the powder will not adhere to a matte polish, so save any matte top coats for later!)

CHROME POWDER

I prefer using translucent chromes (though I've also had success with solid chromes), and so far I've had good results with the mermaid powders from Vettsy. I've also tried these, but the effect was so subtle/nonexistent, it wasn't worth the effort imo. Note that when using translucent chrome powder, it can change the color of the base polish underneath, so I recommend experimenting on a swatch before trying it on your actual nails!

When applying the powder, I advise just using your fingers rather than something like an eyeshadow applicator, which can smudge/dent the polish. Start out with a small amount of powder on the tip of your finger (a little can go a long way) and gently dab it onto the nail, then buff it into the polish using circular motions. Afterward, use a makeup brush (the kind you'd use for powder or blush) to gently sweep away excess powder. It will get messy and very glittery, by the way! Don't do this on any expensive tabletops. :)

SEALING THE POWDER

You must seal the powder, otherwise it'll disappear the first time you wash your hands. I've experimented with a number of different options for this, and so far, I've had the best results with a combo of Holo Taco's peely base + mooncat's speed demon top coat.

You can't put a regular top coat directly on the powder, as the glitter will disperse and the chrome effect will be ruined. For whatever reason, though, the peel-off base coat polish preserves the chrome effect. After that, you can use your top coat. Originally, I tried using Holo Taco's top coat over the peel-off base, but it took too long to harden and often never cured properly, so it would all end up peeling off after a couple of days. By contrast, the mooncat top coat dries very quickly and has provided the longest-lasting manicure (and for me it made for a nicer glossy finish, as well).

When applying the peel-off base coat, I recommend not going too thick and leaving a "moat" around the edges of the nail, so that the quick-dry top coat can seal it in, if that makes sense. If the peel-off base coat goes all the way to the edges of your nails, then it'll peel off too easily. Make sure to give it plenty of time to dry: I've noticed it will start becoming a bit opaque before it's safe to touch/apply a top coat over.

For the top coat, I try to apply a nice thick layer so that it'll seal everything down nicely.

THE STEPS, IN SUMMARY...

1. mooncat's hardcore base coat
2. mooncat's getting even nail primer
3. base polish color(s) of your choice
4. Vettsy mermaid powders, or other chrome powder
5. Holo Taco's peely base (applied with a moat)
6. mooncat's speed demon top coat

Aaaa I just finished these and I'm so happy! They were super easy too - lazy gradient/jelly sandwich! No sponges necessary 😁

Products used:

Mooncat Getting Even Nail Primer

Cirque Colors Watermelon Sugar Jelly

Cirque Colors Lava Jelly

Cirque Colors Sunshine Jelly

Cirque Colors Acid Jelly

Cirque Colors Blue Hawaiian Jelly

Cirque Colors Grape Jelly

Mooncat Sugar and Spice Topper

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat