Collection: Cat Eye Gel, All Brands

How does cat eye gel work?

There is magnetic pigment suspended in the color. Painted on and cured normally, it looks like a shimmer gel. Hold a magnet close to the wet second coat and the particles line up along the magnetic field, gathering into a bright band inside the color that shifts as the hand moves, the way light moves in a cat's eye. Cure while the magnet is still doing its work and the band is locked there for the life of the manicure.

Nothing is painted freehand, so the result repeats across ten nails, and the same bottle gives different looks depending on where the magnet is held. That combination, premium-looking and genuinely easy, is why cat eye has stayed on salon menus.

The lines we carry

Both SNS lines are formulated without HEMA and without TPO, stated as what the formula excludes rather than as a safety promise. The SNS pair sit together on Cat Eye Gel if you want to compare them directly.

What do you need besides the gel?

• A magnet. Not optional. Without one the gel cures as a plain shimmer and the client has paid for a color. Bar, ring, double-head and shaped magnets are under Cat Eye Magnets.
• A dark base. One cured coat of black or a deep neutral from SNS Gel Only under the color makes the band read far stronger. Skip it only when you want the shade's own color around the band.
• A glossy top. A cat eye without a top coat dulls quickly; the band is inside the gel but the shine is not. Tops are under Base & Top Gel.
• A lamp you trust. The flash cure is what fixes the band before the pigment relaxes, so a slow lamp costs you the effect. See Nail Lamps.

The technique, step by step

1. Prep and base, cured. As for any gel service.
2. Optional dark bed, cured. Black or navy for the strongest band.
3. First coat of cat eye, cured, no magnet. Thin. This coat is the color.
4. Second coat, then the magnet. A slightly fuller coat, and while it is wet hold the magnet a few millimeters above the nail for five to ten seconds. Do not touch the gel. Work one nail at a time, because the pigment starts to relax the moment the magnet moves away.
5. Flash cure immediately. A few seconds under the lamp locks the band, then move to the next nail and give the whole hand a full cure at the end.
6. Top coat, cured. Glossy to keep the shine; matte works over the finer Crystal line for a velvet finish.

The mistake that ruins a first attempt is curing before pulling the band. Once the gel is cured the pigment cannot move.

Where you hold the magnet changes the look

• Straight band: magnet lengthwise over the center of the nail. The classic.
• Diagonal: the same magnet at an angle, so the band crosses the nail as the hand turns.
• Halo: a ring magnet centered over the nail.
• Double band: two short passes, one from each side, with a flash cure between them.
• Even glow: magnet held flat over the whole nail, or none at all.
• French cat eye: band pulled only across the free edge, which the finer Crystal line does most cleanly.

Crystal, Diamond or Lavis?

Pick by how loud the client wants it. Crystal Twinkle gives a thin, precise streak and suits everyday sets, French tips and anyone who will wear a matte top. Diamond Twinkle adds a sparkle that stays put whether or not the magnet lands perfectly, which makes it both the bolder look and the more forgiving one to learn on. The Lavis CE drops are the seasonal route: 13 shades built around a theme, so the wall changes through the year rather than staying static. A salon that sells cat eye by name usually carries one SNS line for consistency and one Lavis drop for novelty.

How do you sell a cat eye service?

It is the easiest upcharge on a gel menu because the client can see what she is paying for. The band moves as she turns her hand, which photographs well and gets shown to friends, and the work costs you one extra product and about thirty seconds a nail. Two things make the difference between a service clients ask for by name and one that quietly disappears. First, show it moving: a static swatch card sells cat eye badly, a hand tilted under the lamp sells it in a second. Second, put it on the menu as its own line with its own price rather than folding it into a standard gel set, because a client who has chosen it will accept the upcharge and a client who has not will not miss it.

Wear, removal and stocking

• The band does not wear off. It is sealed inside cured gel; what ages is the top coat. A fresh glossy top at week two brings the shine back without touching the band.
• Nothing to fill. Cat eye is color, not structure. Soak off and redo when the nail grows out; put builder gel underneath if length is wanted.
• Keep magnets away from open bottles. A magnet resting beside one drags the pigment to one side of the glass and the next coat comes out patchy.
• Roll, do not shake. Shaking puts air into a gel that shows as pits under a gloss top.
• Opening order: a black base, one magnet and four to six shades. The full 24-shade sets are for a wall that already books cat eye.

Related collections

• Cat Eye Magnets Bar, ring, double-head and shaped magnets.
• SNS Cat Eye Gel Crystal and Diamond Twinkle side by side.
• Lavis Cat Eye Every CE collection in one grid.
• Gel Polish, All Brands Plain color, including the dark beds.
• Chrome Powder A mirror finish to layer beside a cat eye nail.

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