Glass gel nails: Why I love the look & how to create it
By Scratch Staff | 20 February 2020 | Feature, Tech Talk, Technique
Nail tech & salon owner, Karen M Brown, shares her creativity and wisdom in a series for Scratch…
Based in Scotland, Karen co-owns (with her sister) Sanctuary in the City; two multi-award-winning salon destinations. The duo also owns training academy, NABTA UK, and provides nail and beauty education across the UK.
Karen co-founded nail brand, Gelica, with fellow Scottish tech, Sammy McDonald, and the brand provides a vast range of nail products for professionals.
I am so excited to share my thoughts and ideas with the nail world, beginning with a quirky nail technique that produces amazing results.
I have been using acrylic and gel polish together recently – and I don’t mean an acrylic nail with gel polish on top; I mean using gel polish within the acrylic nail.
The 3D reverse sculpt has proven so popular, and I love the look, so I started playing with gel polish in other ways within an acrylic nail. Gelica has a range of Glass Gel Polishes and I wanted to portray the glass effect within a nail set without having to mix various colours of monomers to then dye my clear powder. It seemed more time consuming and more messy, so thought that Glass Gel would work better…and it did!
STEP-BY-STEP
1. Adhere clear tips to the nails and refine.
2. Apply your chosen glass gel colour to the tip area and cure.
3. Apply a cover blush acrylic mix.
4. While the acrylic is setting, add glitter and butterflies.
5. Cap the design in clear acrylic. File when ready and complete with Gelica No Wipe Top Coat. Cure.
There are so many ways that you can mix medias to create striking nails and combining these two systems is the tip of the iceberg.
I have also used acrylic, gel polish and acrygel all within one nail. This adds more dimensions to the nails you create, and being able to mix different medias together makes you more versatile. This is such a key aspect when it comes to competitions, such as the amazing Scratch Stars Awards.
I was a Scratch Stars newbie in 2019 and I must say it was one of the most amazing times in my nail career. I came away from the experience with so much knowledge, that it pushed me to do so much more with nails and made me get out of my comfort zone, and pushed me to explore more nail art techniques.
Don’t be limited, Be limitless!
Check out the video below to create the look and follow Karen on Facebook and Instagram
The Gelica Glass Collection is available via www.gelicagel.com