Type: Nail Art
LAVIS 3D Molding Gel - Aurora Sculpture Gel
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 3D molding gel and emboss gel?
Height and handling. Emboss gel is a thick painting gel: you place it with a brush or dotting tool and it gives a low, rounded relief, a petal that stands a little off the nail. Molding gel is thicker still and does not tack to the tool, so it is rolled and pressed like clay into pieces with real height, bows, drops, domes and full flowers. The Aurora molding gels on this page also carry glitter through the whole piece, which emboss gel does not. Many 3D designs use both: molded petals, embossed leaves.
Do the Aurora shades have names, and how do I choose?
Lavis numbers them 01 to 12 without names, so pick from the swatches in the grid and expect the pot on the nail to sparkle more than the photo, because an iridescent glitter changes at every angle. For a first order take one warm shade, one cool shade and one neutral; a pea-sized bead makes a whole flower, so three pots cover a season of accent work. The same twelve shades are on the Aurora Sculpture Gel listing as a single choice, if you prefer one page to shop from.
Can I sculpt an extension or an apex with this gel?
It is thick enough, and the non-sticky family is rated for extensions, but it is not the right tool for structure. A structural builder gel self-levels into a smooth curve; a molding gel holds every mark the tool leaves, which is what you want in a petal and not in an apex. Use Lavis Builder Gel in the Jar or in the Bottle for the structure and the Aurora gel for what sits on top of it.
How long does a sculpted 3D piece stay on?
As long as the nail underneath it, provided it was cured through and sealed. Build in stages so each part cures fully, give thick domes a second cure, and work the top coat around the edges of the piece so there is no lip for water to get under. A piece that lifts at the edge was usually placed on an uncured or unwiped surface; a piece that dents was under-cured in the middle.
What is 3D molding gel?
A sculpting gel thick enough to be shaped like clay. Take a bead out of the pot with a silicone tool, roll it, press it into a petal or a bow loop, set it on the finished nail and cure it: the piece keeps its outline through the whole process because the gel neither runs nor tacks to the tool. Lavis calls this line 3D Molding Sculpture Gel, and the Aurora collection on this page is the glitter version of it: twelve shades, each loaded with an iridescent shimmer that shifts as the nail turns, in 15 g pots.
It belongs to the same family as Lavis Non-Sticky Builder Gel in Jar, which carries the solid colors: clear, three whites, black, silver and gold. Most 3D salons run both, the solids for petals, French edges and outlines, the Aurora glitters for the pieces meant to catch light.
The twelve Aurora shades
The shades are numbered 01 through 12, each sold as its own 15 g pot, and the same twelve are also offered as a choice on the Aurora Sculpture Gel listing. Lavis does not name the shades, so use the swatches in the grid: an iridescent glitter photographs differently at every angle, and the pot on the nail under a lamp is the reference. A pea-sized bead makes a full flower, so a 15 g pot covers a lot of sets; buy the two or three shades that suit your client base first and add the rest as the 3D menu grows.
How do you sculpt a 3D piece with molding gel?
- Finish the nail. Cure the color coats. If the piece will sit on a gloss nail, cure and wipe the top coat too; the sculpted piece goes onto a finished surface so nothing beneath it moves.
- Take a bead with a silicone tool. Roll it on a silicone mat into a ball. Because the gel does not stick to the tool, it can be picked up, put down and re-rolled until the size is right.
- Shape on the nail. Press the ball down with the flat of the tool for a petal or a dome; pull it with the tip for a leaf; pinch two loops for a bow. Thin the edges with the tip so they sit flush.
- Cure in stages. A flower is built one or two petals at a time, curing between them so the earlier petals hold under the weight of the next. A thick dome gets the full lamp time and a second cure if the center is soft. Lavis lamps are under Lavis Nail Lamp.
- Add detail. A rhinestone pressed into an uncured center, a line of line art gel along a cured petal, or a dot of painting gel for a stamen.
- Seal. Top coat worked around the piece with a fine brush from our brush collection, or a no-wipe top on the piece alone to keep the glitter bright and the body matte. Base and top are under Base & Top Gel.
Why glitter in a molding gel?
Because a glitter gel polish cannot be sculpted and a sculpting gel usually cannot sparkle. Painted glitter sits flat; the sparkle is in the top of the layer and reads as texture. A molded piece in Aurora gel has glitter all the way through, so the shimmer shows on every face of a petal or a bow, and a domed drop catches light from the side. That is what makes the Aurora shades the choice for the pieces that are supposed to be noticed: a single sculpted bow on a nude set, a cluster of drops at the cuticle, a raised snowflake in December.
Aurora gel over dip, gel and extensions
The piece only needs a cured or set surface under it. On a gel manicure it goes over the cured color or the wiped top coat. On a dip set it goes over the activator-set powder before the final top, then the whole nail is sealed. On a builder gel or poly gel extension, build and cure the structure from Lavis Builder Gel in the Jar first, shape the free edge, and treat the finished extension as the bed. Because the piece is cured to the nail rather than glued, it comes off with the manicure at the next soak, not before.
Where the Aurora gels are used
- Bows and drops: the two shapes the shimmer flatters most, because both have a curved face that turns toward the light.
- Petals over a solid center: Aurora petals around a center sculpted in the gold or silver solid from the non-sticky jar.
- Holiday sets: snowflakes, stars and baubles built in one shade and topped with a rhinestone; the glitter does the rest.
- Festival and party nails: a sculpted raised swirl on one accent nail with a plain glitter nail beside it from Glitter Nail Art.
- Textured tips: a thin layer pressed with a tool into ripples or scales, then cured and sealed.
Care, tools and stocking
- Tools: a silicone-tip sculpting tool, a dotting tool and a silicone mat. Wipe tools with gel cleanser between shades so glitter does not migrate.
- Lid on between pieces. A thick gel skins over if the pot sits open beside a running lamp; the glitter makes a skin harder to see.
- Do not thin it. The body is what holds a shape; a thinned molding gel sags before it cures. Warm a stiff pot in your hands instead.
- Cure thick pieces twice rather than longer once; the glitter load slows light reaching the center of a dome.
- Stock: two or three Aurora shades plus the clear and French white solids from the non-sticky jar page is the usual opening order; the full twelve is for a salon selling 3D by name.