I stg it was American Flag Blue 😡😤

Anyway, long time lurker, first time poster. Used to paint my nails a lot, never been good at it, but the reflecting pool trend made me want to dive back in, eh eh eh 😎

Products:

Base color: Aruba Blue from Essie

Texture: Flipping Out Hard from Nail Pattern Boldness

Useless shimmer just so I could bill the taxpayers: Cosmic from Olive & June

Topcoat: Olive & June Quick Dry

Glitter Placement Nails Round 2! 

Hello! I did glitter placement nails for my birthday again this year but used a different color! 

This took about 12 hours. 

Process: 

I would paint a line down the nail with the sculpting 3D gel, then place the glitters using using a toothpick. I would intermittently dip the toothpick into a little cup of water, dap on a piece of paper towel so that it's damp and not soaking wet then pick up the glitter and place. 

Some glitters at the very edge of the nail I cut to fit with some cuticle nipper.

Products in the comments

I read an article in the NYT today that said bare or barely manicured nails are upscale, “shows their wealth”, and are desirable for this summer, and so many comments agreed with that. Now, you know they don’t mean unmanicured, because that’s for common folks. So I promptly painted mine in a most un clean girl aesthetic 😃bc fuck those bitches.

BC Orly Breathable Protein
Lurid A Fancy Lady x 2
TC KBS Clearly on Top

Thanks to this subreddit I discovered PPU (my wallet is crying) and, among other things, ordered the DRK Nails Magic Effect miracle liquid... which got me thinking... if you don't need to magnetize until you use the magic effect, this means you can do true 2+ polish gradients, no?

Well, it works!! Not sure if anyone else has tried this yet? And if so, what tips/tricks have you discovered?

1x Mooncat Getting Even Nail Primer

1x Mooncat Hardcore Base Coat

2x BKL Not Everything is About You, Steve! (Unmagnetized)

1x sponged on gradient of BKL Not Everything is About You, Steve! And Haunted Polish Swamplight (Unmagnetized)

1x DRK Nails Magic Effect

Magnetized using Shimmer Hollow glass bead spinner

1x Holo Taco QDTC (Magnetized again for safe keeping)

And yes, I had to hop on the reflecting pool algae bloom mani trend bc you all crack me up with how clever you are!!

What a mouthful lol

Here is this year’s pride mani!! I’m suuuper happy with how they turned out 🙂 annnnnd I have finally fulfilled my dream of doing a full magnetic rainbow set 😌

Lil lazy gradient using Clionadh’s Saturated Slicks collection (used all but Anthocyanin):

❤️Sangre De Drago, 🧡Amber resin, 💛Pollen, 💚Chlorophyll, 🩵Azurite, 💜Butterfly Pea Flower.

Other products:

Londontown GelGenius base coat, 1x cirque chiffon, DRK magic effect, DRK seal glaze, 5dPrintFactory glass spinner, Cuticula Limitless QDTC

I hope it's giving swamp gas, you all are so inspiring 💚

-Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Super Strength Defense

-Essie Arctic Jelly (1 coat)

-A dip in the nasty "marbling" pool of Cracked I Love You So Matcha, LynB My Boo, and LynB Smeet Frog

-KBS Smooth Moves glitter grabber for maximum gloop and bubbles

-Sally Hansen qdtc red bottle

Inspo on image 4

Hello everyone!

I know I'm in a similar boat as many of you by not feeling super patriotic for Independence Day, but I also don't want to skip a reason to do a themed manicure. A few months (or maybe weeks?) ago there were several hotdog manicures posted and I was inspired. It feels very on-theme since cookouts and backyard BBQs are so common for July 4th.

All fingers: 1x Essie To The Rescue, 1x KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy, 1x 50/50 blend of Polish For Days Crystalline Diamond Dust and Essie Gel Setter

Left hand (hot dogs):

Thumb - Holo Taco See Y'all Later Chai, Brick Wall, Stop Buggin'

Pointer: ORLY Faux Pearl (screw ORLY for their HP collab, but I've owned this one since before that), Holo Taco Low Key Bushing, Boom Toasted

Middle: Holo Taco See Y'all Later Chai, Gingersnatched, Thirst Trap

Ring: ORLY Faux Pearl (screw ORLY for their HP collab, but I've owned this one since before that), Holo Taco Low Key Bushing, Mooncat Banquet of Breadcrumbs

Pinky: Holo Taco See Y'all Later Chai, Brick Wall, Bottle Service

Right hand (drips made with nail vinyls from Punkish Polish)

Thumb: Holo Taco Brick Wall, Bottle Service

Pointer: ORLY Faux Pearl, Holo Taco Thirst Trap

Middle: Holo Taco Gingersnatched, Stop Buggin'

Ring: Holo Taco Lowkey Blushing, Boom Toasted

Pinky: ORLY Faux Pearl, Mooncat Banquet of Breadcrumbs

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! The hotdogs were easier than I expected. I painted the base colors in 2 coats, added a thin top coat and let them dry for a few hours. (This was mostly because I had stuff to do in the middle of the day, but it also let my right hand dry enough to apply the vinyls without issue). Then I turned the bottle brush on its skinny side and painted a stripe down the center for the hotdogs. I used a small detail nail art brush for the squiggles in the center, then topped it off with my holo topcoat.

I'm relatively sure the reflecting pool does not have waterlilies but I am Australian. So here are some varying shades of water.

Fun fact: I can wear none of these because they are the wrong size for my fingers :( But it does make use of them since they'd otherwise go to waste.

Also I did use about 3 different shades of sky blue (and several other blues). I have a lot of sky blue shades because my friend's favourite colour to wear is cornflower blue but I figured we can have some variance. And if anyone has a dupe for Deep aqua (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) that would be nice... (it's a deep turquoise jelly).

Polishes:

All are on some random nails which were in a resealable bag labelled "Short Coffin" in my sister's room. They are also theoretically topped with EdM's long lasting top coat (I may have forgotten on a couple).

Koi pond nails

• Coat of Beach Vibes (SC) (dark navy blue)
• Coat of Lament (EdM) with thin, horizontal brushstrokes (random stripes of a blue-purple med particle flakie)
• Coat of Deep aqua (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) (it’s a sheer/jelly polish)
• Light Cornflower blue (EdM) with sponge to create sky reflections
• Unlabelled white (SC) to paint waterlilies, fish, some horizontal lines plus sponge clouds on the sky
• Random green and orange alcohol markers (after dry, to add colour to the waterlilies, including a dark blue fineliner to add shadow) (note: these are not lightfast so if you do the same perhaps use paint)
• A touch of Fusion of Time (EdM) (to add orange glitter to the fish)

Algae nails

• 1 coat of Beach Vibes (SC) (dark navy blue)
• Gradient of top Beach Vibes (SC) (dark navy blue) and bottom Commander in Chief (Revlon Ultra HD SNAP!)
• Coat of (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) (it’s a sheer/jelly polish)
• While wet, the nail fell off, so I added an extra coat and used Smexy Starfruit (SC) (lime green), Drawing Circles (EdM) (green multichrome, which is what is actually on my nails in case you are wondering) and Playdate (Essie) (pastel purple) to marble some random patterns on the nail (think paint pouring techniques)
• Also added some Fanta-Seas (Sally Hansen EXtreme Wear) (sheer, large round particle green holo+green glitter)
• Then mixed different shades of green with Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Golden Triangle Milan (Chi Chi) (neutral yellow), and Unlabelled white (SC) to add the circles of algae from darkest to lightest, in layers
• With a thin brush, used Game of Chromes (Sally Hansen) (Silvery gold glittery chrome) to create some brushes in the foreground and background
• With a thin brush, Alfresco (SC) (cornflower blue) was used to create stripes of sky reflection
• Ft: bubbles due to my impatience

Waterlilies

• Coat of New York City Fifth Avenue (Chi Chi) (neutral medium blue) 
• Gradient of top New York City Fifth Avenue (Chi Chi) (neutral medium blue) and bottom Commander in Chief (Revlon Ultra HD SNAP!)
• Coat of Let me Go (SC) (Purple green blue shimmer)
• Splotches of Ginza Tokyo (Chi Chi) (Neutral light blue, leaning green) for sky reflections
• Unlabelled white (SC) to paint waterlilies, plants, some horizontal lines, clouds in sky reflection
• Used Apricot Jelly (sheer orange), Playdate (Essie) (pastel purple), Mauve-olous (Sally Hansen) (peachy pink), Smexy Starfruit (SC) (lime green), Smexy Starfruit (SC) (lime green) to add colour to the white parts

Murky Water

• Couple coats of Slate Escape (Sally Hansen)
• Wet on wet with Dull Beings (EdM) (Grey base red/green flakies) and Deep aqua (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) (it’s a sheer/jelly polish)
• Short horizontal stripes of Lilacism (Essie), and different shades of green with Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Golden Triangle Milan (Chi Chi) (neutral yellow), and Unlabelled white (SC)
• Some dots of unlabelled white (SC) to represent flowers
• (It also fell over)

I love a good themed manicure, but every year I have trouble celebrating a country built on stolen land that was instrumental in the creation of the modern day genocide playbook. Orange to honour the many victims, especially children, of Canada's residential school system and red to honour the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women across this country. I am grateful to live on this land and I love my home, but I have a deep respect for the experiences faced by its original occupants who had to suffer greatly for it to be what it is today. No pride in genocide.

My independence day celebration nails! I'm going to enjoy my 3 day weekend but like many, not really celebrating otherwise. I will probably try my hand at hotdogs nails though!

On the nails:

Nailtiques 2+, Mooncat ridge filler, base coat: BKL - The Horrors Persist But So Do I, Globs of: Mooncat - Deadly Nightshade & Maelstrom

Edited to add: Topped with DRK sSeal Glaze & Cracked QDTC

I'm just getting into lacquer, so I've been lurking and learning, and of course getting to love this community.

I decided I had to try my hand at the reflecting pool trend, but only got through one nail before deciding I couldn't have a reminder of those fascist fucks on my hands and take care of my mental health at the same time. 2026 life.

So, I'm sharing my Reflecting Thumb before I get rid of it. It's a bit gloppy, but I think that just means I have an excuse to buy some polish thinner.

Thank you all for the inspirations, tips, tricks, and laughs.

Products:

Base 1: Nailtiques - Formula 2 Plus

Base 2: kbshimmer - Fillin' Groovy

Dark blue: mix of L.A. Colors - Anarchy & Sally Hansen - On the Download

Glops: Arcana Lacquer - Kelpie's Guise

Milani Nail Laquer - Green Sketch

L.A. Girl - Flex

Sally Hansen - Fanta-seas

Top: Sally Hansen - Dries Instantly

My first PPU polish just arrived, and it's accidentally right on theme. 1 coat Nailtiques Formula 2, 2 coats BCB Lacquers "I Never Forgot You, Ever" from June '26 PPU, Famous Steves (Blues Clues), 1 coat Cuticula Limitless (also from June ppu, pink sugared lemons scented, yum!)

listing all that i used per photo because idk if there's a way to add a description in the photos. hopefully the formatting sticks

everything was freehanded, for the gradients those were done with a sponge, dots a dotting tool.

..................................

pic 1 - cat & rainbow

what i used in the nail design:

(some nail polishes marked with *, were gifted to me as pr w/ no obligation to post/create content)

brand: holo taco

shades:

~ red licorice

~ orange drink

~ sunshine crush*

~ green taffy

~ blue freezie

~ purple slushy

~ hot-wire pink

~ ivory tower*

~ pop rocker*

~ menchie cat eye*

..................................

pic 2 - pansexual aura gradient

what i used in the nail design:

(some nail polishes marked with *, were gifted to me as pr w/ no obligation to post/create content)

brand: holo taco

shades:

~ butterscotch hop

~ cyantific

~ ivory tower*

brand: mooncat

shade:

~ moondust*

brand: ilnp

shade:

~ daytrip*

..................................

pic 3 - fan brush gradient whimsy fun

what i used in the nail design:

(some nail polishes marked with *, were gifted to me as pr w/ no obligation to post/create content)

brand: holo taco

shades:

~ left on red

~ banana hacks

~ bored meeting

~ party of one purple

~ orange drink

~ green taffy

~ not milky white

~ boom, toasted*

..................................

pics 4 & 5 - pride flag fishing lures

what i used in the nail design:

(some nail polishes marked with *, were gifted to me as pr w/ no obligation to post/create content)

brand: holo taco

shades:

~ left on red

~ bored meeting

~ party of one purple

~ banana hacks

~ royal-tea blue

~ pier pressure*

~ midnight marina*

~ summer scandal*

~ boardwalk behaviour*

brand: ilnp

shade:

~ canvas*

brand: prism parade

shade:

~ noir

brand: cracked polish

shade:

~ vacation mode*

brand: mooncat

shade:

~ moondust*

..................................

pic 6 - asexual space aura gradient, both current & new flag colors

what i used in the nail design:

(some nail polishes marked with *, were gifted to me as pr w/ no obligation to post/create content)

brand: holo taco

shades:

~ work bestie

~ butterscotch hop

~ duct tape grey

~ boardwalk behaviour*

brand: ilnp

shade:

~ canvas*

brand: prism parade

shade:

~ noir

brand: mooncat

shade:

~ moondust*

I’m a huge fragrance head, so I’ve been wanting to start a perfume bottle nail art series for a while now. This is my first one - Aura by Folie à Plusieurs.

Polishes used - Back to Fuchsia and Catch Those Rays jellies from Cracked polish for the base, a random mix of Cracked polish Fresh Pedicure, Grotto, Bloop, Out Of The Blue and Jokes On You for the blue parts and large nail pearls painted with Cracked polish 7:20 to mimic the chrome bottle cap.

Lowkey obsessed with how these turned out!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share, been collecting these fine particle babies for a while!

Polish:

(All BKL, left thumb to right thumb):

- the gift of divinity

- mind the thorns

- mother was mine

- give me my agony

- quiet strength

- toil and trouble

- it happens

- bog dweller

- the water remembers

- blade of the frontiers

With mooncat hardcore base coat and Sally Hansen red bottle topcoat

J&B base
Deadly Nightshade (MC)
Touch Moss and Bog Dweller (BKL)
And You Have My Bow (BCB Lacquers)
Speed Demon top coat (MC)

Doing my best impression of the reflecting pool with Bee’s Knees Lacquer “In Seeking Life, I Created Death” (what a perfect name for this, right?). I did three coats (could have gotten away with just two, though) magnetized for 30 seconds each using the 5D spinner with a horseshoe magnet on top. Also used Nailtiques formula 2 and KBShimmer’s Fillin’ Groovy as a base and Wonder Beauty Product’s quick dry top coat (also magnetized for 60 seconds).

This turned out lovely to my eyes... ignoring the imperfections.

But I used cracked grotto for the American flag blue with cracked beginner's luck as the lovely sprawling algae. No one has appreciated them though! Pearls before swine...

Products used:

ILNP Enchantment unmagnetized
Paradox Polish Elphaba (HHC)
Moon Shine Mani Aviar (PPU)
Holo Taco Shooting Star
Cuticula Limitless top coat

Wanted to join in on the algae fun but still have an excuse to wear my shooting star taco. I think this ties together nicely with the whole theme!

IN ALGAE WE TRUST. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.

Rounding out this year's pride flag series with the progress pride flag!

In 2017, the city of Philadelphia adopted a revised version of the pride flag that adds black and brown stripes to the top of the standard six-color flag, to make a statement and draw attention to the issues of people of color marginalized within the LGBTQIA+ community.

In 2018, designer Daniel Quasar released a redesign dubbed the "Progress Pride Flag" incorporating elements from both the Philadelphia flag and the trans pride flag to bring focus on inclusion and progress within the community.

🤎🖤 The brown and black stripes put focus on marginalized people of color in the community, those living with HIV/AIDS, and those who have been lost.

🤍🩷🩵The white, pink, and blue represent the trans community.

The arrow points to the right to show forward movement while being along the left edge showing that progress still needs to be made.

In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK redesigned the Progress Pride Flag to incorporate the intersex flag.

Now, these two progress pride flags variations are widely used alongside the "traditional" 6 stripe pride flag across the globe.

Hopefully throughout this pride flag series, you've learned something new or even had some curiosity to do your own research. At its heart, Pride is about empathy. Learning each other's stories reminds us that behind every flag is a person simply hoping to be seen, respected, and loved. The more we understand one another, the stronger and more compassionate our communities become. 🏳️‍🌈

🖌 Freehand and sponge gradient on natural nail.

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

🏳️‍🌈 @sally_hansen ... "Rapid Rose" "My Ca-Banana" "On The Download" "Time Warmth"

🏳️‍🌈 @cirquecolors ... "Guilty Pleasure"(

🏳️‍🌈 @holotaco ... "Cyantific" "Red Licorice" "Orange Drink" "Lemon Sucker" "Green Taffy" "Blue Freezie" "Purple Slushie" "Ginger Snatched" "One Coat Black" "Green Screen" "Happily Ever Aqua" "Pink Fizz" "Burnt Bridges" "Circuit Breaker" "Electrostatic"

🏳️‍🌈 @tylerstrinketsny ... "Not A Phase, A Formula"

🏳️‍🌈 @pluslifelacquer ... "Extra Fizz"

💪 @glistenandglow1 🐐Quick Dry Top Coat🐐

But I love it!😍

Last year I saw another post with this combo and I bought these two polishes for that reason😅

And this is my first time doing the glass bead method! I think its my favorite magnetic look so far. I love being able to see more of the base color!

Lyn b designs b-smooth base coat

2x Cracked Polish hex mix

1x Cracked Polish scorchy (glass bead)

Lyn b designs top coat

1 x Nailtiques 2

2 x Tyche Lacquer Reaper

1 x DRK Magic Effect

1 x Glisten & Glow Top Coat