r/RedditLaqueristas

Base for both: Nailtiques 2
Top coat for both: seche vite QDTC

Left: sally Hansen “black to black” x2, topped with PFD “grave consequences” x1
Right: kur nail concealer x2, topped with PFD “cosmic energy”

I recently got Beginners Luck from Cracked and can't wait to try it over so many polishes! Their magnetics are crazy good and still look amazing 6 days later .
Plus the photos of Maelstrom never do this polish justice. Every time I slap it on, I am awestruck!
2 coats of Mooncat's Maelstrom, one coat of Cracked's Beginners Luck, Cuticula top coat

I’m celebrating the first anniversary of Uno Mas Colors with one of my favorite polishes from them - Mr. Myers! (Yes, it’s named after that Mr. Myers… 🔪) This magnetic is stunning, easy to work with, and has me marveling at my fingers whenever I wear it. Here it is in two coats. I magnetized the second thicker coat and top coat using my glass bead tool from Nailed It Magnetics.

An extra note about Uno Mas… Back in February, they created a beautiful thermal polish and were looking for a cause to donate proceeds to. I reached out and suggested the Emerge Center Against Domestic Violence, an agency near and dear to my heart that I’ve worked alongside with for many years. When the polish sold out on its launch day, Uno Mas doubled their donation!

In a time where wonderful agencies are losing grant funding left and right simply because they mention gender inclusivity or assist vulnerable immigrant populations, donations like this make all the difference. For that reason, I’ll always be grateful to Uno Mas Colors. To check out Emerge and the incredible work they do, please visit https://emergecenter.org.

✨ Getting Even Primer by Mooncat

💙 Mr. Myers by Uno Mas

✨ Good to Go by Essie

Hello my beautiful polished friends! I am getting back into painting my nails again regularly after years of on and off nail care. I desperately need help with a routine and products for my nails. I am a cuticle picker to the max, so please pardon the cuticles as it’s something I’m also working on!

TLDR product list:
Nailtiques formula 2
Bliss kiss cuticle oil
Biotin supplements
Marin hand lotion

Previously I was using OPI Nail Envy as a nourisher/base coat, but my nails fracture and bend often, so I recently switched to Nailtiques formula 2. However, now I’m getting chips in my nails as they are harder, but more brittle (and still getting some splitting, see thumb pics.)

I have the bliss kiss cuticle oil pen that I am trying to apply after every hand wash, but I work in veterinary medicine and I’m washing my hands so constantly that it’s hard to keep up. I also garden and do woodworking, so I’m just overall hard on my hands. I have a lovely Marin lotion that I also apply as much as possible.

I would absolutely love recommendations on base coats to help my nails, as well as shaping advice because I feel like my natural nails have major duck-feet syndrome going on unless I push my cuticles back like a spartan shield wall.

Pictures included from today and a few weeks ago before life got in the way of remembering to post.

TLDR: bendy fractury nails now also brittle, pls help my fan ass nails

I work night shift so I rarely see the sun, but I had time off of work this week so I wanted to wear a mani that takes advantage of the sunlight! Both of these polishes are solar and one is thermal, so I got to see all kinds of fun color changes.

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Alchemy Lacquers - “Blank Signature” from PPU October 2025

LynBDesigns - “All Panic and No Disco” from PPU November 2025

Kbshimmer “Fillin’ Groovy” base coat, and Glisten & Glow Top Coat

Mani was so good, nails looked nice, and then… pointer finger down😭. I know my nails are kinda at that point where they are vulnerable with the length, but I have been trying to grow my nails out enough to make all of them a tapered almond. My pointer and thumb naturally grow in that shape and I thought it would be cool to have them all potentially be the same shape. Oh well 🥲.

Polished used:
💜Holo Taco Quick Dry Base Coat
💜Holo Taco Magenta Jelly
💜Holo Taco Glossy Taco

I’ve tried Flower Child for the first time this week and I’m not sure it’s for me (controversial I know! I think maybe I prefer a less busy shimmer like MC Midsummer’s Dream.) So I decided to take the chance to try out a jazzy topper and I actually really like it - going completely extra somehow works better for me than a somewhat-busy holo shimmer.

It’s giving Saved By The Bell, and I like it.

ILNP Flower Child + HT Diamond Dasher Taco

It’s my birthday week so I wanted to have a mani that really felt like ✨me✨

Have been dreaming up this skittle since I got these last month and I tried so hard. I spent all day on these suckers off and on. Base coat in the morning, first unmagnetized coat of color early afternoon, then magnetized layer and top coat in the evening. It was so pretty. I woke up to bubbles and wrinkles and ruin and sadness

But it’s okay, I put on ole reliable tonight - rock candy from ILNP - and it’s one of those shades that gives me endless serotonin on my fingers ✨💙💚

Edit: if anyone has any insight into my undertones I’m very curious. I have no idea and don’t know how to find out, but I feel like maybe I’d better understand what shades I like on me

Penelope Luz’s Pretty Little looks like magenta glass 💖

Unrealllll. It’s like tropical waters on my fingertips. It reminds me of those ocean themed cakes that are cut out to add a blue jello ocean 😍 ANLAC crushing it, as always.

1 x Kur Fortifying Ridge Filler Basecoat

2x ANLAC Sapphire Morpho magnetized with horseshoe mag

1x Essie Speed Setter

I was like "I thought you people were all about the sparkly stuff, is this linear holo really doing nothing for you? Smdh."

But she was still just all (•` ^ ´•)

And I was like "Okay, fine, just don't get into this stall again tomorrow. ... But if you do it's okay, because, the hand pose is actually killer, wow."

Products used:

• Together, Inseparable, Laughing (Lurid Lacquer)
• Muy Rápido QDTC (Uno Mas Colors)
• Fledgling, Starling, Idiot (Sturnus vulgaris)

As someone with ::checks notes:: ~600 bottles of polish, it is high key exciting to use up a whole bottle of polish, especially a thermal one before it dies.

But man, that last mani of the bottle is ROUGH. It is both the hardest to work with and looks the worst on the nail.

Because it's so low, I pour the polish out onto an silicone mat since the brush can't really reach it. Since it's the thickest goop that gweneth paltrow ever gooped, I have to add thinner both before pouring it onto the mat, AND about every minute or so after it's on the mat. I keep the bottle upside down and just let one drop out at a time so it doesn't all pour out and dry at once but that's easier said than done. And the brush is also goopy and finicky. All this means that each coat of polish will vary widely in how much pigment in has, how thin/thick it is, and how well it covered the nail. Which is why the mani looks kind of awful. But despite that, I still feel a sense of accomplishment when I'm done.

What tips do you all have for making your last mani of the bottle easier?

1 coat UNT peel off, 1 coat kbs feelin' groovy, 3 "coats" of Chamaeleon Nails Winter Retreat from December 2024 PPU. ETA: loved this polish, and I'll be missing it come fall.

Cirque- Electric Daisy. There’s no editing this thing is literally glowing by itself in low lighting 🥹

The first two photos are from earlier today and the two blurry last ones are from after a swim.

I’ve been swimming a lot these days (indoor, chlorinated pool), and I noticed my nails changing shape when I was in the pool. As I’m typing this - about 40 minutes since getting out, they seem to be returning to their natural shape, but I’m wondering if this is a problem/if there will be longer term issues with more swimming?

Nail info:

Base coat: OPI Natural Nail

ILNP - Sunkissed (x3 coats)

Cracked - QDTC

OMG I know y’all said how incredible this polish is, but ahhhhh!!! I finally got one and did my first mani with it. It’s so pretty!! I want all the bog family polishes now! I hope they restock them. 🤞🏽

1 x nailtiques formula 2
1 x Mooncat hardcore base coat
2 x BKL Bog Dweller magnetized with 5D spinner, 30lb mag and lab stirrer
1 x Cracked QDTC

Costco is right down the street from my nail salon so I just had to get a dawg and show off my new mani!

As a blue/purple fiend, I’ve ignored red, pink, orange, and yellow polishes for basically my entire nail polish journey. My collection is full of blues, purples, and a few oddball greens, and after swatching everything on swatch sticks, I realized I own almost no warm-toned polishes 😅 (pics for proof lol)

I’d love recommendations for warm-toned polishes that are staples in your collection, especially shades that have the following;

• glowy / ethereal vibes
• iridescent flakies, holo, or multichrome finishes
• jelly depth / “lit from within” effects
• unconventional undertones

Especially interested in:

• fiery glowy reds
• pinks with blue / purple shimmer
• ember-like oranges
• weird alien golds
• warm shades that still feel moody, magical, or ghostly

But all recommendations are welcome!

I like to think of these as my witch nails. Base coat is sticky base by Cracked. Two coats of Millenia by Mooncat, magnetized glass bead style. Top coat is the Sally Hansen clear bottle QDTC. Then used a lil brush to add streaks of Champagne Spray by Jen & Berries, magnetized velvet.