Collection: A'DOR Signature 144 HEMA & TPO Free Gel Polish

What is A'DOR Signature 144?

The complete A'DOR gel polish catalog on one page: 144 named shades, numbered 001 to 144, each in a 0.6 oz brush-on bottle. The line is formulated without HEMA and without TPO, builds to full color in two thin coats, cures in 60 seconds under an LED lamp and soaks off like any gel polish. It is made in the USA.

We carry A'DOR alongside our own SNS gel because it answers a question our gel range does not: the client who has reacted to gel color before and wants a full catalog to choose from, not three shades. Signature 144 is that catalog. Every shade sells as a single, and the set of 144 puts the whole line on a wall in one order.

What do HEMA-free and TPO-free mean?

HEMA (hydroxyethyl methacrylate) is the small monomer used in most gel polish to make it bond and cure. It is also the ingredient named most often when skin around the nail reacts to gel, and sensitivity to it tends to build with repeated exposure, which is why nail techs, who handle gel all day, are the group most likely to develop it. TPO (a phosphine oxide photoinitiator) is the ingredient that turns lamp light into a cure.

A'DOR leaves both out and formulates the cure and the bond another way. We describe that as what the formula excludes. It is not a promise that nobody can react to it; no cosmetic can make that promise. For a salon it means three things: a line to offer the client with a reaction history, a line for the tech whose own hands have started to complain, and a straightforward answer when a client asks what is in the bottle.

The 144 shades by color family

Each shade's listing names its color family and the season it suits. Sorted that way, the catalog looks like this (a few names from each family, so you can see the range):

About a third of the catalog is tagged for fall and winter, a quarter for summer, and the rest for spring or year-round wear, so a full set covers a calendar rather than one season. Screens shift color; the swatch on each listing is a guide, and a painted swatch stick is the reference for a client.

Which shades should you stock first?

• A salon adding a HEMA-free option to an existing gel wall: twelve singles covering the requests you already get in regular gel: two nudes, two pinks, two reds, a white, a black, and four seasonal shades. Clients with a reaction history mostly want the same colors everyone else wants.
• A salon positioning on what is left out of the bottle: the set of 144. The point of the position is that the client never has to compromise on shade, and a partial wall undercuts it.
• A tech whose own hands have started reacting: switch the shades you use most to A'DOR first, since your exposure is per bottle handled, not per client.
• Home users with sensitive skin: one nude, one red, one dark, plus a gel base and top. Two thin coats and a 60-second cure per coat is the whole routine.
• Nail art bases: the whites, blacks and grays are the beds for cat eye, chrome and line work; they are counted in the table above.

Signature 144 vs Gel-Ons 72

A'DOR runs two gel polish lines on this site and both are HEMA-free and TPO-free. The difference is scope and bottle.

Everything else A'DOR makes that we stock, including the art gels, is under A'DOR, All Products.

How do you apply A'DOR gel polish?

1. Prep. Push back the cuticle, remove the shine from the nail plate with a fine buffer, dust and wipe with a lint-free pad. Prep is what decides how long any gel lasts; the formula cannot rescue a shiny nail.
2. Base, 60 seconds. A thin coat of gel base, cured. A'DOR pairs its color with its own base and top; our Base & Top Gel also cures under the same lamp.
3. Color, two thin coats. Brush on the first coat thin enough to see the nail through it, cure 60 seconds, repeat. Two thin coats reach full opacity; one thick coat wrinkles and takes longer to cure through.
4. Top, 60 seconds. Cap the free edge with the top coat, cure, and wipe if your top leaves a tacky layer.
5. Lamp. The cure times above are for an LED lamp. Our cordless lamp is under Nail Tools & Accessories; Lavis lamps are under Lavis Nail Lamp.

Wear time depends on prep, the nail plate and what the client does with her hands, the same as any gel color. Most clients get a few weeks; a tech who preps well gets the long end of that.

Removal, care and storage

• Removal: file the top coat to break the seal, wrap in acetone for ten to fifteen minutes, push the softened gel off with a wooden stick. Do not pry a cured coat off a dry nail.
• Storage: caps tight, bottles upright, out of the lamp's line of sight and away from a sunny window. Light is what thickens a gel in the bottle.
• Brush care: wipe the brush on the neck of the bottle, not the rim, so the threads stay clean and the cap keeps sealing.
• Reorders: every shade is a single, so a wall restocks by number. Keep a painted swatch stick per shade so the number on the bottle and the color on the client agree.

Related collections

• A'DOR Gel-Ons 72 The curated 72-shade cream line, 0.4 oz.
• Gel Polish, All Brands SNS, A'DOR and Lavis gel color on one page.
• SNS Gel Only Our own GelStar gel polish, matched to the SNS dip books.
• Lavis Gel Polish C01 to C17 Seasonal gel drops from Lavis.
• Cat Eye Gel SNS cat eye, also formulated without HEMA and TPO.
• Builder Gel Structure under the color.

Related reads

• How SNS approaches a safer UV gel manicure
• Gel or dip powder manicure: which is right for you?
• Nail colors for every skin tone
• LED lamp wattage guide