Glossy acrylic nails have been gaining popularity throughout the decades, and for good reason! Acrylic is a simple (ish) way to lengthen, thicken, and color your nails. The best part? Acrylic comes in hundreds of shiny colors and finishes; you can choose from chunky glitter nails, translucent shades, matte nails, or the most popular, shiny acrylic.
However, for both beginners and experienced professionals, getting your acrylic perfectly glossy can be a challenging feat if you don’t do it correctly or make a few simple mistakes. Nails take practice! Don’t give up if you don’t get acrylics right the first time because “every master was once a disaster.”
Are you looking for how to get your dip powder nails glossy and shiny? Click here to read our full tutorial.
Let’s start with some things that you should, at no cost, do.
There are a few practices that many beginning nail artists make that prevent that beautiful sheen on acrylic nails.
Cross-contamination is highest on the list of mistakes. Think about the acrylic application like food prep; you don’t want your stuff touching each other because it could mess up the final dish or, in our case, the last nail look.
This includes all aspects of acrylics. For nail prep, it’s keeping the nail dehydrator and base coat separately; don’t apply the base coat until the nail dehydrator has wholly dried, because that wet dehydrator could contaminate the rest of the product in your Base & Bond (our magic 2-in-1 base and bonder) and ruin the whole bottle.
Most people keep the nail prep supplies separately no problem, but when it comes to the actual acrylic, it’s a different ballgame. Acrylic is easy to ruin if you use too much monomer solution (the stuff that makes acrylic cement), as it can spread to the rest of the acrylic in your bottle and activate the whole thing, giving you cloudy, bumpy nails. Wiping your brush clean between each bead is vital to prevent this from happening, and make sure you drain the brush from extra monomer liquid; it should not be dripping wet.
Lastly, consider the top coat. A common mistake is to put the top coat on too soon while the acrylic is still wet, leaving the top coat brush full of acrylic that will be shoved back into the bottle and ruin the whole bottle. If you see anything weird on your top coat brush (or any brush, for that matter), such as lint fibers, acrylic powder, a cloudy substance, etc., wipe the brush off before putting it back into its original home.
In general, acrylic powder has lots of components that are crushed and then blended. Just like salad dressing (wow, lots of food metaphors today), acrylic can separate. Give your bottle a quick shake (make sure the lid is tightly screwed on… a loose top is a recipe for disaster!) or stir up the powder with a small spoon/stirring rod.
Nail prep is the next biggest mistake in acrylic nails. Although you might be super excited to use your acrylic powder for the first or the hundredth time, you should never just pop a bead of acrylic on an unprepared nail; it’s a recipe for disaster.
Keep reading to find out how to properly prep your nails!
Here's how to properly prep your nails for ultimate shine:
Improper bead placement or preparation just causes bumpy, cloudy, unsightly nails.
Applying acrylic takes a lot of practice. It might even take you 20+ attempts to get the shape you want. You need to have a lot of patience when working with acrylic (and work quickly at the same time), but once you have the steps and technique down, it becomes muscle memory!.
Top coat is what makes or breaks your whole application process; you could have perfect beads and perfectly laid acrylic, but failing to use a top coat (or not using one at all) reduces the shine drastically, and your manicure will last a significantly shorter amount of time.
Use our Dip Starter Kit’s top coat for best results.
The more top coat, the better! Applying 2-3 layers of top coat will help you add shine to your dull nails. However, make sure to pay attention to the thickness of your nails; you don’t want a tower of polish. Also, make sure that your top coat brush is clean before sticking it back into the bottle.
Fairy Glamor designs unique 3-in-1 dip and acrylic nail powders in Galveston, Texas. We're a 100% family owned business that was founded in 2020 and went from making handmaking powders in our spare bedroom to shipping out of a big warehouse. We believe in both quality and affordability--that's why our powders are used by both professional nail technicians and in homes. Our unique colors are hand-designed to give you gorgeous manicures that'll make your nails feel magical.
